Paul Finebaum has long been a mouthpiece for the SEC and has continued to showcase his bias during the conference’s Media Days. You don’t last in a business for 40+ years without knowing how to do your job and doing it well, but Finebaum’s schtick of pushing buttons and making outrageous comments is getting old.
It’s Time for Paul Finebaum To Hung Up the Negativity
On Tuesday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney shared concerns about “unintended negative consequences” from the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, including coaches sitting their best players during “meaningless” regular-season games.
Instead of giving an objective response and detailing why Swinney’s comments are ill-founded, Finebaum outright attacked him.
“Dabo, that is just plain dumb,” Finebaum said on “Get Up” Wednesday. “What happened to you? You used to be a voice of reason in college football, but now you’re the ‘get off of my lawn’ guy. Everyone knows what we’re doing here. Everybody understands that this is essentially the NFL playoffs, and of course, there’s unintended consequences. That is not breaking news, Dabo.”
Then, today, Finebaum doubled down while on “First Take”:
“I found it ironic that Dabo Swinney is upset about the new system. I mean, he hasn’t been to the playoffs in four years, and he is not going this year. So Dabo, just get over it. You are going to be watching it from home; enjoy it.
“This is the best thing that has happened to college football in a long time, and leave it to Dabo Swinney, the curmudgeon — even though he’s in his 50s — telling all the kids to get off his lawn. I don’t know what’s wrong with this man. … Enjoy the $10 million a year and be quiet.”
Yet, it wasn’t the first time Finebaum has doubled down on a comical take this week.
When asked, “How much does Lincoln Riley have to prove at USC this year?” to begin the week, Finebaum unloaded:
“I think he has an enormous amount to prove because, quite frankly, I think he’s been a disaster. Let’s go back three years: Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC. What did Lincoln Riley do? He ran away. … I thought last year was one of the worst coaching jobs I’ve ever seen.
“Quite frankly, had I been the athletic director at USC, I would’ve fired Lincoln Riley because he has yet to show, after many years as a head coach, he knows anything about defense — he’s gone through defensive coordinators; he just simply couldn’t handle it.
“And now things are going to be five times worse in the Big Ten. … This is a guy who owned LA for about half a minute, and next year at this time, I think he’ll more than likely be an assistant in the NFL — if he’s that lucky.”
Even with time to rethink his position and hearing a strong defense from Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, Finebaum reached back into his hater bag on Wednesday, saying, “We all are impressed by what he did at Oklahoma — we’ll give him a parade. But the bottom line is, he ran away from Oklahoma because he was afraid of being in the SEC.
“Last year, we saw a complete and total meltdown, a crash and burn of epic proportions. … They are in the Big Ten, and nobody is going to be talking about them. … I think they are going to run out of patience with him. … I think Lincoln Riley is done at USC.”
But wait, there’s more! Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes became a media darling last year after a 3-0 start. However, the perspective swiftly changed after they went 1-8 down the stretch. Their 2024 outlook isn’t much better than the four wins they produced last season, but due to Colorado’s media spotlight, the program fell into Finebaum’s sights.
“They’re not going to the playoff this year. In fact, I’m not sure Deion Sanders is ever going to the playoffs because I don’t think he has the patience to stay at Colorado long enough. … I know the media loves this story. We fall all over ourselves, but Colorado isn’t important in college football. Deion Sanders is … but Colorado is nothing.”
He went on to call the Buffaloes “an easy win” and “not everybody’s Super Bowl,” referring to comments Shedeur Sanders made last week.
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Continuing his despise for all other conferences, Finebaum took time during Big 12 Media Days last week to take a shot at the league and prop up the SEC.
“I’ll take where the SEC is, adding Oklahoma and Texas,” Finebaum said while on the On Texas Football podcast. “If you spotted me a $1,000, I’m not sure I could tell you the four new schools in the Big 12 right now.”
Finebaum’s relentless negativity and obvious SEC bias have worn thin, and it’s time he reconsiders his approach to covering the sport. However, If there’s one thing you can say about him, it’s that he is consistent.
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