Paul Finebaum contrasts the moves by Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly
The 2021 college football coaching carousel is one that won’t soon be forgotten about. With many big-name schools – and big-name coaches – making shocking decisions, there have been numerous changes in the coaching field over the past couple of months.
Of the two most shocking moves made my head coaches this season was Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC and Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU. ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum joined Letterman Row’s The Tim May Podcast to discuss the two moves.
“As far as Lincoln Riley, I think it was a good move,” Finebaum said. “Remember, Lincoln Riley – he was born on third base, just like Ryan Day. Now, he didn’t inherit quite as good a program as Ryan Day did – he inherited a good program that got blown out in the playoffs every year. Ryan inherited a program that’s capable of winning. I just think that Southern Cal is a step up from Oklahoma. It’s like living in an expensive neighborhood – you’ve got the three-bedroom house on the second hole and Lincoln moved to the eight-bedroom house on No. 18. There’s just a little bit of difference even though they share the same key code to get in.”
While Finebaum had quite a bit to say about Riley’s decision to go from Oklahoma to USC and called it the right move, he didn’t say as much about Kelly’s move from Notre Dame to LSU, but did note that Kelly took a step up.
“Brian Kelly’s is different,” Finebaum said. “I’m well aware of where I live in the south, but Notre Dame is sacrosanct. It’s hard to imagine going from Notre Dame to anywhere – even LSU, which is a better football job.”
Tommy Rees details reason he chose to remain under Marcus Freeman
While former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly tried to persuade Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to follow him to LSU, both Freeman and Rees decided to stay put in South Bend – only this time with Freeman being the new head coach and Rees still serving as the offensive coordinator.
During an episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Rees discussed what went into his decision to remain at Notre Dame and work under Freeman moving forward.
“For me, the decision ultimately became how much do you believe in this guy? Right? Because you are putting your trust in him as a head coach,” Rees said. “And I’ll tell you like, I couldn’t be more full steam ahead with that. You know, I think, first of all, he’s a great person. I think that’s the first thing that I try to find. Is this somebody that, morally, is he in the right place? Is he someone you can trust? And like, without a doubt, that’s yes.
“He’s very competitive, which like him and I see eye to eye on a lot of things in that sense. And he just relates to our players and recruits in a way that’s different. I think that’s what ultimately … I believe he can help take Notre Dame to the next level, because of the way he is with our players and the way he’s going to be able to recruit at a high level.”