Paul Finebaum explains why he believes Nick Saban will be good on TV, as analyst
Although Nick Saban won’t be on the football sidelines in the upcoming season, Paul Finebaum doesn’t expect the former Alabama head coach’s success to slow down. During an appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning,” Finebaum explained why he believes Saban will be an excellent analyst.
“I think he’ll enjoy it because, as you know Greg, it goes right to the core of who he is. It’s preparation. It’s delivery,” Finebaum said. “Nick Saban is eminently prepared for what he’s about to do. He will be the most prepared person in television — maybe other than Greg. He will be meticulous. He’ll be analytical at a level that we’ve never seen or heard before.
“The issue is, and we’ve all been there, where we have to sit and listen to people patiently, sometimes intelligently, and sometimes they’re rambling about things which they don’t really know very much about or haven’t been paying attention, I think that would be the frustrating level… I don’t know if Saban will follow that and will be as patient as we were.”
Saban retired on Jan. 10 after leading Alabama to another appearance in the College Football Playoffs. Only 28 days later, ESPN announced that Saban will be a host on College GameDay in the upcoming season.
Saban will bring a wealth of college football knowledge to the show. Saban coached 50 years at the collegiate level and won seven national titles, the most ever by a collegiate coach. Of course, to achieve so much success, Saban didn’t have time to suffer fools.
Nick Saban must be patient in his new role
Finebaum believes Saban may not enjoy dealing with rambling co-hosts or under-prepared analysts in his new role. Nonetheless, Saban has already shown an aptitude for the position. The 72-year-old covered the 2024 NFL Draft and the SEC Media Days.
In July, Finebaum reflected on covering the SEC Media Days with the legendary coach.
“I think he had fun with it,” Finebaum said. “He was in coaching mode and even when we were doing the show we were doing, he had the rundown in front of him. He had all the notes, and he noticed very quickly that we didn’t do what we were supposed to do.
“I had a great time with it. But, I wonder how he’s going to react with the producers because he is a perfectionist, and they better be as well.”