This week, a national outlet released its ranking of the top 25 coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ahead of the 2022 season.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney checks in at No. 2 in Sporting News’ top 25 FBS coach rankings for 2022, behind only Alabama’s Nick Saban at No. 1.
Saban and Swinney were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Sporting News’ coach rankings last year as well.
Georgia’s Kirby Smart is ranked No. 3 behind Swinney, and Paul Finebaum doesn’t like that.
On The Paul Finebaum Show this week, the ESPN personality said to Bill Bender — who authored the coach rankings for Sporting News — that Swinney is “yesterday’s news” and Smart is “where it’s at in college football today.”
“My pushback… we don’t need you to do a list,” Finebaum said. “We already know that. We want your expertise to look at this situation and make a judgement. Who’s better? Are you telling me – I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, but I’m going to – are you telling me that Kirby Smart is inferior right now, even by one number, to Dabo Swinney, in spite of that championship? I don’t need to remind you, but look at the trajectory of the programs right now and where they are.”
“I think Dabo Swinney is yesterday’s news,” Finebaum added. “Kirby Smart is where it’s at in college football today.”
If there was any doubt, Finebaum made it perfectly clear who he believes is the better coach between Swinney and Smart.
“We want somebody to take a chance and say, ‘You know what? Kirby Smart’s a better coach than Dabo Swinney,’ and I don’t care how many national championships he has,” Finebaum said. “I’m saying it right now. And I am saying it right now, just for the record.”
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