Paul Finebaum: 'College football as we know it is on its last breath'

Paul Finebaum sees the writing on the wall. The ESPN SEC expert is exasperated with the current state of his beloved sport. Whether it’s NIL or the transfer portal, Finebaum sees the bubble bursting in the near future.

In an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning on Monday, Finebaum was asked about the decisions of the Cavinder twins and former Kansas State basketball star Nijel Pack to transfer to Miami. Both transfer are believed to be NIL fueled, and Finebaum doesn’t believe that bodes well for college football.

“It’s not only the future, it’s the present,” stated Finebaum, on the topic of athletes choosing schools based off NIL opportunities. “I read something over the weekend from Jack Swarbrick of Notre Dame. Respected individual, highly respected. He said that he thought the NCAA current structure with the Power 5 would be obsolete by the middle of 2030, so that’s ten years off. I think he’s being very generous. I don’t think this is a sustainable model that will last another couple of years.

“Now, it’s impossible to predict the breakup of an organization like this because it moves so slowly. But it is going to come apart. The NCAA is on its last breath. I think college football as we know it is on its last breath. It’s happening with unbelievable speed. Supersonic speed that I could not have predicted.

“When we started NIL on July 1st of 2021, I think the feeling was we take a couple of years, everyone would go slow, but because of what a couple of schools did — legally, I might add — it left everyone else flat-footed. So now, the schools like Miami and others are doing whatever they can. If you’re the Cavinder twins, are you going to stay out in California if you can make the kind of money that they’re making? No. You take the deal. You used to be able to say about being an adult, but you’re only a college athlete once. When you can make money.

“I mean, how many of us are ever going to make the kind of money in our career, that some of these young people are making now? So, they’re grabbing at it. Would a guidance counselor in eight grade have advised this? No. But it’s the free market system.”

Paul Finebaum isn’t the first to relay concerns, and he won’t be the last. Several high-profile coaches have come out with statements, including Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. Time will tell how the NCAA fixes the issue, but one thing is for sure — more change is on the horizon.