Paul Finebaum on Nick Saban's ESPN debut: 'I thought he was brilliant'

Paul Finebaum was a huge fan of Nick Saban’s ESPN debut during the NFL Draft coverage. Saban, who did television as a guest numerous times while he was Alabama’s head coach, is set to appear on College GameDay this coming season.

Based on the social media reaction, Saban was a hit during the draft coverage on the network. He’ll be on the desk and in studio with the GameDay crew, but Finebaum took it a step further.

Saban could color commentary during games just as well as he crushed it on studio coverage.

“I thought he was great, really,” Finebaum said on McElroy on Cubelic. “And he was exactly the way he was on the field. He was the best at everything he was doing. He broke things down in such a concise and easy to understand way that I really wanted. I mean, he could have a long and brilliant career in broadcasting. The question is, how much does he want to do? 

“But I just think it gave us, if given the opportunity, I think this was the key phrase here Cole, I think he can do whatever he wants in that field … But I think he would also be pretty good at breaking down games while they were going on.”

He impressed On3’s Andy Staples and Phillip Dukes, who couldn’t get enough of Saban’s insight. During an episode of Andy Staples On3 on YouTube, the duo explained what made Saban a special addition to the NFL Draft coverage.

“I was flipping around. So, I watched some of Saban. I watched some NFL Network. I watched some of The Pat McAfee Show, with Bill Belichick. But Saban was awesome,” Staples prefaced. “And how about when Quinyon Mitchell gets picked, he goes, ‘We wanted him out in the portal, but he wouldn’t go into the portal.’”

Even though Dukes is a proclaimed Auburn Tigers guy, he has a ton of respect for the legend, and pointed out some moments on the broadcast that Saban was in phenomenal form.

“Hey, man, I love Coach Saban,” Dukes said. “You know I’m an Auburn guy, but Coach Saban is good. And then that moment was so real to me, because they knew. And then all the when he talked about guys that he actually had the game plan against, like hearing him talk about the game plan for Jayden Daniels you just say and, ‘I was just looking up at the ceiling at night. He had me shook.’ Hearing Nick Saban kind of humanize himself, that was so cool to me. Because when you think about it, he’s probably on the Mount Olympus of coaching, period, not just college coaches.”