Just two weeks ago, longtime SEC Football analyst Paul Finebaum sparked the internet by suggesting that the USC Trojans should fire Lincoln Riley and hire Deion Sanders as the program’s next head coach.
It didn’t take Finebaum long to backpedal on his prediction after many in the college football world called him out for his outrageous claim.
“I don’t want to back away from anything I’ve ever said, but it was the first week of the SEC Media Days, and you guys have been there both,” Finebaum told the GoJo and Golic show. “You start throwing things up against the wall, and Lincoln Riley, I probably got a little carried away. I think he’s a good coach. I don’t think he’s a great coach, and I think his record in big games speaks for itself. I just threw Deion out there, and that was prior to the reporting.”
Finebaum is referencing one of the many reports about Deion and his management of the Colorado roster through the transfer portal, namely The Athletic’s Max Olson, who spoke to former players about Deion’s character behind the scenes.
“I’m just not impressed with what he’s done,” Finebaum said. “And I started talking about the relevancy of Colorado, and his son got very upset, came after me, and so did others. My point is it’s about Deion Sanders, it’s not about Colorado. Colorado is worthless. They don’t mean anything in the world of college football. Deion does, and he needs to show something, and unless he does, I wouldn’t suggest anybody like USC hires him.”
Despite some of Finebaum’s classic statements, like “Colorado is worthless” and calling Lane Kiffin the “Miley Cyrus of college football,” the good people at ESPN decided the best course of action was to sign up for many more years of Finebaumisms on air, after agreeing to a multi-year extension.
