Paul Finebaum picks Steve Sarkisian as next coach to win first national championship

Ohio State‘s College Football Playoff championship win over Notre Dame featured a battle between Ryan Day and Marcus Freeman, who were both looking to secure their first-ever national championships as head coaches.

Day’s championship win with Ohio State brings the national championship count among active head coaches back to three: Day, Georgia‘s Kirby Smart and Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney. Former North Carolina head coach Mack Brown was a part of that list before being ousted as UNC’s head coach, who has since been replaced with another coach with championship pedigree, albeit in the NFL, in Bill Belichick.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum had a quick and easy answer for who will be added to this list next.

“I would pick Steve Sarkisian,” Finebaum told Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic on their morning radio show. “I think he’s probably set up the best of any of those who don’t have a title. We’re still getting used to Ryan Day being a national champion It changes the narrative a little bit, doesn’t it?”

It should be noted that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is already a national champion. He was the offensive coordinator for Alabama during its 2020 national championship run before joining Texas to become head coach of the Longhorns in 2021.

Since then, Sarkisian has led the Longhorns to two straight appearances in the College Football Playoffs, including once during the final year of the four-team model. While they’ve failed to advance past the national semifinal in each of those seasons, Finebaum believes Sarkisian is next in the pecking order to etch his name into college football history.

2024 might not have been the right time for Sarkisian to win his first ring as a head coach. When Ohio State and Texas met in the Cotton Bowl during the national semifinal last month, Finebaum said that it was Ryan Day who was facing the most pressure to win now following the Buckeyes’ upset loss to Michigan during the regular season finale.

“I don’t think the weight of the world is on his shoulders anymore. He has the best team,” Finebaum said of Day and Ohio State before the Cotton Bowl. “He has the most talented team. A lot of people have already given him the trophy, so I do think there is pressure there.

“But Sark is also a very successful coach, and a loss here wouldn’t really hurt him. It would hurt the SEC.”

Finebaum was correct in his statement, as the SEC had no representatives in the CFP national championship this season.

Heading into 2025, they’re set to be a major player in the CFP race as Texas is expected to be at the forefront of college football with Arch Manning under center. They have the No. 1 overall recruiting class as of this report and appear to be the team to beat in the SEC next season. Whether Sarkisian can win it all with that group remains to be seen.