($)tAthletic: Sabes and Jimbo were “always at each other’s throats” during LSU days

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“There was (friction) all the time,” said one staffer who worked with both coaches at LSU. “Will (Muschamp) and Kirby (Smart) and all the defensive guys all bowed down to Nick, but Nick depended on Jimbo a lot. But Nick is so hard on his (offensive coordinators). They were always at each other’s throats.”

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“Oh, it ain’t like Nick and Kirby,” one former LSU position coach said. “There is no love lost between Nick and Jimbo — at all.”

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Every Saturday morning, whether they were in Baton Rouge or Florida or a high school parking lot about to meet a recruit, Saban had a mandatory recruiting meeting for his assistants. He would bring the old speakerphone from his office, place it in the center of the table, and anybody not in attendance would call in. “That drove Jimbo crazy,” a high-ranking former LSU staff member said.

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Saban wanted to hire Fisher from Cincinnati, where the 34-year-old was the offensive coordinator in 1999, even before he met him. Starting in 2000 at LSU, that partnership became an undeniable success, with Fisher helping develop Josh Booty, Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck and JaMarcus Russell at quarterback while Saban’s defenses stole the show.

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The tension between the two stemmed from Fisher’s belief that Saban’s philosophy limited his offense. Saban is also a notoriously demanding boss. Mauck — the quarterback on LSU’s 2003 national championship team — recalled many practices where Fisher would run out to the field disheveled. Mauck would ask what was wrong, and Fisher would say Saban spent all day scripting the practice and then gave Fisher 10 minutes to script 80 plays. “Sometimes Jimbo didn’t know his place and would get upset about how practice was organized,” a former staffer said. Former LSU linebackers coach Mike Collins laughs remembering how Fisher had to give the offensive script to Saban and then the defense got to run the entire series knowing the offense’s script.

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That’s where the competition came in. Whenever it would be offense versus defense, Fisher did everything in his power to win. He’d draw up trick plays or adjust outside of the purpose of the drill. “Jimbo would try to pencil-whip Nick to win the drill,” a staffer said. “And Nick would say, ‘That’s not what it’s about. We’re trying to get better getting ready for an opponent. That’s not how they’re gonna do it in a game.’”

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But many of the same people pointing out Fisher’s flaws in those years are the first to say they love him. He’s a polarizing person in the profession, one who some call a “phony” and who others call one of the “highest-character people” in the business. “He was fun to be around and once you got out of the building you wanted to have some fun because Nick made it so miserable there back then,” said a former staff member. “It just wore on everybody.”

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The shock from Thursday exists from both sides. Some were frustrated with Saban. “Glass houses,” one coach said. “Don’t throw rocks.” Another said: “C’mon guys. It’s like the mafia. Don’t go out there and talk about it. And he was wrong for making those broad-stroke accusations.” Mauck said, “It seemed like a low blow, in my opinion.”

Others were annoyed by Fisher’s emotional rebuttal. “It’s just Jimbo being Jimbo,” a former coach said. Another said: “It was all so predictable. He just couldn’t let it go and think like, ‘Ha ha, screw him. I got his arse.’ As funny as it was to America, it was childish.” “They were acting like two 12-year-olds,” one person with knowledge of both coaches summarized.

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