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Alabama

Paul Finebaum explains why Tennessee was Nick Saban's worst coaching performance

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•10/18/22
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ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum has not been shy with his assessment of some of the issues at Alabama this season, and he has been vocal that Nick Saban‘s coaching performance this year has left a lot to be desired.

Following a 52-49 loss to Tennessee on Saturday, which came after two other narrow escapes this season, Finebaum unloaded again on the Keyshawn, JWill & Max Show on ESPN Radio.

“Let’s be honest, Nick Saban’s defense at the end of the game was among his worst coaching series I have ever seen,” Finebaum said.

Tennessee scored on three of its final four possessions, doing so at lightning speed on two of those drives. The Volunteers scored a touchdown on a three-play, 94-yard drive that took 50 seconds off the clock early in the fourth quarter, then engineered an 11-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 49-49 with 3:26 left to play.

Then the back-breaker.

A three-play, 45-yard drive for the game-winning field goal after starting with just 15 seconds left.

Nick Saban’s worst coaching performance?

You know it’s a testament to just how great Saban has been during his 16 years at Alabama when his team is ranked No. 6 nationally and still very much in the College Football Playoff picture and yet some are openly wondering if this is Nick Saban’s worst coaching performance there.

Finebaum has continued to lay the blame at Saban’s feet, unwilling to point the finger in other directions given the consistency with which the Crimson Tide have had issues this season.

“The way this team is playing, they had 15 penalties against Texas and Saban said, ‘We’ll correct all that,'” Finebaum said. “They had 17 penalties against Tennessee. Keyshawn, that’s a bad trendline.”

Alabama currently ranks 128th in penalties per game and 129th in penalty yardage per game.

Saban has now threatened playing time over the issues, but they have been a recurring theme all year despite him sending a strong message to Alabama players about the problems this season.