the paul finebaum show – Syndication Server

Nick Saban responds to Paul Finebaum’s claim that he should be czar of college football

Should Nick Saban be the czar of college football?

The need for leadership in the NCAA, especially in college football is long overdue. Between conference realignment, the transfer portal, and NIL, changes to the sport have quickly occurred and without much governing. Perhaps nobody affiliated with the sport is more synonymous with leadership than recently retired Alabama Crimson Tide head coach [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag].

[autotag]Paul Finebaum[/autotag] appears to have the same thought process. While interviewing the legendary head coach last week in Birmingham at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am, Finebaum expressed his desire for Saban, now a college football analyst for ESPN, to take over as the czar of college football.

“I think the solution to college football is you need to quit wasting time being on TV and you need to be what everybody in my business has suggested,” said Finebaum. “You need to be the czar of college football. If you agree to that right now, we can solve a lot of problems.”

Saban didn’t fall into Finebaum’s trap by revealing his interest in such a position but the seven-time national championship-winning head coach did offer his thoughts on changes that are needed in college athletics.

“There’s problems that have to be solved,” Saban said. “There’re lawsuits that have to be solved. Until we get all that in order, we’re not gonna be able to have some kind of protocol of rules and who governs those rules, so we don’t have litigation problems and we don’t have Title IX issues moving forward.

“I’m for the players getting paid,” Saban said. “I just want it to be a system where everybody has a competitive balance so we don’t lose the spirit of college football.”

Saban has been the face of college football for nearly two decades and it would only make sense for him to be the leading voice in decision-making for college athletics moving forward. Whether it happens or not remains to be seen.

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Paul Finebaum provides thoughts on Kalen DeBoer after meeting him for the first time

Kalen DeBoer is already impressing the SEC radio legend

[autotag]Paul Finebaum[/autotag] is one of the most recognizable figures around the SEC with his daily sports show airing on the SEC Network. Finebaum is best known for his very brass and somewhat colorful opinions on coaches within the conference. With [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] retiring as the Alabama Crimson Tide head coach, Kalen DeBoer steps in, providing Finebaum with a new target.

Since DeBoer took over in January, Finebaum has had the opportunity to speak with him on a couple of different occasions but did not formerly meet him until last week at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am where a sit-down interview was conducted.

On Monday while joining the Birmingham radio show “McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning“, Finebaum provided his impressions of the new Crimson Tide head coach.

“He’s very personable. He’s engaging and I think you understand, when you’re in his presence, why he’s been successful. He’s a very good people person. He’s relatable. He may not knock you over with controversial sound bites but that’s just not who he is.”

Coach DeBoer has won over the famous SEC analyst off of the field but once the season rolls around in late August, DeBoer will once again have to prove himself to Finebaum.

DeBoer is a proven winner and his career record of 104-12 is a clear indication of that. Doing it at Alabama will be a different animal entirely.

Stay connected to Roll Tide Wire for more continued coverage of the Alabama Crimson Tide!

WATCH: Paul Finebaum caller suggest that Auburn hire former LSU coach Les Miles

This caller wants to see Les Miles back in the SEC.

LSU’s comeback win against Auburn on Saturday turned up the temperature on coach Bryan Harsin’s already hot seat.

The Tigers are more than four-touchdown underdogs against Georgia on the road this weekend, and a bad loss could spell the end of the Harsin era. Regardless of the timing, the odds Harsin survives his second season on the plains are slim to none.

When it comes to a potential replacement, one caller on The Paul Finebaum Show had a suggestion that was… interesting, to say the least. Edward from Selma, Alabama, thinks Auburn should hire none other than former national title-winning LSU head coach [autotag]Les Miles[/autotag].

https://twitter.com/FTBeard7/status/1577791147514003456?s=20&t=vdsoPKozZpziuP8z8fvWnw

Now, Finebaum callers are not exactly known for being rational or well-adjusted individuals, but this one is a bit out there. Not only did Miles turn in a disastrous 3-18 tenure in his last post at Kansas — a tough job but not an impossible one, as Lance Leipold is proving — but he has more than enough off-the-field baggage for him to be a non-starter as a candidate, especially at this level.

He’s also 68 years old.

Given the instability at Auburn and the rebuilding job a potential replacement for Harsin would face, I have a feeling this program plans to go in a different direction.

Sorry, Edward.

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Jayden Daniels will play this weekend despite battling knee pain, per Brian Kelly

Kelly said Daniels will be ready to go against Tennessee.

LSU has had scary situations surrounding quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] in each of the last two games. On Saturday, it was a knee-to-knee shot that ultimately ended Daniels’ night against Auburn.

After the game, coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said that Daniels was suffering from bursitis and that he ultimately made the decision to pull the quarterback. Tigers fans got another reassuring update when Kelly addressed the media on Monday, as he reiterated that Daniels suffered no structural damage.

In an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show later in the day, Kelly said Daniels will play in Saturday’s matchup against No. 8 Tennessee at Tiger Stadium.

“I’ve always felt like there is a difference between being injured and being hurt,” Kelly said. “If you’re injured, our trainers are going to take care of you, they’re going to pull you out of the game. If you’re hurt, they’re going to administer the things necessary and try to get you back in the game. He was hurt but the pain level was pretty high.

“He wasn’t able to finish the game but he’s much better today and he’ll be ready to play on Saturday. That’s the nature of the quarterback, one that likes to get out and run a little bit. He’s gonna get hurt sometimes. He’s not injured and he’ll be ready to go this Saturday.”

This is huge news for the Tigers, as Daniels has been the focal point on offense. He has 900 yards passing and six touchdowns on the year with no interceptions, and he’s also the team’s leading rusher with 321 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Kelly has made it clear that Daniels is in pain, and that will be a situation to monitor. But he’s expected to get the start in Saturday’s matchup between ranked opponents.

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Where does Brian Kelly rank among college football coaches entering 2022

Kelly stands among the top 10 in these rankings from Sporting News’ Bill Bender.

You’d be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of active coaches more accomplished than [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] entering the 2022 season.

The longtime Notre Dame and new LSU head man is the third-winningest active coach in FBS at 263, just two shy of North Carolina’s Mack Brown and six behind Alabama’s [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag]. He’s been named the national coach of the year twice and is one of just seven coaches with multiple appearances in the College Football Playoff, though he’s still searching for his first national title at the Division I level — he won two at Division II Grand Valley State.

Sporting News’ Bill Bender, who listed his top 10 coaches in college football on The Paul Finebaum Show, ranked Kelly at No. 6 entering the 2022 season. That puts him behind Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell.

.@BillBender92 will join us at 4:30 ET to talk about how he ranks the top coaches in CFB heading into 2022.

Who are your Top 5 CFB Coaches heading into next season? pic.twitter.com/Qv09Z9RZxi

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) June 7, 2022

Three of those five have titles, and the remaining two — Day and Fickell — have had very impressive tenures at their respective schools and tout three combined CFP appearances. Interestingly, Kelly ranks just above Lincoln Riley, who left Oklahoma for USC after a flirtation with LSU and was seen a the first choice for Tigers athletic director [autotag]Scott Woodward[/autotag].

Woodward ended up making an aggressive move after all in bringing one of the most touted coaches in the country to the bayou. Now it’s time to see if that “go big or go home” strategy will pay off for LSU as Kelly looks to become the fourth consecutive Tigers coach to win a national title.

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Brian Kelly sheds some light on his Notre Dame exit

Kelly spoke more about his decision to come to LSU.

The most recent coaching cycle will go down as one of the wildest in college football history. We saw several coaches leave big-time programs when most years we don’t even see one.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] leaving Notre Dame was one of those moves and it was surprising as any.

On The Paul Finebaum Show last week, Kelly spoke more about his decision to leave Notre Dame and head to LSU.

“I think there’s a time in everybody’s career where you feel like there’s another challenge out there,” Kelly said.

This echoes comments Kelly has made in the past. It seems like this was a situation where he just felt stale at Notre Dame and wanted to move on.

LSU gives him an opportunity to compete in the SEC every year with a talent pool that is one of the best in America. That is something he lacked in South Bend.

In the interview, Kelly also said that he still cherishes his time with the Irish and they are memories that he will keep forever. There’s no bad blood there, it was just time for a different story.

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Gators legend Tim Tebow speaks positively about coach Billy Napier

Tebow thinks Napier is the right man for the job but that there could be some speedbumps along the way.

There aren’t many names that carry more weight around these parts than Tim Tebow’s. The former Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national championship-winning quarterback for the Gators is a legend in Gainesville, and when he has positive things to say about the man in charge, that can only be a good sign.

In an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Tebow discussed what Billy Napier brings to the table and what he’s seen from the coach so far.

“I’ve had the chance to get to know Napier over the last couple of years,” Tebow told Finebaum, per On3’s Nick de la Torre. “I think he’s a coach that really loves young men. He really loves developing. He loves building culture. I think he’s really excited about this opportunity, and he should be. Florida is a great place. A new facility I think is going to help.”

Napier has spent his entire coaching career preparing for a high profile SEC job like Florida. In his previous stop at Louisiana, he built the largest staff in the Sun Belt and signed the league’s top class three years in a row. But that doesn’t mean Napier’s time at UF will be without speed bumps.

Napier doesn’t have any ties to the school, and after essentially building the Ragin’ Cajuns program from the ground up, he now takes over a program with a breadth of history and sky-high expectations in Gainesville. Tebow said fans should be patient as he navigates this new environment.

“I do feel like there’s going to be some — I wouldn’t call it learning curves because I think he’ll be able to figure that out. But I think getting used to the culture of Florida and everything is going to be really important,” Tebow said. “I think he’s very high-character, he’s done a great job with Louisiana. I think he’s got the chance — but it’s also so different going from a school that is not necessarily a powerhouse to one where there is so much pressure on you.

“That’s when he’s going to need support, you need to have a great relationship with Mr. (Scott) Stricklin, and really understand everything that comes with the Florida job. Because just like any big job, it’s not just coaching. It’s not just X’s and O’s. There’s so many things that you need to do as a head coach.”

Napier certainly has his work cut out for him at a program where the last three coaching hires have failed. But Napier brings something different to the table than those previous coaches, and Florida fans hope they’ve finally found their guy.

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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