Competitive fire fuels friendship between Alabama's Saban, FSU's Fisher

Credit: Stephen M. Dowell

Credit: Stephen M. Dowell

Nick Saban loved Jimbo Fisher's competitive spirit so much, he always wanted him on his team.

Saban's "noon-time basketball league" team, that is.

During their time together at LSU from 2000-04 when Fisher served as Saban's offensive coordinator, Fisher was one of Saban's most constant teammates whenever the staff flexed its competitive muscles on a basketball court.

Saban also loved the fact Fisher "could shoot 3s," an aspect that helped make their team unstoppable — at least, that's how Fisher recalls it.

"We used to play a lot of basketball. He and I were always on the same team. We always played (together). We won every time. We always won when we played," Fisher said during a Florida State's news conference shortly after Saban commented about their friendship during his own news conference to kick off an epic game week.

Whether it was on the hardwood or the gridiron, the longtime friendship between Saban and Fisher flourished thanks to their competitive nature.

On Saturday, Fisher's No. 3 Seminoles team will try to upset Saban's No. 1 Alabama squad in a season opening matchup between two of the highest rated preseason teams since 1950. It will also be their first matchup against each other as head coaches.

During their tenure at LSU, where the coaches paired to help win Saban's first national title in 2003, their competitive natures got the most heated on the Tigers' practice fields.

"He wanted to build confidence in the offense, and the system we ran," Saban recalled.

"I guess the one story I could tell you is we're having team run and they're running zone-read options and all that kinda stuff. So all of a sudden, we started running (run-pass options) during team runs when I'm worried about can we block them? Can we take on blocks? Can we control blockers?

"Then the ball comes spitting out of there, and I can remember that's one time I threw a 'Nick-fit' ... if you want to call it that."

Saban could not help but smile and laugh while reminiscing about the episode.

Thanks to the power of social media, with Alabama reporters posting on Twitter about the interaction, Fisher, too, had a beaming smile when asked about their basketball-playing days and his role as a pesky offensive coordinator.

Fisher quickly explained, just like Saban, how their competitiveness in practice never pitted the LSU offense and defense against each other in a personal manner. Fisher wanted the offense to improve its rhythm and timing against the defense, which was coached by Saban and other assistants.

Naturally, however, all parties involved wanted to settle the score in practice, including the players, Fisher said.

"We had competitive guys, too. Our guys wanted to see it, too," Fisher said. "... He'd get mad every now and then, but it was never separated. It was fun. Learned a lot of football and a lot of different ways in which you practice and how we did things."

Saban said he loved Fisher's coaching methods and philosophy, adding they were closer to Saban's approach than any other assistant.

"Jimbo was, always in my mind, one of the best play callers, one of the best assistant coaches, relating to players, and teacher, on any of our staffs," Saban said. "I certainly appreciate the great work that he did for us."

Fisher, who has offered praise to Saban as one of the greatest college coaches of his time during the offseason, said he has not communicated with Saban since the NFL draft in April. He also does not expect them to make contact unless they bump into each other on an ESPN set before meeting midfield minutes before kickoff Saturday.

"Listen, I'm great, I'm nice, just like he is," Fisher said lightheartedly. "When it's time to keep score, we'll go keep score.

"It'll be nice."

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