Paul Finebaum shreds Tommy Rees' job performance, calls him 'a disaster' as Alabama's OC

This offseason, Nick Saban needed to replace both coordinators at Alabama. To this point in the season, as the offense has struggled at times, new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has come under the microscope.

While making an appearance on SportsCenter, Finebaum called for Alabama to start Jalen Milroe at quarterback while criticizing Rees, going so far as to call him a disaster.

“The guy who started the first two games, Jalen Milroe,” Paul Finebaum said. “He made plenty of mistakes against Texas, but he has talent. He can run the ball, he can make big plays, and for the life of me, I don’t understand what Tommy Rees the offensive coordinator is doing.”

In the win over USF, Alabama only scored 17 points. That’s the fewest points an opponent has scored on USF since the 2021 season. Coming into the game, USF was giving up 32.5 points per game after playing Western Kentucky and Florida A&M. Through two weeks, that was the 108th-ranked scoring defense in the country.

In the game against USF, Alabama gained 310 total yards while going just 5 for 15 on third down conversion attempts. The Crimson Tide punted eight times and lost a fumble as well.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know what Tommy Rees is even doing there after three weeks. There were jokes on my Twitter timeline about if he’d make the plane coming home and I’m not really sure he should. So far, I think Tommy Rees has been a disaster as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator. He has changed.”

When Rees came to Alabama from Notre Dame, he brought quarterback Tyler Buchner with him. After Buchner struggled against USF, completing just 5 of 14 passes for 34 yards while rushing for 11 yards, Finebaum believes that he went with the wrong quarterback and Milroe should be the starter moving forward.

To this point in the 2023 season, Notre Dame is averaging 46 points per game, led on offense by transfer quarterback Sam Hartman.

“He clearly went with the wrong quarterback in Tyler Buchner. That’s the guy that followed him from Notre Dame. Ty Simpson had some moments but he’s still young and raw, and against big time SEC competition he could be under a lot of pressure. So, Jalen Milroe to me would be the likely starter. But, then again, Nick Saban apparently is only listening to Tommy Rees, which is one reason why I think this program is in such turmoil, right now.”

Robert Griffin III called for Alabama to turn back to Jalen Milroe

Working the game as a color commentator, Robert Griffin III called for Alabama to return to Jalen Milroe at quarterback amid struggles from Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson.

“When you look at what’s happening with Tyler Buchner today and Ty Simpson, there has been nothing to offset any negative plays and poor decisions,” Griffin said. “They’re just playing bad football. Why, in this moment, wouldn’t you put Jalen Milroe back in the football game? He’s clearly shown he gives you the best chance to win.”