When Nick Saban said that Alabama had a “rebuilding year” last season after losing to Georgia in the national championship game, Paul Finebaum was there to push back.
“This is very predictable when you follow Nick Saban closely. Whenever he loses a game, like a National Championship game, here comes the excuse,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up a few weeks back. “Sometimes I don’t know if Nick Saban is trying to continue to be the greatest coach of all time, or if he wants Jimmy Kimmel’s job. I don’t really understand it.”
Finebaum appeared on First Take on Tuesday and doubled down on Saban’s comments, saying that they were “ridiculous.”
“I found Nick Saban’s comment almost as ridiculous as Stephen A.’s sports coat yesterday on his return,” Finebaum said. “It’s absurd for Nick Saban, the GOAT, the greatest of all time to go down that road.”
Finebaum continued to point out that Saban can’t really say Alabama had a rebuilding year when they started out as the No. 1 team in the country. Finebaum also said Saban shouldn’t take about the past when you don’t win.
Stephen A. Smith, on the other hand, defended Saban.
“What Nick Saban is saying it is what it is, that happened, there was reasons and rationales as to why it happened but you have no evidence that he was lying,” Stephen A. said. “He turns around and he corrects it and what does he end up doing? Winning another national championship. As he will do again this year.”
Despite Saban saying his team was rebuilding in 2021, they did crush Georgia in the SEC Championship game while first-year starting quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman. May all college football programs be so lucky in their rebuilding year.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.