USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school football recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2022 to ’23 and beyond.
Like any good heavyweight bout, the fight just didn’t go as many rounds as some might have expected.
Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher added a final scene to the saga created by Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban this past Wednesday, closing out a battle that looked destined to stretch into the summer and fall.
“It’s over with,” Fisher stated. “We’re done talking about it. We’re moving on to try to fix the problems of what we have in college football. There are a lot more pressing needs than our arguments.”
The “problems” Fisher referred to are those currently floating in the still-unknown waters of the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) processes that will undoubtedly shift how college recruiting is handled. And it’s the same “problems” that started this SEC kerfuffle, with Saban accusing the Aggies football program of monetary mischief — they “bought every player,” claimed the Crimson Tide’s top dog.
Of course, nothing is really over. Well, not over-over. So, let’s call this an intriguing chapter in the growing Book of NIL.
And as the recruiting rush for the top prospects in the class of 2023 escalates, it’ll be a storyline that certainly warrants revisiting.
Speaking of…