Tag: Paul Finebaum

Finebaum says Georgia coach Kirby Smart ‘better at his age than Nick Saban’

“I think he’s (Georgia football coach Kirby Smart) better at his age than Nick Saban,” said ESPN’s Paul Finebaum

The Georgia Bulldogs have some of the highest expectations again in 2024 and a lot of that is due to Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. Smart has reloaded Georgia’s roster after having eight players selected in the 2024 NFL draft.

Georgia is among the country’s preseason favorites. In fact, former Alabama Crimson Tide head Nick Saban predicts that Georgia will face the Texas Longhorns in the SEC championship game.

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum loves what Kirby Smart is doing with the Georgia program.

“I think he’s (Kirby Smart) better at his age than Nick Saban was at his age and I think it’s scary,” said Finebaum in an interview with On3’s J.D. PicKell. It’s hard to argue with Finebaum’s logic here.

Kirby Smart is currently 48 years old and has won two of the last three national championships. When Nick Saban was 48, he was finishing the 1999 college football season at Michigan State (as head coach). Saban later took the head coach job at LSU in 2000 and won his first national title during the 2003 season.

Smart has a long way to go in his career and just signed a historic contract extension with UGA.

Georgia’s impressive amount of talent is reason why many polls rank Georgia as the preseason No. 1 team.

Nick Saban perfectly mocked Paul Finebaum’s reaction to his retirement at SEC Media Days

Nick Saban has zero sympathy for Paul Finebaum

In many ways, Nick Saban’s retirement was the worst thing that could’ve happened to Paul Finebaum’s radio show.

For years, the Alabama head coach’s dynasty had given Finebaum endless opportunities for epic rants and even more wild retorts from fans calling in. Saban was the gasoline in Finebaum’s content engine, and while Alabama’s search for Saban’s replacement may have been good fodder in the interim, that only lasted a few weeks,

So what’s Finebaum’s SEC-focused show supposed to talk about instead? Newcomers Texas or Oklahoma? Brian Kelly? Vanderbilt? 

Let’s be real, nothing comes close to the material Saban provided for him. Which is why the radio host took a quick moment to lament his long and painful offseason without Saban running things in Tuscaloosa.

“This has been the worst six months of my life without Nick Saban,” Finebaum said on ESPN, where he and Saban are now colleagues.

Saban, however, had the perfect response ready to go.

Uh oh, folks. Nick Saban might be pretty good at this TV thing, too.

At least as long as he remembers to wear his media credentials.

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Paul Finebaum believes the Oklahoma Sooners are on their way back

Despite the 2022 setback, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is a encouraged by the direction Oklahoma is heading under Brent Venables.

More often than not, anytime there’s a coaching change, there’s bound to be a rough patch or two. When a program misses on the recruiting trail as often as Lincoln Riley did at the end of his tenure, it gets amplified.

But the setback didn’t last very long for Oklahoma. 6-7 in 2022 was rough. Their first losing season since 1998. There’s no way around it. Couple that with the 49-0 beatdown at the hands of the Longhorns and that’s a season that Oklahoma fans would prefer Agents K and J wipe from their memory banks.

But the losses that Oklahoma endured set the stage for a huge bounce-back season in 2023, where Oklahoma went 10-3, and two of the losses came by a score without their leader on the defense, [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag].

Heading into the shark tank that is the SEC, Oklahoma still has a lot to prove as a program. At the same time, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is a believer in Oklahoma’s direction.

“They took a bump and a hit after Lincoln Riley left,” Finebaum said earlier this week on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “They had to reprogram the entire place, reboot it. … From a vibes standpoint I think the program, I think this year if they can land somewhere between 8-4 and 9-3 they’ll be OK, considering their schedule,” Finebaum said. “But I don’t have any doubt Oklahoma is clearly on the way back.”

Finebaum cited Oklahoma’s prowess on the recruiting trail as a reason to expect big things from the Sooners down the road.

Over the last three years, they’ve recruited better than anyone in the country except Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, or Texas. Brent Venables is getting the depth necessary to compete long-term. Though the schedule may be difficult this year, they have enough pieces in place to be successful in year one.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Takeaways from Brent Venables’ comments during first day of the SEC era

Oklahoma’s head coach had plenty of positivity on ESPN with Paul Finebaum on SEC moving day in Norman.

Oklahoma Sooners head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was adamant about the past, present and future of the OU football program as the Sooners became official [autotag]SEC[/autotag] members on Monday.

Venables joined ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum on the SEC Network live from Norman as the SEC celebration festivities were in full bloom. If anyone needed selling on the Oklahoma football legacy, Venables made an extremely compelling argument.

“We’re one of the top five legendary, iconic, winningest programs in the history of college football,” Venables said on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “This is a program, whether it’s the 47-game winning streak or the most conference championships in the history of college football. The national championships, all the Heisman Trophy winners. The countless players that are now in the Hall of Fame, both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. The consensus All-Americans, you start going through all the draft picks, things of that nature, this program stands on its own two legs.”

But Venables wasn’t only excited about what has already happened in Norman. He exuded the promise that the Sooners have in the here-and-now as well as down the road.

Venables began with his offense, speaking on his new quarterback, sophomore [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

“I love where we’re at,” Venables said. “We’ve got tremendous experience coming back at the skill positions. Certainly Jackson, this’ll be his first full season. Jackson is as talented a player as there is in college football. He’s a winner. He’s won his whole life. Smart guy, great instincts. He’s got tremendous skill, he’s got great toughness to him. He can run it, he can throw it. Again, this is a game of development. … Wherever he ended the season in his first collegiate start, he’ll be on another planet. My expectation of where we start at the beginning of the year, he’ll develop and get better. He’s tough, he’s got great self-awareness to him. He’s got all the traits that allow you to have to kind of go through it, both the good and the bad, and he responds to adversity. Just a tremendous leader and players play hard for him.”

Venables was then asked about his calling card: the defense.

“We’ve made steady improvement,” Venables said. “It’s been incremental. It can’t ever happen fast enough. You’re never satisfied. But this will be Year 3. First time that we’ve had third-year players in our system, give or take seven or eight starters back, so we have some experience within our schemes.”

The third-year head coach lauded the attitude of his players and the attention to detail that is becoming the culture at OU.

“We’ve developed in the weight room, this’ll be going on our third year, so that’s the weight room, that’s nutrition, that’s recovery – all those areas that are incredibly important. But I love our buy-in, the investment that our players have in that locker room. This is a very highly invested team. Several guys chose to come back. They wanted to help lead us. There’s multi-layered reasons guys want to come back, but one of the reasons is to leave your mark. They have an opportunity to do that going into the SEC with a group of guys that are tough, hard-working guys. Really exciting.”

Venables also didn’t bite when questioned about the public perception that the rival Texas Longhorns are ahead of OU leaving the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] and entering the SEC.

“This is a program that’s been established for a very, very long time. We don’t look at other programs to try to compare ourselves. Doesn’t do us any good. We focus inside out. That’s what we need to do to be an SEC championship-caliber football program. So that’s where our focus is,” Venables said.

These comments, and others, show the alignment of the football leadership at Oklahoma, firmly invested in preserving the rich history of the Sooners. They also show that, though nationally the Sooners aren’t predicted to make a run this year, their head coach isn’t focused on the outside noise.

Venables may finally have enough of the right pieces in place to make another leap in 2024. He’s also building up the future of the program, and the folks in charge are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to win at a high level in the SEC.

Venables has seen what a national championship program looks like in the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] era, winning two national titles as the defensive coordinator at Clemson in 2016 and 2018. The Tigers went toe-to-toe with the SEC’s biggest bully (Alabama) and have the hardware to show a couple of victories. He’s also seen what it can look like in Norman, as the defensive coordinator on the 2000 national title team. His statements to the frontman of ESPN’s SEC coverage illustrate the mindset and the culture that he’s obsessed with building at Oklahoma.

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‘Going into the SEC is just a different animal,’ says Patty Gasso

Head softball coach Patty Gasso explains why the Oklahoma Sooners are excited about their move to the SEC.

It’s realignment time for the Oklahoma Sooners, as the entire athletics program moves from the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. The move became official at midnight on Monday morning.

For the softball team, that means defending their four-straight national championships from a different conference. But with [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] calling the shots, OU has a better chance than anyone to capture a five-peat.

Gasso joined ESPN’s Paul Finebaum on his show Monday, as the SEC Network celebrated the Sooners’ move to the conference. She remarked on the excitement level of the fans and of her team moving to the SEC.

“Going into the SEC is just a different animal,” Gasso said. “I’m really excited. I think everyone here at Oklahoma is very excited. But we love competition. We never are afraid of it. We face it in the eye and that’s why our team has been so successful and most teams here on campus have as well, so we’re looking forward to it. I know it’s gonna make us better, but I know it’s gonna make this university flourish even more than we have already.”

The softball roster has been under construction since winning the national title last month. A historic group of seniors leaves after four-straight championships. Three players have departed in the transfer portal, while Gasso has replenished the depth chart with new additions, both in [autotag]recruiting[/autotag] and the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag]. But, there’s little doubt that Oklahoma will be stocked with talent to chase the program’s ninth ring in 2025.

Gasso’s comments on “The Paul Finebaum Show” illustrate the competitive nature of both the softball team and the entire athletic program. Sure, the SEC will be more difficult (especially for football). But, the resources and prestige of the conference, along with that elite competition that the SEC offers, will help improve OU Athletics in the short, medium and long-term.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

Paul Finebaum thinks Texas will be better than Oklahoma in 2024

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks the Longhorns will have a better season than the Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are both officially joining the [autotag]Southeastern Conference[/autotag] in on July 1. Both football programs are looking to make a great first impression in the SEC, but who will be able to put their best foot forward?

Well, according to one ESPN college football analyst, the Longhorns will have the better season.

Paul Finebaum made an appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” and said that Texas would be better than Oklahoma in 2024.

Here’s what Finebaum told Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic when asked who would win more in year one in the SEC:

“Texas. They’re better prepared for it, and I think their roster is probably inherently better. I’ll defer to you guys, but I think it’s pretty obvious [with] what they have across the board. I think there’s some unknowns at Oklahoma,” Finebaum said. “The schedules could be the equalizer because Texas’ schedule is challenging. Oklahoma’s is tricky.”

Finebaum’s opinion isn’t an unpopular one. Most analysts nationally have Texas a step or two ahead of Oklahoma heading into the SEC. After all, Texas won the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] and went to the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] last year. OU had to settle for a trip to the [autotag]Alamo Bowl[/autotag], even after beating Texas in the [autotag]Red River Shootout[/autotag]. Losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State took the Sooners out of the College Football Playoff and the conference title game races.

[autotag]Steve Sarkisian[/autotag] has also been at Texas one year longer than [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has been at Oklahoma. Sark has had more time to build his roster.

On the other hand, Texas’ 2023 season was the first true sign of life in a half-decade for the Longhorns. It was also the first time they were truly contenders since 2009.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, continued to run the Big 12 while UT floundered. This was before a coaching change in Norman shifted the momentum of the conference. Now, the Sooners are trying to build back better than before. However, none of Texas’ perceived advantages mattered last year in OU’s 34-30 instant classic of a win in the Cotton Bowl.

Both teams lost talent and production from 2023. Both coaching staffs have done well to replenish their depth charts in recruiting and the transfer portal.

October 12 will be a huge day for both programs, the SEC, and for the landscape of college football. But looking even further, the entire 2024 season will do a lot to shape the national perception of OU and Texas as they embark on their respective journeys in a new conference.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

National analyst declares it’s over for Lincoln Riley at USC

Is it over?

Entering December of 2022, the situation couldn’t have been going any better for USC football.  In Year 1 of the [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] era, the Trojans were headed to the Pac-12 championship game. A win over Utah in that game would have sent the Trojans to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

Instead, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] was roughed up by Utah’s defense. And despite a 6-0 start to 2023, life has never really been the same in Troy since.

After the unbeaten Trojans were thoroughly dominated by Notre Dame 48-20 in mid-October, they went 1-5 in the back half of the regular season. Now they enter the Big Ten without Williams, who is off to the NFL, and considered only a fringe top-25 team.

As a result, one prominent national college football analyst has declared it’s over for Riley at USC.

After a discussion with analyst Bruce Feldman this week, Paul Finebaum said the following of Riley’s time with the Trojans:

“Bruce Feldman said a minute ago that he thought they are looking at about seven wins, which is pretty dangerous when you are the USC coach and you have two back-to-back bad seasons,” Finebaum said.

“I mean, I think it’s over for Lincoln Riley, anyway. To me, he’s lost control. And once you lose control, you’re like in the middle of quicksand,” Finebaum added.

USC opens the year against LSU and trips to Michigan and Washington  await. The Trojans also welcome stiff competition against Penn State and Notre Dame in the Coliseum.

I don’t know if I’m willing to go nearly as far as Finebaum does with Riley.  Navigating the name, image and likeness licensing landscape and transfer portal in a new location is ridiculously tough.  However, the stock has certainly dipped with a difficult season likely ahead.

Not that Riley has been without fault at USC, but from afar it seems the  university and athletic department aren’t as invested in fielding a football powerhouse as they seemed to be not long ago.

Declaring it over is a bit strong but I’d expect nothing more from Finebaum.  It is safe to say USC is entering its third year of Lincoln Riley in a place they certainly didn’t expect to be at this point.

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Texas AD tells Paul Finebaum ‘There’s nothing like’ the Red River Rivalry game

Oklahoma’s rivalry matchup with Texas every October won’t take a backseat to any other game in the SEC.

[autotag]SEC[/autotag] spring meetings took place this week in Destin, Florida, with the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns taking their place at the table.

Oklahoma enters its first year in the SEC after leaving the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag]. Along with Texas, they will be the newcomers to a conference that’s been very successful, especially in football.

But the [autotag]Red River Shootout[/autotag], the annual rivalry matchup between the Sooners and the Longhorns, won’t be taking a backseat to any other game the SEC has to offer.

Oklahoma athletic director [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag] and Texas athletic director [autotag]Chris Del Conte[/autotag] joined “The Paul Finebaum Show” this week to discuss joining the SEC and the topic turned to Red River.

Del Conte spoke up with high praise of the game, saying, “It’s ridiculous, it’s the greatest thing ever.” He went on to say, “There’s nothing like this game.”

Del Conte added, “…you may talk about the Cocktail Party, the Iron Bowl, there’s nothing like this game at the State Fair.”

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is the rivalry between Georgia and Florida, played at a neutral site in Jacksonville. [autotag]The Iron Bowl[/autotag] is the matchup between Alabama and Auburn played at campus sites each year. Both are two of the most storied rivalries in the SEC and in all of college football, but the Red River Shootout is on a different level, at least according to the man running the athletic program south of the Red River.

Del Conte’s words are the latest example of the idea of many in the states of Oklahoma and Texas that think the Sooners and the Longhorns won’t be tiptoeing around in the SEC in year one. Both teams plan to make a statement with their play and with their programs. And in this instance, Del Conte is right on the money.

One of the truly special things about college football is the rivalries that are baked into the game. Hundreds of years of animosity between players, coaches and fanbases stir the pot in a sport that is all about passion and pageantry. OU-Texas is not only one of college football’s best rivalries, it’s one of the best in all of sports.

Sure, both teams have other rivals. The Sooners have intense matchups with Oklahoma State and Nebraska that have carried over from the Big Eight days. The Longhorns have plenty of foes from the old Southwest Conference, like Texas A&M and Arkansas. But these two blue bloods and their fans consider each other their undisputed rival.

Then, there’s the setting. The Cotton Bowl in Dallas is probably the most unique in sports. Located right in the middle of the State Fair of Texas, it has a built in atmosphere that’s unique.

Neutral-site games aren’t usually what we think of when we think college football, but Red River is a wonderful exception. The history of the two programs and the 50/50 split of the fans in the stadium creates an environment unlike any other. Anytime someone brings up home-home matchups in the Red River Rivalry, both fan bases shut that talk down really quickly.

There are great rivalry matchups in the SEC and in college football, but Red River has its own sacred place in the lore of the sport. Del Conte certainly isn’t alone is his thinking, at least not according to Josh Pate of 247Sports. Pate said, “Seeing folks who’ve never been to the Red River Shootout commenting on it. I’ve been sideline for all the big ones multiple times… it takes a backseat to NO rivalry game in CFB.”

The Red River Shootout is sixty minutes of pure, unadulterated hate between two of the ten best programs in the history of college football. It takes place in a venue unlike anything else sports has to offer, and both athletic directors are committed to keeping it that way.

It’s the essence of college football.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

How Oklahoma-Texas move to the SEC came together

Appearing on the Paul Finebaum Show, Joe Castiglioine and Chris Del Conte described how the move to the SEC went down.

In the summer of 2021, Red River Rivals Oklahoma and Texas made a landscape-shaping announcement. The Sooners and the Longhorns would be moving to the SEC. Nearly three years later, that move is just over a month away from being official. But with Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte in Destin, Florida this week for SEC meetings, it feels like the move has already happened.

The league has already shared the new logo featuring OU and Texas.

During their time in Destin, Castiglione and Del Conte sat down with Paul Finebaum of ESPN and discussed the move. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when the two athletic directors really began to rethink their institutions’ standing.

Reflecting on the state of college football, including name, image, and likeness, attendance, the Alston vs. NCAA case, two of the most powerful administrators in college football came to the conclusion that it was time to make the move.

“We had great respect for the Big 12,” Castiglione told Finebaum. “We also had to see where the world was going and what was best for our two universities. So there was no animosity, but you still have to lead. This was something, between us and our presidents, that we had to do for the best interest of our universities in the long run.”

There’s no doubt that the sport has changed dramatically since 2020. From the introduction of name, image, and likeness, the transfer portal, and the escalating television contracts, it was wise for Castiglione and Del Conte to be proactive.

Oklahoma and Texas have more in common with the SEC. From stadium capacity to branding and historical success, it was a move that made a ton of sense from a variety of angles. And it’s a move that’s been well received by the SEC’s other 14 programs.

“It wasn’t initially,” Castiglione told Finebaum. “But as we have made this move and the support we’ve had from (commissioner Greg Sankey), the entire staff, to the member institutions, my AD colleagues, the presidents, other coaches now, it really does seem like a natural fit. We have so much in common with virtually all of the institutions, many of which are flagship universities in their own state like we are.”

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Paul Finebaum says Florida State has ‘pulled away’ from Clemson

Paul Finebaum continues to doubt Dabo Swinney and the Tigers.

If you know Paul Finebaum as a football personality, you know he has a lot to say about Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program. 

Finebaum recently made an appearance on ESPN’s  McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning and discussed how he believes Florida State has passed Clemson as the attractive option in the ACC. No surprises here; Finebaum is a true Clemson hater, whether he’d admit it or not. 

“I think they’re already less attractive, Greg,” Finebaum said. Clemson, if you go back to 2016, 2017, 2018 — they were at the epicenter. We all joked about how boring it is that Alabama and Clemson play each other every year. Nobody’s saying that anymore. They weren’t that big of a name until then. Clemson has always been a good football school, but it’s never been a main attraction like an Alabama or Georgia or Texas or Michigan or Ohio State. Now they’ve fallen off of that.”

It goes beyond just Florida State for Finebaum, however, who sees multiple ACC teams on the rise while the Tigers fall behind. For the analyst, Clemson becomes less attractive by the year. 

“We know Florida State has pulled ahead of them. There are other schools that could do that as well. Miami is one you just have to wonder. If they get it right under Mario Cristobal, then that’s another school that could inch ahead of them,” Finebaum said. “And as you start divvying up the schools, we’ve already had discussions and conversations about who’s most attractive in the ACC. North Carolina is more attractive than them. Arguably Florida State would be, but that’s simply dependent upon whether you have the stomach for what they’ve been doing the last two years. Clemson has one toe in the water on that as well, so that immediately makes them less attractive.”

The 2024 season is an excellent opportunity for the Tigers to prove Finebaum wrong like they have MANY times before.