Tag: Paul Finebaum

Paul Finebaum explains why Alabama is not a national championship team

See why Paul Finebaum thinks Jalen Milroe can win the Heisman, but one problem will hold Alabama back.

The 2024 college football season features numerous changes that will impact the Alabama Crimson Tide. A new coach, a new-look conference, a partially new roster and an expanded College Football Playoff field. ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum breaks down his thoughts on the Tide.

Finebaum explains that starting quarterback Jalen Milroe will be an asset for this team in 2024. He argues that Milroe is already considered a legitimate Heisman candidate before the season already starts. Milroe is not going to hold the team back, according to Finebaum.

Though he believes the Crimson Tide is a team that is fully capable of reaching the College Football Playoffs in the upcoming season, he believes the defensive secondary is the team’s biggest liability. Finebaum states the secondary “is too thin.”

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 college football season approaches.

Paul Finebaum thinks loser of LSU-USC game will be in serious trouble

Whichever team is defeated in Las Vegas to open the season will find itself in a tough spot.

We have a lot of questions about this year’s LSU roster, but we’ll likely get some answers pretty quickly.

The Tigers open the season in Las Vegas with a ranked neutral site matchup against USC as both teams look to bounce back after defensive struggles held elite offenses back in 2023. The winner will start the year with quite a bit of momentum, but the loser will begin behind the eight-ball with a tough conference schedule incoming.

During a recent appearance on First Take, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said the loser of that season-opener will find themselves in some pretty serious trouble.

“What about the other side of that? I know everybody thinks I wave the flag of the SEC. I just happen to work at the SEC Network. But, Brian Kelly? He better win that game,” Finebaum said per On3. “Brian Kelly has done a really nice job. But he left Notre Dame a couple of years ago to win a national championship. Last year, the losses started piling up with a terrible defense – it sounds familiar for Lincoln Riley – even with a generational quarterback in Jayden Daniels.”

Despite losing Daniels and his top-two receiver targets, there’s optimism LSU can take a step forward with improvements on defense. But that defense will be tested early by a Lincoln Riley offense that loses Caleb Williams but is still expected to be strong this fall.

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Lane Kiffin isn’t putting up with foolishness from carnival barkers

Lane Kiffin has a chance to speak loudly through his Ole Miss team’s performance.

Lane Kiffin didn’t hold back when he “thanked” Paul Finebaum for helping him get fired. Kiffin explained that Finebaum called him “the Miley Cyrus of college football,” and that he should be fired.

Lane Kiffin is a man on a mission this year. He knows he has something to prove. He knows he has a historic opportunity at Ole Miss. The Rebels have never played in the SEC Championship Game. This year could be their big chance to make a breakthrough. Ole Miss is viewed as a contender for the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Rebels have a lot of pressure and expectations to deal with. Kiffin knows it, and it’s why he’s standing his ground against Finebaum. He doesn’t have time for the talk show host’s ridiculous takes.

Finebaum has a history for calling for coaches to lose their jobs — including Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban and others who succeeded right after Finebaum called for their ousters.

Robert Griffin’s expressions and excalmation of “Oh my God!” in response to this Kiffin-Finebaum exchange truly said it all.

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Paul Finebaum absolutely roasts Ryan Day for Ohio State failures vs. Michigan

Oh wow. Sucks to be Ohio State! #GoBlue

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, ESPN SEC and college football analyst Paul Finebaum was the biggest Michigan football hater. But after Jim Harbaugh proved him wrong by winning three consecutive Big Ten championships, as well as a national championship, Finebaum has refocused his energy on someone else.

Ohio State and Ryan Day.

Day was featured on ESPN on a segment on ‘Get Up!’ and proclaimed that his elder players returned in order to beat the Wolverines and that they’re focused on righting the ship by taking down their rival in The Game.

“I think probably one of the biggest struggles that we have is that when you lose a game like that you have to wait a whole nother year to get back into that game,” Day said. “And, for our guys who decided to come back — we had 12 guys that made the decision to come back — it was one of the big reasons why they decided to come back.

“But what we have to do is build every day and grow every day and count on the work that we’re doing on a daily basis. That’s going to matter as we get to the end of the season. And what we can’t do is get too far ahead of ourselves and start to focus too much on that and get distracted. That’s just the bottom line. But when you come to Ohio State, you got to win that game.”

Fine sentiment, but Finebaum was having none of it, Day sounding like a frontrunner. After listening to Day’s comments, Finebaum went ham.

“Molly, I have no idea what he’s talking about. I mean, he’s lost that game three years in a row and he’s talking about how his players are motivated to come back and play well,” Finebaum fumed. “I heard that three years ago, two years ago, and last year, and you stunk in all three games. I mean, what are you talking about?

“And here’s the problem with talking about Ryan Day. You look at his record and I’m sure Doggy will quote it and Stephen A. will quote it. It’s gaudy. Nobody has a record like him. Except you can’t choke in the biggest game of the year. And to me if he can’t beat Michigan this year — when he’s got probably the best team in the country along with Georgia — after Harbaugh leaves, after all those great players depart, after a national championship — he ought to be gone. I mean it’s as simple as that.

“That’s the biggest game of the year in the Big Ten. And I realize that Ohio State played for national championship a couple of years ago against Alabama — only lost by 28 points — they’ve been to the playoffs.

“But that program hasn’t won a national championship since 2014, when Urban Meyer was there. So, quit making excuses. Ryan Day quit acting like your players have given up something to come back. Three years ago, they came back two years ago, they came back and one year ago, they came back and it’s been the same result. 0-vs.-the last three games against Michigan.”

Paul Finebaum can’t stop talking about Lincoln Riley and USC

One SEC commentator just can’t help himself when talking about Lincoln Riley.

At some point people are going to wonder if ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum is beginning to lampoon himself. Finebaum has been in the news lately, such as when Lane Kiffin “thanked” him for getting fired at USC when Finebaum called for his job the morning he was fired on ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast. A few years ago Finebaum was calling for Jim Harbaugh to be fired. Then Harbaugh won the national championship. Most recently Finebaum also drew attention when he absurdly attacked Lincoln Riley not once, not twice, but three times on ESPN. The most recent bad take was on First Take where Finebaum was called out by Stephen A. Smith for his SEC media days comments. Deion Sanders then entered the conversation as Finebaum unleashed his latest absurdity.

“I thought about this the other day, ‘Okay, maybe [Riley] does well, maybe he doesn’t, but the answer is really moving forward, and I believe the answer after this season is Deion Sanders.’ He’s going to be tired of Colorado because, quite frankly, it’s not prime time.”

Finebaum continued, “He’s done well, as well as he can, with his son and Travis Hunter and all the Stephen A’s and Shannon Sharpe appearances, but that’s going to dry up this year because they’re not going to be that great. But you put Prime in Tinsel Town, and I think you have one of the great combinations in history.”

With takes like this and the ones stated earlier, it is safe to say Finebaum will not run any athletic departments. If he keeps this up his competence as an analyst will certainly be challenged.

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Paul Finebaum believes Ohio State fires Ryan Day if this happens in 2024

Is Day on the hot seat or will it be hot if this happens?

The last three years have been rough for Ohio State football, as they have watched its hated rival Michigan win the conference each season and win a national championship this past January.

The Buckeyes have not played well in “The Game,” and ESPN’s [autotag]Paul Finebaum[/autotag] believes that this year’s version will be crucial to [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag]’s tenure in Columbus.

The college football analyst went on “First Take,” and shared his view of the situation. Finebaum boasted “to me, if he can’t beat Michigan this year, when he gots probably the best team in the country along with Georgia … he outta be gone. It’s as simple as that.”

Over the course of five full seasons, Day has gone 53-8, excluding his three wins in 2018. That’s elite production, but in Columbus, it might not be enough.

We have gone through the Jon Cooper era, which also saw plenty of success while falling to Michigan on almost an annual basis. It’s hard to argue that Finebaum isn’t onto something, but I think it’s a bit rash to fire a coach who has been this successful over his tenure.

If Ohio State loses for the fourth-straight year to the Wolverines, but wins the College Football Playoff, should Day still get fired? To me, that answer is a no.

This season will dictate which direction the Buckeyes program heads into, so we will see if Finebaum is correct if it plays out that way.

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ESPN expert says Ryan Day should be fired if Ohio State loses to Michigan

ESPN expert says Ryan Day should be fired if Ohio State loses to Michigan #GoBucks

Expectations are extremely high for this Ohio State football roster and rightfully so. The Buckeyes may have the most talented roster in all of college football and are favored to win the Big Ten, but one black cloud hangs over Ryan Day and it is named Michigan.

It is no secret that Day has been on the losing end of The Game the last three years. With all of the heavy hitters returning and an influx of transfer talent coming in to this roster, no one questions who has more talent between the two Big Ten powers. We haven’t even mentioned the fact that Jim Harbaugh has left The Team Up North along with a few impactful coaches and a huge chunk of the national champion roster. Day has never had a better situation and one ESPN talking head thinks if he loses again he should be fired.

Earlier on ESPN’s “First Take,”  Paul Finebaum said “Nobody has a record like him. Except you can’t choke the biggest game of the year and to me, if he can’t beat Michigan this year when he’s got probably the best team in the country, along with Georgia, after Harbaugh leaves, after all those great players depart after a national championship, he ought to be gone. It’s as simple as that.”

Most fans of Day cling to his 56-8 record, which Finebaum mentions above, but it is hard to argue that nothing meaningful has been won by the Buckeyes in the last three seasons. I truly believe that this is the season that Day turns it around, but it is hard to disagree with Finebaum given the circumstance.

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National media conversation on Lincoln Riley is both weird and predictable

Some parts of the national Lincoln Riley conversation make sense, but others do not.

On ESPN’s First Take, you probably saw or heard something about Paul Finebaum, Robert Griffin III and Heather Dinich evaluating Lincoln Riley’s tenure at USC as the Trojans move to the Big Ten.

Finebaum has made over-the-top statements about Riley at USC. It’s predictable that an SEC Network commentator would rip Riley, given that Riley was not willing to coach Oklahoma in the SEC. That’s understandable. What is weird is that Riley has had one bad season in his career — last year — and that Riley’s USC tenure has somehow become a disaster. That makes no sense. The 2023 season was a disaster, but not the whole tenure. USC did really well in 2022, winning 11 games. So, there’s something predictable about the Finebaum hot takes, and yet there’s something bizarre about all of this as well. Lincoln Riley will catch a lot of heat when he fails — and that’s normal — but the reaction to his 2023 season is way beyond any logical boundaries.

Ducks Wire offered this very logical and measured take:

When Riley was hired away from Oklahoma where he was an astounding 55-10 in five seasons, promises of national championships were put upon the USC program. But in two seasons in Los Angeles, the Trojans have been good, just not national title quality yet. Assistant coaches have come and gone and recruiting has been all right, not great. Overall, the Trojans are in a much better space than they were under the previous regime of Clay Helton, but it’s not at a level many expected.

We will take Ducks Wire over Finebaum seven days a week.

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Lane Kiffin savagely dunked on Paul Finebaum at SEC Media Day

This is ROUGH.

Paul Finebaum has been talking about college football for a long, long time. Through it all, he has never held his tongue about anything.

He’s going to say whatever comes to mind about a person, player or team. That’s how Finebaum has always been. Sometimes, it makes for good television. It can also create a bit of, uh, let’s call it animosity between Paul and the people he’s covering. Like Nick Saban said, Finebaum made his life hard for 17 years.

He’s got some coaches who’ve got beef with him. We can throw Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin into that category. He sat down with Finebaum for SEC Media Day and savagely dunked on him.

Kiffin also told a story about how Finebaum actually got him fired from USC with something he said on College Gameday.

“College gameday, you had to make your big splash. They were watching it because I know the other person in the room that was watching it with them. And you said what a joke I was and I’m the Miley Cyrus of college football. They looked at each other and later that night I was fired.” 

The exchange was ROUGH. Finebaum tried to laugh it off by pointing out how Miley Cyrus has blown up since then, but Kiffin wasn’t having it. He showed no mercy.

The entire exchange got so awkward.

“So you were wrong about that. So, really, I don’t know what you’re good at. You predicted coach Saban was done. That didn’t happen,” he said. “You basically said Miley Cyrus stinks and she’s still going.”

SHEESH. Finebaum’s face there says it all.

But hey, man. This is what happens when you talk the way Finebaum talks. It’s great for TV! But, clearly, it’s not the best for working relationships.

Paul Finebaum takes another shot at Dabo Swinney over expanded College Football Playoff take

Finebaum continues his warpath against Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

Once again, college football analyst Paul Finebaum has some negative things to say about Clemson football’s future hall-of-fame head coach Dabo Swinney.

During Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s morning show “Get Up,” the team discussed Coach Swinney’s concerns regarding the possible unexpected effects of this year’s expanded College Football Playoff. Before the panel weighed in, they aired a clip featuring Swinney’s remarks.

“You’ll probably see some guys if you’re 4-4 and probably out of the playoffs — probably see some guys head off to Arizona and train,” Swinney said. “You’ll probably see some situations like you see in the NFL — the Ravens are in the playoffs…You got one more game that really means nothing. Do you play Lamar (Jackson) in that game? Maybe you’re 11-0, and you got that rivalry game, but you play your biggest foe the next week in the conference championship. If you win that game, you’re going to get a bye. Those are decisions you will probably see play out in all of college football.”

Naturally, Dabo Swinney’s No. 1 hater, Finebaum, was there to share his opinions on Swinney’s comments.

“No, he’s not right,” Finebaum said. “Dabo, that was plain dumb. What happened to you? You used to be a voice of reason in college football, and now you’re the get off my lawn guy. Everybody knows what we’re doing here. Everybody understands that this is essentially the NFL playoffs. Of course, there’s unintended consequences. That is not breaking news, Dabo. Your goal isn’t to find problems with this system. Your goal is to get back in the playoff. Some place you haven’t been in a while.”

Regardless of shat Swinney says at this point, Finebaum will likely hate it. Swinney has some strong points though, with analyst Mike Greenberg agreeing with his assessment.

“Yes, (Dabo) is right. Because we’re now going from a sport that’s historically been focused almost exclusively on its regular season,” Greenberg said, “and it’s becoming a postseason-driven sport like practically all the rest of them are, and thus you’re going to see those kind of adjustments being made immediately.”

College football will not be the same in 2024.