On Wednesday night, Nick Saban pretty much accused Jackson State of paying $1 million to land five-star cornerback Travis Hunter.
“Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school,” Saban said. “It was in the paper. They bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”
Hunter wasted no time jumping online to respond.
“I got a mil? But my mom still stay in a 3-bedroom house with five kids,” Hunter tweeted on Thursday morning.
Another response came from former Florida State star defensive lineman Travis Johnson, who took to Twitter and quote-tweeted the Saban remark. In it, Johnson alleged Alabama of offering him a six-figure deal out of high school.
“Hahahhaha @mikerodak y’all been paying for players since the 80s offered me 6 figures during that time and now y’all swear y’all not paying anyone? Like the kids say, CAP! Y’all was NIL before NIL,” Johnson wrote in a tweet.
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Johnson was a five-star recruit from Sherman Oaks (Calif.) and took his talents to Florida State as the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect. The Houston Texans selected Johnson with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
Saban, who signed the No. 2 overall class in the 2022 recruiting class, made clear that he was not a fan of how Texas A&M came to sign its top-rated class.
“I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players,” Saban said. “You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. Aight? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”
Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher went hard in responding to Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Fisher called Saban a lot of names and made it clear that their friendship is over. Fisher called Saban a narcissist and suggested that people look into Saban’s past.
“Some people think they’re God… Go dig into his past, and how he’s done things,” Fisher said.
Back in April, Hunter revealed why he chose Jackson State. It had nothing to do with NIL deals.
“They were just straight with me,” Hunter said. “They didn’t play no games, they came right at me.”
