Tag: Paul Finebaum

‘They were promised Texas would never come in’: Paul Finebaum explains SEC’s betrayal of Texas A&M

“They felt that they had been promised Texas would never come in and they were promised, but things change. It’s A&M’s fault,” he explained.

Paul Finebaum was recently a guest on “That SEC Podcast” and the ESPN college football commentator discussed how the SEC went back on its word to Texas A&M Athletics by allowing the University of Texas to join the conference.

“They felt that they had been promised Texas would never come in and they were promised Texas would never come in, but things change. It’s A&M’s fault,” Finebaum recalled. “A&M was so successful in the SEC that Texas said, ‘We want some of that!’ Texas in 2010 was heading to the Pac-12, they had already commandeered a bunch of schools because they wanted to be more in line with the Pac-12 academics, the Stanfords, the Cals, which are now in the ACC.

“They finally realized that we need to do something. Texas could’ve gone to the Big Ten, ACC, all this nonsense that we heard. The SEC did nothing but answer the same phone call that everybody else got. The were on the prowl to leave and were going to go somewhere.”

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Paul Finebaum: Longhorns joined SEC after seeing Aggies’ success

Finebaum thinks Texas A&M’s success in the SEC made Texas want to join.

As the Texas Longhorns head to the SEC, many are still discussing the blockbuster move. One SEC college football analyst thinks the program made its decision based on its in-state rival.

Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network opined on That SEC Podcast that the Longhorns joined the SEC after seeing the Texas A&M Aggies succeed in the conference. The way in which the Aggies succeeded is up for debate, but it’s undeniable that the team saw a prestige boost in moving to the conference.

The highlights of Texas A&M’s SEC rise are as follows: The Aggies beat Alabama in 2012 and 2021, won an Orange Bowl in a one-loss season and secured what then was the perhaps greatest recruiting class in history after the 2021 season. The latter accomplishment is what most sets the Aggies apart from what the Longhorns accomplished the last decade.

While the wins over Alabama’s legendary head coach Nick Saban were impressive, Texas A&M is 2-10 against the Tide since moving to the SEC. The Aggies have one more win than the Longhorns do against the Crimson Tide in that span despite 10 more opportunities.

The Orange Bowl victory for Texas A&M came against North Carolina. Texas took home a New Years Six win in the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs to cap the 2018 season. The Aggies have yet to beat Georgia as a member of the SEC.

Between the two teams, only Texas has a playoff appearance in that span after a breakout 2023 season. What separates the two is the SEC logo in recruiting.

Texas A&M has long been a force in recruiting and a strong brand, but its brand power grew dramatically when the team moved to its new conference. No longer were the Aggies a team that needed ties with the Longhorns to be relevant. The program became a stand alone brand due in large part to its alliance with college football’s top conference.

The SEC logo is a tiebreaker in recruiting. Several head-to-head recruiting battles have gone the Aggies’ way in recent seasons, and conference prestige likely played a huge role.

Whether they like to admit it or not, Texas’ move to the SEC is good for both parties. For awhile recruits have been able to choose Texas for the benefit of playing against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. They used to enjoy the added right of playing in the Lone Star Showdown.

The rivalry has the same effect for the Aggies. Now they have an in-state rival to end the season against every year. It has Iron Bowl potential if both teams maximize the talent that they recruit.

Texas A&M’s brand took off in its first season in the SEC with Heisman quarterback Johnny Manziel. Texas looks to have a similar boost in its first season in the conference.

‘Conner’s going to go into the spring as the number one’ HC Mike Elko appears on the Paul Finebaum Show

Aggies head coach Mike Elko provides an update on QB Conner Weigman’s injury recovery

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, who established himself as a favorite among the fan base even before coaching his first game with the program, has made the media rounds during the A&M’s spring practice period, which officially began late last week.

While the roster as a whole, which is filled with blue-chip talent at every level, will continue to create multiple storylines this offseason, incoming redshirt sophomore starting quarterback Conner Weigman’s injury recovery after missing eight games during the 2023 season is under the microscope once again.

On Monday, during an interview with Paul Finebaum on the SEC Network, Elko expanded on the talent of the Aggie’s quarterback room while providing a straightforward update on Weigman’s injury progression:

“Connor’s going to go into the spring as the number one, and I think everyone’s aware of that,” Elko said. “Like everthing, you want competition and competition within your program.”

In terms of how he’s working through the everyday practice-related tasks, Elko expanded on the level of intensity that Weigman can take on during the early portion of the spring period:

“He’ll be able to work efficiently as a pocket passer. I don’t know how well he’ll be able to truly run around yet,” Elko stated. “He still hasn’t quite been fully out there doing agility work and those types of things. It’s important for us to get him out there and get him integrated in the system.”

Regarding the options behind Conner Weigman, senior Jaylen Henderson, and sophomore Marcel Reed are about as good as backup security.

“You have two quarterbacks who filled in and had some very succesful moments, as Jaylen Henderson on the backend of the year had a great game against Mississippi State. Jaylen wound up getting hurt on the first series of the bowl game, and Marcel Reed, as a true freshman steps in and throws for over 370 yards in the bowl game.”

Right now, nothing on the injury front has changed outside of the already known players who will miss spring as they continue to recover, including offensive linemen Kam Dewberry and Aki Ogunbiyi, defensive ends Shemar Turner and Enai White, and tight end Donovan Green, who missed the entire 2023 season due to an ACL tear.

For Conner Weigman, slow and steady wins the race, and a full recovery should be the only thing on his mind. Texas A&M’s annual Maroon & White Spring Game will take place on Saturday, April 20.

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Rutgers fans unlock another important level to the NIL fundraiser by the Knights of the Raritan collective

The Knights of the Raritan give an important NIL update.

The Knights of the Raritan have been successful over the past month in their most recent fundraising initiative. A second round of fundraising was completed which raised an additional $25,000 for student-athletes.

The Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collective is the most visible extension of Rutgers in this collective space. The Knights of the Raritan (KTR), while not operated by the university or the athletic department, serve an important role for the future of Rutgers athletics in the ever-changing world that is NIL and the NCAA.

The second round of fundraising is now completed, meaning that two matching gifts of $25,000 have been secured. The next round, KTR said, is dedicated for men’s basketball:

Last year, KTR undertook an ambitious challenge to raise $1 million for the NIL collective. It is a vitally important undertaking if Rutgers is going to be competitive in the Big Ten.

 

Greg Schiano, the Rutgers football head coach, has said that NIL is paramount to his team’s ability to continue the rebuilding process. Especially in the Wild West landscape that is college football right now.

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“It’s paramount in what we are doing right now. That is where college football is, and you have to be able to be competitive in that landscape, and we have to be able to be competitive in that landscape. And it’s not going to get less. It’s going to only get more,” Schiano said this past November.

“We have guys that have performed at a high level. Well, you know what, they are going to be people that’s trying to get them off our team. That’s the facts. And there’s going to be guys, we are not only going to want to keep our own guys here, but we are going to want to go out and pursue; and we have to do the things that Big Ten teams do to be competitive and eventually be champions. Every bit helps but we need every bit.”

Two years ago, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum echoed these sentiments in acknowledging that every recruiting conversation is centered on NIL:

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“NIL is everything right now there’s not a conversation that goes on in a living room with a player that doesn’t start then with what am I getting? It’s the new world,” Finebaum said in a 2022 nterview with Rutgers Wire.

“I talk to coaches all the time and they mask it as if it’s just part of a conversation but it’s the entire conversation. And so you have to find a way to get around it and if you don’t, you’re going to be out of business.”

Georgia beat writer Mike Griffith claims that “Kirby doesn’t think too much about Alabama”

Georgia beat writer Mike Griffth calls Alabama a “second-tier” team in 2024

If you ask the Georgia Bulldogs fans they will tell you it is a rivalry, if you ask an Alabama fan they’ll call it one-sided, but the fact of the matter is these are the two teams on top of the college football world. The two programs have combined to win three of the last four national titles and have posted a combined record of 99-10. Four of those ten losses have come against each other in one regular season meeting (2020), two SEC championships (2021 and 2023) and a national championship (2021).

In 2023, coming off of back-to-back national championships and riding a 29-game winning streak it looked as if the Dawgs were on their way to a three-peat before the Crimson Tide dethroned them in the SEC Championship. We didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the final meeting between [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and his prodigy [autotag]Kirby Smart[/autotag]. Saban walked away with an 8-2 record against Georgia and 5-1 against Smart.

However, heading into the 2024 season many Georgia fans, including Georgia beat writer Mike Griffith don’t consider the Tide to be much of a threat in the first year under [autotag]Kalen DeBoer[/autotag].

In an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show Griffith says, “Georgia doesn’t think too much, Kirby doesn’t think too much about Alabama. Really the October 19th game at Texas is the big headache. They’re looking at that as probably the game that is going to decide the SEC next year… People talk about Texas and Georgia at the top of the SEC and then you get into the second-tier’s, the Alabama’s, the Tennessee’s, the LSU’s, Ole Miss’s and Missouri’s.”

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Paul Finebaum discusses the impact of the new SEC, Big Ten joint advisory group

No one knows what college football will look like 10 years from now. We need to start taking steps in the right direction now rather than later.

Recently, it was announced the SEC and the Big Ten would join forces to create a joint advisory group of athletic directors and university presidents to try to improve college athletics. We live in a new age of college football. With name, image and likeness licensing deals and the transfer portal, this isn’t your dad’s old NCAA.

It is nice to see the SEC and Big Ten be proactive and get ahead of what could be the future of college football, but what does that mean for other conferences? That’s exactly what [autotag]Paul Finebaum[/autotag] was asked about on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.”

“I think it puts everyone behind in everything, right? I mean, we already know those leagues are behind,” Finebaum said, per On3. “We’re really counting notes from generating income and revenue, but now it puts them really in an awkward position. And I think it further exposes how utterly stupid that decision was a couple of years ago, by the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and the ACC to form that alliance because that was supposed to solve a lot of problems. … That was always interpreted as a moved against the SEC because of what happened with Oklahoma and Texas.

“But ultimately that has come back to haunt especially the ACC because the Pac-12 really is no more other than a name. That’s a league that really has to figure itself out.”

No one knows what college football will look like 10 years from now. We need to start taking steps in the right direction now rather than later.

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Paul Finebaum lists LSU as a winner of the offseason so far

The Tigers essentially rebuilt the entire defensive staff following the 2023 season.

There’s a lot of time between now and kickoff in the 2024 football season, but with spring practice just around the corner, coaching staffs and rosters are finally starting to come together.

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum recently reflected on which programs are having the best offseason so far. His overall winner was Ohio State, which has landed some high-profile talent in the transfer portal.

However, he also mentioned LSU as a team that has taken significant strides this offseason, praising both the talent acquisition and the coaching staff moves that [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] made.

“LSU has built itself up very well for the future, including next year’s recruiting class by putting some important pieces together this year from a coaching standpoint,” Finebaum said, per On3.

The Tigers essentially rebuilt the entire defensive staff, bringing in Missouri defensive coordinator [autotag]Blake Baker[/autotag] while making some splashy reunions as [autotag]Bo Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag] return to Baton Rouge.

LSU will hope those changes pay dividends after defensive issues held back arguably the best offense in the entire country in 2023.

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Quotes from Kalen DeBoer’s Friday interview with Paul Finebaum

Coach DeBoer praises Nick Saban and Alabama football team leaders in interview with Paul Finebaum

It has been roughly a week since we learned that Kalen DeBoer would be replacing the legendary Nick Saban as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Since that time, Coach DeBoer has gone through the wringer in terms of roster management.

Not only is Coach DeBoer dealing with recruiting high school prospects, but the transfer portal has been incredibly wild for Alabama but DeBoer seems to be taking it all in stride.

On Friday, Coach DeBoer joined Paul Finebaum on “The Paul Finebaum Show” to discuss his transition from Washington to Alabama and how he has handled the extremely difficult situation.

Below is everything Coach DeBoer had to say:

Paul Finebaum’s notorious feud with Jim Harbaugh is seemingly over after national championship win

This kind of backpedal is truly impressive. Foot, meet mouth.

Paul Finebaum and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh have the strangest (and most entertaining) feud, but after Michigan won the CFP National Championship, Finebaum is walking back previous words.

Finebaum has been hypercritical of Harbaugh for years, as in WELL OVER five years. From Michigan’s schedule to a separate feud with Ric Flair, Finebaum has made it publicly known that he’s not a fan.

His disdain for Harbaugh oozed into the 2023 season so much that he proclaimed that he wouldn’t recognize a Michigan championship in November. (Yeah, it was THAT serious.)

But, apparently, things have changed after Michigan’s title win. Not only did Finebaum admit that he was wrong about Jim Harbaugh, he was rooting for him.

Paul Finebaum reverses course, praises Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh again

‘Hello, darkness, my old friend…’ #GoBlue

Paul Finebaum can’t seem to wrap his head around a Jim Harbaugh-coached Michigan football team.

For years, the ESPN SEC plaudit trashed Harbaugh and the Wolverines, only to come around on Michigan after the 2021 season. However, the sign-stealing drama of this year created another opening for Finebaum to go back and criticize the maize and blue again.

He said earlier in the season that any national championship for the Wolverines would be tainted, with an asterisk next to Michigan’s name. However, after being around the program for a week at the Rose Bowl and witnessing the maize and blue’s big win over the SEC darlings, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Finebaum says there will be no asterisk next to Michigan’s title should it win on Monday.

“I would say they won it legitimately and congratulations to the best team in college football, hail to the victors,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “I said a lot of those things and I said it right here to you. But after spending a week around the Michigan program, I came away with a different view. These young players — Corum, McCarthy — these guys had nothing to do with whatever happened in this program. They are really the epitome of what you expect a college program to be.”

Finebaum has completely reversed course on Jim Harbaugh (again), but his praise comes with a caveat.

On Wednesday, Finebaum stated, also on “Get Up” that he’s confident Harbaugh will coach his last game with Michigan football on Monday because Finebaum is certain Harbaugh is heading to the NFL. That’s not a new accusation. While it’s far from certain Harbaugh will roam the sidelines in Ann Arbor next season, no one actually knows or has any true bead on what Harbaugh will do — except for Jim Harbaugh.

But one thing is for sure: if anyone does have a bead on what Jim Harbaugh will do, it’s certainly not Paul Finebaum. Still, with the SEC analyst, you win some and you lose some.