Paul Finebaum identifies the one thing that could drive Nick Saban away from Alabama.
Nick Saban has built an absolute juggernaut with his Alabama football program, and ESPN’s Paul Finebaum knows that.
Finebaum’s alma mater Tennessee lost its top linebacker Henry To’o To’o to Alabama in the transfer portal. While nothing seems to be slowing down the 69-year-old college head coach, Finebaum does believe one potential roadblock down the line could get Saban to leave Tuscaloosa sooner rather than later. What on earth could that hopelessly insurmountable roadblock be?
Here is what Finebaum said to his ESPN colleague Mike Greenberg on Get Up! Wednesday.
“Greeny, when the two of us went down that rabbit hole two years ago, he was closer to the end, meaning Saban. I’m going to make you a prediction: 20 years from now the two of us are going to be sitting in lounge chairs in Miami Beach and we’ll be watching Saban win his 24th national championship. This guy isn’t going anywhere. He’s got a better staff today, he’s got better players than he did two or three years ago when he was still playing for national championships but maybe not losing one. There’s only one caveat here that I think could undo Nick Saban.”
Even if his other ESPN colleague Heather Dinich reported it, no, it’s not going to be Jimbo Fisher either; it’s going to be name, image and likeness.
“Heather, with all due respect, you know how much I love you — it’s not going to be Jimbo Fisher. I promise you. It is going to be name image and likeness. When this goes through in another couple of months, I think it will probably send Nick Saban and every other coach up the wall, and it really depends on how he navigates that issue in terms of how many more national championships he wins.”
Here is what Saban said about the NIL topic when speaking with the media last week.
“I’m not sure anybody knows for sure how it will impact it or affect it because we don’t know for sure what the parameters are and what the rules are,” he said. “Look, I’m all for the players. My biggest concern is how do we manage this? How do we police it? How do we make sure that it’s fair for everybody? I think the NCAA has always tried to keep a level playing field for everyone, so hopefully this is not something that — it will be fair for everyone and everyone will have an opportunity to create some value for themselves and their brand. But at the same time, it won’t create advantages for anyone.”
Paul Finebaum identifies one thing that could get Nick Saban to leave Alabama
What has set Saban apart from any of his coaching contemporaries has been his ability to adapt. He no longer runs the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense from his Michigan State coaching days, as Alabama has one of the most high-flying passing offenses in the Power 5 today. Saban has always been a phenomenal recruiter, and since the start of the pandemic, he is an email user.
But what Finebaum is getting at is Saban may not be able to control the impact and ramifications of any NIL legislations passed in Alabama, any SEC states or across the country, for that matter. Think of how Roy Williams was not able to adapt to the transfer portal on the basketball side of things at North Carolina. Evolution is a young man’s game and Saban will be 70 on Halloween.
How Saban responds to NIL legislation will decide how long he wants to keep doing this.
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.