Tag: finebaum

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum says Kirby Smart’s probably content to let Todd Monken go

Finebaum: “If Todd Monken is going to keep interviewing with the Tampa Bay Bucs, Kirby Smart is probably content to let him go.”

Per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken had his second interview with the Baltimore Ravens on Friday. Last week, Monken interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Monken took Georgia’s offense to new heights in 2022, averaging 41.1 points per game and putting up 501.1 yards per game, per CFBStats.com.

Despite that, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum believes Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is “probably content to let him go.”

“If Todd Monken is going to keep interviewing with the Tampa Bay Bucs, Kirby Smart is probably content to let him go,” Finebaum said on his Monday show.

“Don’t forget Georgia has (Mike) Bobo in the wings. If you want to go to the NFL — go to the NFL. There aren’t that many college assistant coaches who are worth $3 million a year.”

Coming off Georgia’s second straight national championship, in which Monken built a high-powered offense centered around former walk-on quarterback Stetson Bennett, it’s no surprise Monken is garnering such interest from NFL teams.

After receiving a 60% raise following the 2021 national championship, Monken now earns over $2 million annually to be Georgia’s offensive coordinator. That makes him one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in the country. His contract with UGA runs through 2024.

Finebaum mentioned that Bobo is on the staff and would be a potential replacement for Monken should he go to the NFL.

Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback from 1993-97, worked for the Dawgs from 2001-2014, when he manufactured some incredible offenses and more than a few of the program’s best passers of all-time.

There was actually a report in December of 2019 that Smart tried to hire Bobo as his offensive coordinator to replace James Coley. Will Muschamp, who was coaching at South Carolina at the time, won that battle and Georgia hired Monken a few weeks later. Both Muschamp and Bobo are now on Smart’s Georgia staff.

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Finebaum says Notre Dame ‘not a good choice at all…’

Count Paul Finebaum as one who isn’t impressed by the fourth seed in this season’s College Football Playoff.

As we’ve all been desperately waiting for, Paul Finebaum has chimed in on Notre Dame’s selection as the fourth team in the College Football Playoff.

The Irish made the semi-final over the likes of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Cincinnati who finished fifth through seventh in the rankings, respectively.

Finebaum appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” and said of Notre Dame’s selection to the CFP:

“It was the right one but it was not a good choice at all,” Finebaum said, “Neither choice was really good. You could’ve done the same thing with Ohio State. This committee used the protocol that they had one significant win of the two…Notre Dame beating Clemson. Texas A&M didn’t really have a good cause. They played in a good conference but their signature win was over Florida, which suffered their third loss of the season.

“Let’s not pretend the committee doesnt think about the matchups…. As they were discussing….’Do we really want to see Alabama and Texas A&M in the semifinal? We see that game every year in the SEC. Or do we want to see Alabama-Notre Dame, the two greatest programs in college football history?’ We have our answer.” – Paul Finebaum on ‘Get Up’

I’ll listen to the argument that Cincinnati deserved a chance at the fourth overall ranking and a spot in the playoff but spare me cries for Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

If the goal is to find out who the best team is I would argue that Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma all forfeited their chances at a bid by getting blown out in both the Irish and Aggies cases and Oklahoma having lost twice eliminates them.

Enter Cincinnati, who despite being undefeated, clearly earned no respect from the committee.  I legitimately feel bad for them as they did things right this season and had a fine team, but weren’t given the slightest of chances at a playoff spot.

Notre Dame is clearly not a perfect candidate but as is the case with the CFP, the College Football Playoff further proved just how imperfect it remains.

Finebaum: College football 2020 hit roadblock over the weekend

What did this weekend mean for 2020 college football as positive COVID-19 tests poured in? Paul Finebaum shared his thoughts Monday.

What will college football be like in 2020?

We’ve asked this question a bunch from spring and now into summer with things seemingly being pointed in the right direction over the last few weeks.

At least until this past weekend as positive COVID-19 tests came back from campuses nationwide as football players have begun voluntary workouts.

Paul Finebaum, the sometimes voice of reason and often times shock-jock college football talker shared his thoughts on the latest in regards to the 2020 college football season as he joined WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday.

Some notable quotes from Finebaum, who no matter what you think of him, is certainly connected to football programs, especially in the southeast:

“I think college football is literally at a crossroads right now in trying to get the season underway,” 

“Until now I would say the last six weeks have been amazingly positive and everything has been geared towards the season and that hit a roadblock over the weekend. It was a grim, dark weekend for college football.  And for every other sport too. I mean it’s not like anyone has figured this thing out but college football has the most challenging road ahead.”

“And, I mean, we’ve all hearing the same things, I mean the numbers are are enormous across the country, even in Alabama. I’ve heard double digits at Auburn, double digits at Alabama. Should this be expected? I thought they would be handfuls at every school, I didn’t think the numbers would be this big. And this is without anyone on campus. These are fairly controlled environments. And I think the big story, it may not be so much about college football but what are the odds of students getting back on campus if this is the circumstance?

“College sports can always control things a lot better than the normal population. The issue here is unless you quarantine players, which you can’t really do on a college campus, this is not going away.”

-Paul Finebaum on WJOX Birmingham, Alabama

And here we enter the ultimate catch-22.  Perhaps the virus can be contained if it’s only football players or athletes on campuses and they stay essentially living in quarantine and only dealing with other people who haven’t tested positive for the virus.

But then that takes away the entire idea of amateurism because let’s face it, the only reason football teams would be there is to make money for their respective schools, something nobody would really be able to deny.

Or you welcome back the entire campus full of students but then have practically no control whatsoever over the spread of the virus on campus, or at gathering spots off campus, for that matter.

There certainly is no easy solution to this.  Notre Dame and other schools have already announced different school schedules this year that get students on campus early in the fall and send them home from Thanksgiving through the new year.

There certainly isn’t an easy answer or solution to any of this and like I said last week when the Texas news came out, it’s concerning now but let’s check numbers in a couple of weeks and see if players and teams have seen a substansial decline in positive tests before I’m ready to start thinking this college football season isn’t starting by Labor Day.

Steve Spurrier on absence of spring practice, how long teams need to prepare for 2020 season

Steve Spurrier, while on the Paul Finebaum Show, discussed how long teams will need to prepare for the 2020 CFB season after coronavirus.

Coronavirus has forced the NCAA to cancel all spring sports, including spring practices and scrimmages for college football teams.

Losing offseason practices is never something a college coach enjoys, for the obvious reason it takes time away from evaluating your roster and preparing for the following season.

However, while on the “Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC coaching legend Steve Spurrier went into deal about just how big of a deal the absence of spring practice is for these teams, saying for some coaches it’s really not that huge of an obstacle.

“Most all coaches would tell you that the staffs that have been there for 2, 3, 4 years or more that it’s not that big a deal not having spring football,” Spurrier said. “Maybe if you had competition at quarterback or some other positions, it would be important, but preseason, if you can get a month in before you play, I certainly think everyone would be capable of playing — maybe not quite their best, but pretty close to playing the best they can.”

Where Georgia falls into that is tricky. Kirby Smart is going into his fifth season as head coach of the Bulldogs, so he has a pretty good understanding of how things will run and look next season.

But then there’s the quarterback factor. As far as competition goes, Georgia does not have one. Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman will be the guy under center in 2020. But at the end of the day, he’s still a new quarterback playing in a new conference against a much higher level of talent. So, yes, I’m sure Smart would love to be able to see how Newman gels with the team this spring. But all things considered Smart understands what’s important at a time like this.

“Right now, I think that’s what we’re all hoping and praying that colleges can get 3-4 weeks of preseason and, then, hopefully, we’ve gotta have fans in the stands. I don’t know how you play college football without the fans,” Spurrier said. “They make it what it is. To me, that’s why it’s the greatest sport in the world. The fans talk about it year-round.”

 

 

Finebaum: NCAA president Emmert’s handling of cancellations “inexcusable”

Cancellation was always going to be the safe decision, but the NCAA’s lack of communication left conference leaders in the dark.

Last week, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show to disclose that he learned secondhand of NCAA President Mark Emmert’s decision to cancel spring and winter sports amid COVID-19 concerns.

As per Sankey, he learned of the cancellation from a journalist. He received no prior notification from NCAA officials.

Though it was always going to be the safe decision to make, the communication (or lack thereof) related to the NCAA’s cancellation plans left conference leaders in the dark.

Following Sankey’s revelation, Finebaum, in an appearance on Birmingham’s WJOX, let loose on his perceptions of the issue.

“I know this is the wrong time to make absolute statements but I’m going to make one anyway. That moment was the end of the NCAA as we know it. It may have power in existence for some times but that was an existential moment in the history of the NCAA where knowing the commissioners like we do, they are going to band together at some point, when the storm clears, and are going to say, ‘You know what, we’re not going to take that anymore.’”

Finebaum continued regarding the communication breakdown:

“For Mark Emmert, not to have more consultation with the people that feed the system was inexcusable. And what was interesting is we all praised him on Wednesday afternoon, ‘What a great decision to go ahead and announce that there would be no fans (for the 2020 NCAA Tournament)’ and in the moment it did look good, but once again no consultation with anyone.”

The necessary precautions for the general public’s safety never came into question for Finebaum.

“Quit praising him for making the right call…it wasn’t a difficult call.”

He concluded:

“Let’s not give him too much credit or give anyone too much credit. This was this a domino effect, which we all know was caused by the NBA (being the first major American sporting league to suspend play due to coronavirus concerns).”

For other inquiries into how the global health pandemic affects the world of college sports:

Coronavirus forces NCAA to make big decisions regarding eligibility, recruiting

SEC cancels its men’s basketball tournament due to coronavirus

NCAA grants spring season athletes an extra year of eligibility

Will Georgia football cancel G-Day due to coronavirus?

Georgia football Pro Day postponed amid coronavirus outbreak