Paul Finebaum raises question about Alabama, Nick Saban
One of the biggest questions raised both before and after the national championship was as to whether or not the Georgia Bulldogs would become the next dynasty team in college football.
And the team they would rise above by doing so is none other than the Alabama Crimson Tide. College football analyst Paul Finebaum is among those who view Alabama as being on a bit of a downward turn, but he wants to make it clear he’s not nearly as negative about the team as some have made him out to be.
“you guys want to talk about Nick Saban… how has he done without Kirby Smart as his defensive coordinator? Yeah, he beat Kirby Smart and then he won a title in COVID, but the program has slipped,” Finebaum said. “We’re not talking about falling off the face of the Earth, we’re talking about a fraction.”
It will be interesting to see how Alabama bounces back when it gets back to the football field — and especially how it fares against Georgia.
"How has [Nick Saban] done without Kirby Smart as his defensive coordinator?"@finebaum has a question that needs to be answered ? ? pic.twitter.com/zyC29bcA2Q
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 10, 2023
It’s more than a fraction.
You don’t know a thing about a fraction without looking it up. You would still be confused.
Genius reply SDS. You are brilliant.
Let me see; Bama loses by a field goal as time expires; Georgia survives as opponent misses field goal as time expires. Doesn’t sound like more than a fraction to me.
Saban had the best QB in CFB, the top defensive player in CFB, more talent than any team in CFB and still lost 2 games to teams with much lesser talent and almost lost 2 more. The old man is fading.
Georgia is the benchmark of college football.
This season will serve to show whether last season was an “aberration” or a “changing of the guard” in the SEC. Frankly put last year without Bryce Young willing Alabama to victories in 4 games Saban turns in a 6-6 year which in Tuscaloosa ain’t gonna cut it. Now Young and Anderson are gone, folks have serious concerns about the talents and downright competency of Alabama’s coordinators, and UGA just curb-stomped TCU with a hob-nailed boot to repeat as national champions. So……Saban’s got his work cut out for him. On the other side Alabama has the #1 recruiting class and is still………Alabama. Will be an interesting up-coming season.
Saban only needs a DC that can mold all that talent to hold teams under 17 points a game. Then they’ll go back to being Alabama.
He’s still won as many without Kirby as Kirby has. Paul just stirring the pot.
^^ This. Finebaum’s getting a jump on talking season.
Exactly…LOTS of hours to fill up now.
Alabama is still a recruiting machine, but the talent development has definitely declined. Saban needs to upgrade his staff and get better teachers in those roles. That being said, I hope the staff stays intact.
Saban needs to give BOB the boot and bring in Kliff Kingsbury for OC.
He’s not the one failing to develop the line or the receivers. BOB has had success as a HC and an OC. Kliff has always been mediocre.
Kingsbury is a really good QB coach and OC. He’s just not a good HC. Be interesting to see if O’Brien takes a HC job and clears the way for Kingsbury or someone else to be brought in.
Saban is and will always be the GOAT, and playing for a national title in 3 of the past 5 years and winning one is nothing to sneeze at.
UGA is on par with Bama in recruiting, and what I believe helps them immensely is not being in the SEC West.
The Dawgs may indeed be the favorite again in 2023, but I also would not be surprised to see LSU or Bama win the SEC and CFP championships.
If playing in the East helps us immensely, then when we play the vaunted West we should lose then, right? No, what helps us immensely is we have superior talent than almost every team in college football and a coaching staff that is exceptional. If we were in the West, then over the last two years it would still come down to us and Bama. One would enter the playoff an undefeated SEC champion and the other’s only loss would be to the SEC champion. Now, I will say, LSU is on the way back because Brian Kelly is a great coach and great recruiter but for the last two years, we’ve been the best team in the country regardless of what division and conference.
I think the SEC East is weak is an outdated narrative. Best two teams in the SEC this year were UGA and UT. Bottom line.
The SEC is getting stronger from top to bottom with the rise of programs like Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, LSU, Miss St., and Ole Miss. If Freeze continues down the current trajectory and up-grading Auburn’s talent and A&M and UK have “bounce back” years the SEC will be a very tough place to play football. However, right now the two “big dogs” in the conference are UGA and Bama (and I say that not being a Bama or Dawg fan).
Bama has not slipped. The simple fact of the matter is that both Saban and Smart are great coaches with an embarrassment of talent. I’d say they are pretty even right now. If the current rosters play 10 games on a neutral field it probably comes close to breaking right down the middle.
For Bama to stay relevant, according to the national pundits and Finebaum, Bama has to win a natty every other year. Anything less and the sky is falling.
It’s Bama against the world nobody Wants to see them win but loves it when we loose, fans and even broadcasters on tv
Hush SDS. Just hush. You are an old man that needed to work instead of hanging on to your irrelevant program.
Georgia fans are getting cocky now. Alabama? Irrelavant???
Delusional.
Bama is not an irrelevant program. What an idiotic thing to say.
They just reaped the #1 recruiting class. And they still have the top coach in CFB.
UGAletskidsplaywithhisD, amazing you took time out from f u c k i n g children to comment on this! He’s just another UGA p e d o p h i l e hoping to f u c k children as celebration for the win! I bet he secretly acts like he is sucking that Saban d i c k when no one is around cause he can’t keep it out of his mouth!
Someone please ban this dude already.
Finebaum’s just trying to prove he’s not a total Alabama/Saban butt kisser. If Alabama rolls next year…he’ll be the first one saying “see I told you so ….Saban’s still the greatest of all time and Alabma’s still THE program”. If not….he’s setting up his “told you so” moment. Finebaum’s schtick is decades old.
Hey lemmings…Finebaum really knows very little about CFB…don’t let anything he says affect you. Bowlcut owes knows who his daddy is.
Paul is over the hill and needs to retire anyway.
Finebaum,
Smart vs. SEC East, which is historically very close to ACC in football. T
Georgia really talented football team but it was built to look like bama compete with bama and beat bama so it was built by bama
Georgias was no more built by Bama than Bama was built by LSU or Michigan State or Kent State.
Yes, Smart coached under Saban. And learned a great deal from him. As every coach who has worked with him has. They obviously share a very similar coaching philosophy.
Smart isn’t a Saban clone. But I get why you would want to believe what you said.
Orion peace go away as you don’t add anything but blah blah blah obvious talk. Bama is irrelevant during the playoff bc they weren’t in the playoff. Any decent mind would grab that but unfortunately you are a room temp iq UGA grad. Go buy a national title hoodie and hide in it bc you seem like the kinda boy that gets scared to be great.
Nope. Luckily, I live in a free country where I get to talk as well.
I would agree that Bama is irrelevant to the 2022 Playoffs – for the most part. Where did I say otherwise?
I don’t wear hoodies. And I haven’t been a boy for a very long time.
They don’t have the top coach in football. He resides in Athens. Stop being dumb. Don’t mistake what used to be with what is present. Kirby recruits better bc he’s had the number 1 class 3 of his 7 years at UGA and he doesn’t miss on his elite recruits. Nick does over and over. If you were more than just a casual fan and studied you’d know that. Go to your womens office party and talk about football, not here. That’s a better place for you.
You said Kirby recruits better: Alabama just hauled in the #1 recruiting class. And in 2021. Texas A&M took #1 in 2022. Georgia was either 2 or 3 those years.
And Kirby has missed on his elite recruits. He went pretty hard for Manning. Archie is going to Texas.
I’m not a casual fan. And I know all those things. I just don’t wear red-colored glasses. I deal in facts.
You have some issues you should probably deal with. Good luck with your therapy!
You can’t argue with a troll OrionPeaceUGA. This clown UGAplaysD is waiting on his SSI check each and every month.
He thinks he has the satisfaction and glory on calling me on old man. That doesn’t bother me in the least. Been called that before. He is the one that is a small irrelevant keyboard warrior troll.
I bet I bring home more money in one week than you do in two months. Still waiting on your minuscule government check?
Hardly. UGA was “built” with 130 years of great football tradition stemming from great head coaches like Wally Butts, Vince Dooley and now Kirby Smart and Kirby Smart’s ability to recruit, build a culture (like he saw as a player at UGA and as he saw Nick Saban do at Alabama), hire great assistant coaches and develop players. UGA’s QB who just won his second national championship was a walk-on who in his own words…”worked hard and kept his mouth shut”.
Roster retention. If Georgia replicates Saban and Bama’s success, it will depend greatly on that factor. And with NIL, it will become increasingly difficult for any team. Kirby is an excellent coach. There is no disputing that, but today’s kids are not necessarily interested in alma mater or a specific coach.
Saban lost two games….might as well hang it up and walk away in shame. There is no way to bounce back from that.
Love the sarcasm.
Bama has not slipped. They have first rounders on both sides of the ball. They did not play their best against Tennesse or LSU defensively and lost. Sometimes team don’t play their best and lose and sometimes they win (see us against Missouri).
We have been nipping at Bama’s heels since 2017 because we came up to their level. Their sustained dominance makes them the best program of the last 15 years but for the last two years, we’ve ruled college football. In 2023, they are going to try to take it back and we’re going to try to keep it!
This off season will be FILLED with a level of anticipation for the upcoming season for me that is unlike any other in my lifetime. Is Tennesse actually back as a SEC contender? What will Auburn look like? Is Jalen Milroe ready for prime time at Bama? Is Carson Beck ready for prime time at UGA? Has South Carolina really turned the corner? Is A&M ready to win beyond a recruiting battle? Will LSU become Bama’s biggest threat in the West?
So many questions for next season. That’s why we watch the games.
No issues here. You are acting like a meek UGA fan. Be proud. I’m not stating Kirby hasn’t missed in recruiting but rather he identifies talent better than nick and the others. The list is long of all the recruits that nick has missed on with their potential and level of play. Kirby however has nailed it with identification and development of his players, hardly a miss. UGA had the number one class in 2016, 2018 and 2020 but what these classes look like or rather play like for UGA a couple years later have been far superior than nicks and others.
I have no idea what the heck you are even talking about.
I’m proud of the team’s successes. But it is completely arrogant, short sighted, foolish, and insane to think UGA will never lose another game or that Kirby is infallible. Which appears to be the ridiculous standard you think a “true” Georgia fan should have.
UGAplaysD’s mommy needs to step in and take his “puter” away.
I tried to explain what seems obvious to you but it’s awaiting moderation. Go figure. You just aren’t so sharp Orion. No one said UGA has been placed by me to a ridiculous standard. They will lose again that’s for sure. But this program has underachieved for years and now we’ve got a coach congruent to its ability to have apex success.
You have actually implied in your attacks on me that Georgia and Kirby are beyond reproach or criticism. If that isn’t what you meant then you should probably choose your words more carefully. Specificity matters.
That aside I never said that CKS wasn’t an amazing coach. History may eventually prove that he is one of the best all time college football coaches. But we aren’t there yet. There’s not another coach right now I would rather have at Georgia.
And I completely agree that Georgia has underperformed in the past. Some of the underperformance was under Kirby. I think he has adjusted his philosophy a bit and is much more aggressive on offense than he was earlier in his tenure. I think Monken is a BIG part of that.
Here’s to future success and hoping for a 3-peat. With the schedule this year we have a better than a good shot to make it to the SECCG. Not sure yet what we will get from Kentucky with Coen coming back and Milton replacing Hooker. Looking forward to finding out.
Finebaum is a fan of who ever is winning.
The BamaTurds go 9-3 or at best 10-2 next year.
It’s gonna be brutal and fun to watch the meltdowns!!!