Paul Finebaum puts Thomas Castellanos on blast for shot at Alabama

Thomas Castellanos sent a warning shot heard round the college football world Monday when the new Florida State quarterback declared in no uncertain terms that a likely Top 10-ranked Alabama doesn’t “have Nick Saban to save them” in the much-anticipated season opener between the two bluebloods.

“I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama,” Castellanos told On3’s Pete Nakos. “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”

Of course, Castellanos’ bold choice of words quickly made the rounds in the college football echo-sphere. And now ESPN’s “Mouth of the South” has sounded off on them as well.

“You have one guy that popped off, and I think what he did was he just took low-hanging fruit. … What I mean by that is you’re going with the most obvious thing about Alabama, and that’s Nick Saban, and you just crash the pinata with your baseball bat,” SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Tuesday morning on WJOX’s McElroy and Cubelic In the Morning. “When I saw it yesterday, I laughed. Some people in the media love stuff like that, (but) I think it’s a terrible look for him and for the university. Does it make people mad? Of course. But we’re also sitting here on June 24^th when most of the news cycle has dried up and won’t change dramatically. So, a story like that metastasizes.”

Castellanos is entering his first season with Florida State after transferring from Boston College this past offseason following a rollercoaster 2024 in which he was benched midseason by first-year coach Bill O’Brien, a former Crimson Tide assistant coach.

And while there are still more than two months before Alabama and FSU kickoff the 2025 season in Tallahassee on Aug. 30, Finebaum knows Castellanos’ brazen comments will resonate within the Crimson Tide roster, and provide much-needed additional motivation in the season opener. Especially with the Seminoles coming off a hugely-disappointing 2-10 campaign in 2024.

“And I think it matters. Some people say these things don’t matter, but I know one thing: every Alabama player has read it. They didn’t really need motivation, it’s the first game of the season, but the motivation comes from the perception that Florida State sucks,” Finebaum continued. “They had the worst season that any major team has probably ever had and even somebody like me who’d normally respect a game (like Alabama vs. FSU) … it’s impossible for me to respect Florida State. And his comment just made it even worse.”

Following its troubling two-win season, FSU head coach Mike Norvell made sweeping changes across the board, including hiring former Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator. It was Malzahn’s presence that helped land Castellanos, who previously began his college career at UCF under Malzahn before transferring to Boston College.

Given that offseason overhaul, and last year’s results, Finebaum isn’t expecting much from FSU in their opener, with or without Castellanos’ recent comments.

“I think Alabama will go in there and obliterate them,” Finebaum concluded. “Will this be the deciding factor? No, it won’t be. I just think Alabama has a really good team and I don’t think Florida State is in any sort of condition, this comment or not, to compete with Alabama. So it is going to be a blowout, it’s going to be a wipeout. This comment will be stuffed down his throat like somebody being stuffed in a locker in junior high.”

Will Alabama make Castellanos ultimately eat his own words, or will the new FSU quarterback ultimately have the last laugh? Only time will tell, but it’s clear Castellanos’ bold words about Alabama aren’t fading away any time soon.