Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher blasts critics who claim Aggies paid players to land No. 1 recruiting class

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher had scathing words for critics who claimed the Aggies landed the top class in recruiting history by paying players under the table or using NIL money to entice players to campus. 

“This $30 million deal is a joke. This thing that there’s some fund out there and it was written on BroBible by some guy named Sliced Bread and all of a sudden the country believes it, it’s a joke,” Fisher said on CBS Sports HQ. “It didn’t affect recruiting at all. The people who wanted to make comments on it have no idea what’s going on. It’s insulting to the players who come here and the people around us.”

Fisher’s comments refer to a post on the website BroBible citing an Oklahoma message board poster claiming the Aggies pulled $30 million together to land the class. He got one piece of info wrong, though – the message board poster was named SlicedBread, not the author of the BroBible post. 

The post may have flown under the radar if not for a Notre Dame vice president tweeting out the link in January, weeks after the Aggies pulled into the No. 1 spot in the rankings following the Early Signing Period. On Wednesday, the commitment of five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart pushed the Aggies to the No. 1 recruiting class in college football history. 

“It’s insulting to our staff, how hard we work, to how we do things, and it’s insulting to Texas A&M, because there ain’t a better place to go to school and play ball,” said Fisher. “If you don’t like that we’re coming on, get used to it. All right? We’re not going anywhere.”

Texas A&M’s top-ranked recruiting class was a truly historic haul. The Aggies landed the nation’s No. 1 defensive lineman (Walter Nolen), No. 1 tight end (Jake Johnson), No. 2 wide receiver (Evan Stewart), No. 2 quarterback (Conner Weigman), No. 3 interior lineman (Kam Dewberry) and No. 4 cornerback (Denver Harris). Seven five-star prospects committed to the program, all of whom ranked among the top 25 players in the country. It was the first No. 1 recruiting class for both Texas A&M and Fisher. 

Fisher again addressed the controversy during his National Signing Day press conference. He not-so-subtly took aim at Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who joked on Tuesday that Texas A&M should have incurred a “luxury tax” based on how much he alleges they paid for their historic signing class. 

“To have coaches in our league say it, clown acts,” Fisher told reporters. “Irresponsible as hell. The guys griping about NIL and transfer portal are using it the most. That’s the ironic part. It’s a joke. It pisses me off.” 

Kiffin notably pulled together the second-best transfer class in the nation, featuring eight prospects that the 247Sports Transfer Portal team rated as blue-chip prospects. Quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Zach Evans were among the top seven transfers in the nation. However, Texas A&M’s high school class ranked more than 20 spots higher. 

“They got a problem with it, come see me,” Fisher said. I ain’t a hard guy to find. We’ll be in some meetings. You can say anything you want. We can do anything you want. I ain’t got no problem with it, I promise you that.”



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