Paul Finebaum means what he says and says what he means. Never one to mince words and hit hot takes on college football, the ESPN national analyst and figurehead in the SEC for a decade-plus said last week that Alabama coach Nick Saban is losing his grip on the national throne and getting his record-setting seventh national championship — sixth with the Crimson Tide — could be more daunting in the coming years.
Finebaum's pick of Alabama to win the national championship this season earlier this month came as no surprise given the Crimson Tide's roster, but additional comments centered around Saban triggered many who still deem the behemoth he has created in Tuscaloosa as the national standard.
“I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to walk it back. I’m not going to, though," Finebaum said recently to ESPN's Kevin Neghandi on the Herbstreit and Pollack college football podcast. "I think it is a narrow window. Only once since he arrived at Alabama has he gone this long without winning a national championship. I know somebody out there in the country is going, ‘Is this guy out of his mind? The guy’s won six national championships in his career, five at Alabama.’ But we don’t judge Nick Saban on the same curve that we judge Kirk Ferentz or anyone else.
"He’s the greatest coach in college football history. He’s had perhaps the most amazing dynasty. If he doesn’t win this year, that’s three years. I’ll repeat what I said the other day, Kevin. A year from now if we’re both able to be having this conversation, I will say Nick Saban goes into next season, where he will turn 70 having not won a national championship in three years. It gets more difficult. He was racking them up with such speed and rapidity. You couldn’t dare say what I said the other day without catching unmitigated criticism. I think you can now.”
In most preseason polls ahead of the 2020 campaign, the Crimson Tide are ranked No. 3 behind Ohio State and Clemson. Updated national title odds last week featured Alabama as the third-most likely program to win it all, too.
"I've covered a lot of coaches in their 60s, and into their 70s, including Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. It gets more difficult, 11-2 was Alabama's record last year and a top-10 finish," Finebaum said on the podcast. "And Kevin, I considered it a failure. By Nick Saban's standards, he had one of the best quarterbacks of all time and he didn't get it done."
Finebaum's original "running out of time" quote in an interview with 247Sports' social distance team is likely fuel to Saban's fire this fall as the Crimson Tide try and make a return trip to the final four after a one-year hiatus.
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June 16, 2020 at 09:10PM
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Paul Finebaum: Winning more difficult for Nick Saban with age - 247Sports
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