Paul Finebaum declares the Alabama 'dynasty' over: 'It was done before Saban left'

The Alabama Crimson Tide had one of the great dynasties in college football history under Nick Saban. Now, with him retiring following the 2023 season, there are questions about where that dynasty goes from here.

For his part, SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum declared that the Alabama dynasty is over during an appearance on Get Up. Not just that it’s over now, but that it ended before Saban even left the program.

“We’ve seen Georgia win twice and Michigan win once since Alabama last won a national championship. So, yes, I would declare the dynasty done. It was done before Saban left. It’s really done now that [Kalen] DeBoer is there.”

Nick Saban took over at Alabama in 2007. Since then, he led the Crimson Tide to six national championships and nine SEC championships. That includes an SEC Championship in his final season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Throughout that historic tenure, the longest stretch of time Alabama went without winning a national championship was those final three seasons. Prior to that, two years without a championship had been the longest the Crimson Tide went without a win on the biggest stage.

Finebaum later went on First Take where he continued to argue that college football now revolves around Georgia and not Alabama.

“Alabama has a good team…but the world of college football now revolves around Georgia, not Alabama. They’re good. They have plays,” Finebaum said. “But the dynasty is over and, quite frankly, it’s been over for a couple of years. They haven’t won a national championship since Covid. They have good players. They start this season number five. That just seems weird, doesn’t it, that they’re that low, and while I think they’ll make the Playoff, they better because can you imagine Alabama not being in the first 12-team Playoff?”

Nick Saban is going to be remembered as the greatest coach of his era. Replacing him is no easy task for Kalen DeBoer. However, in his own right, DeBoer has been a consistent winner. He has a 104-12 career record at three stops before Alabama, including the NAIA level and taking Washington to last season’s College Football Playoff. Now, with a talented roster that he inherited from Saban, expectations are immediately high in Tuscaloosa.

Still, Paul Finebaum has recently made it clear that he doesn’t think the Crimson Tide are good enough to win a national championship in Kalen DeBoer’s first season.

“I don’t think this team is good enough. Nick Saban himself told you a couple weeks ago one of their deficiencies is in the defensive secondary. That’s on him, that’s what he used to coach, and he lost his best player, or Kalen DeBoer did, to Ohio State in Caleb Downs,” Finebaum said in a previous appearance on Get Up.

“So I think they’re challenged, I think the schedule is overwhelming, I think they could make the playoffs, but they are not going to win the national championship without Nick Saban. Not yet, at least. The team is very good, but they’re missing some key elements and that’s what happened when Nick Saban left. They lost two or three incredible players and I think [that] could be the difference between making the playoffs and winning the playoffs. Ultimately, Kalen DeBoer is good enough to win at all, but not this year.”

The journey for Alabama to get back to the College Football Playoff and potentially win another national championship will begin on August 31st against Western Kentucky.