4 most iconic CFB beef storylines that redefined gridiron rivalries ft. Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban

The age of social media has magnified some of the beef in modern-day college football between various coaches, players, fans and teams which only seems to get more intense over time.

Below we take a look at four of the most iconic rivalries between various entities in college football in terms of pettiness and intensity.

#4. Lincoln Riley vs. Oklahoma

Coach Lincoln Riley was the Oklahoma coach in 2021 when he assured Sooners fans that he would not take the LSU Tigers job and went on to take the USC Trojans job forty-eight hours later starting the beef between the parties.

To add insult to injury, Riley immediately lured his former players from Oklahoma including Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, Mario Williams and Latrell McCutchin.

Since then, Sooners fans have been at war with both Riley and the Trojans for the way he exited the program and his program of choice and they have been sniping at each other on social media and the media ever since.

Last year in an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger", Riley revealed that his family home was almost broken into repeatedly by Oklahoma fans, he received death threats and fans even called his 9-year-old daughter's phone to issue threats.

"Yeah, I had multiple … had a lot of different people trying to break into the house the days after it happened. And 95% of the fans and people out there at Oklahoma or anybody else are great," Riley said. "You typically always have that percentage that at times take it too far. Obviously, this was one of those instances."

#3. Florida State vs. the College Football Playoff Committee

The Florida State Seminoles won all their games last season going 13-0 and had one of the most impactful quarterbacks in college football in Jordan Travis and looked like a shoe-in for the college football playoffs.

Instead, one-loss teams like the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns made it over the Seminoles with the committee stating that they were a diminished team due to the injury to Travis and played in a weaker ACC conference.

The outrage from college football fans was immediate with many questioning the decision by the CFP committee and Florida State fans dismissed the legitimacy of the committee and the start of a new beef was born.

“For many of us, today’s decision by the committee has forever damaged the credibility of the institution that is the College Football Playoff,” said Florida State University (FSU) athletics director Michael Alford.

“This ridiculous decision is a departure from the competitive expectations that have stood the test of time in college football.”

#2. Lane Kiffin vs. Tennessee

Tennessee Volunteers fans have had a long-running beef with current Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. He was their coach for one season in 2009 before announcing his departure for the USC Trojans.

There was extensive rioting on campus and outside the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center with the burning of mattresses and vandalism throughout the school. Kiffin had to be escorted to his home by armed police.

The Ole Miss coach was stopped from speaking to the press and in a recent interview with "Athletes for God," he explained how the night of his departure unfolded.

“What I didn’t expect was a full riot to ensue on campus,” Kiffin said. “I think sometimes we embellish our memories, but that night there was literally a riot in Knoxville, with people running in the streets and lighting things on fire. It was confusing to me, because people change jobs every day.

"But here I was in a police escort, trying to get safely out of town, asking myself why there was so much animosity towards me.”

#1. Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban is the most iconic beef

Nick Saban kickstarted Jimbo Fisher's career when he hired him as his offensive coordinator during his tenure as coach of the LSU Tigers and they won a national championship together in 2003 but the beef had already started.

According to an account given to The Athletic by a former LSU staffer, Fisher did not appreciate Saban's meddling in his offense.

During a fundraiser in 2022, Nick Saban sounded off against Texas A&M apparently using money to recruit the No. 1 class in the country beating Alabama to No. 2 and suddenly the cracks from the beef were exposed for the world to see.

“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?”

The former Texas A&M coach did not take the statement lying down and he escalated the beef in a news conference that he convened the next day.

“Some people think they're God," Fisher said. "Go dig into how God did his deal. You may find out ... a lot of things you don't want to know. We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past, or anybody's that's ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out, what he does and how he does it. It's despicable."

Publicly, the beef had to be dealt with by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey who reprimanded the coaches.

College football will always throw up new narratives that fuel beef between teams, coaches and various entities making every season spicy off the gridiron and captivating fans across the country.