Paul Finebaum is hopping aboard the Dabo Swinney-to-Alabama bandwagon. The ESPN college football analyst is a believer in the storyline now.
Swinney to Alabama has long been mentioned as a possibility. Clemson’s head coach played for the Crimson Tide and his family is from the state.
Finebaum says he recently spent some time with the Tigers’ head coach and he’s a believer in the idea now. He says he can feel it.
The SEC Network host discussed this during an appearance on WJOX’s The RoundTable this morning.
“Who knows when Saban’s day will come, but I’m putting a couple of chips down on the longshot now,” Finebaum said. “It’s no longer off the board. It was off the board, but I just saw it. I felt it. You know? His wife grew up in Alabama. His family is from Alabama. That will be a fascinating gravitational pull when Alabama calls and says ‘OK, Dabo. It’s time to come home.’ I don’t know if it would be as absolute [a no] as I thought it would have been a couple of months ago.”
Clemson’s boosters will surely be doing everything they can to keep Swinney. The allure of Alabama just might end up being too strong, though.
“I’m probably going to upset somebody, but it’s Alabama vs. Clemson,” Finebaum said. “It’s no contest if you’re thinking about ‘OK, where do I really want to be long-term?’ And I think because he’s from Alabama I’m going to keep pushing that ball up the hill. And the fact that he’s already won that championship [at Clemson]. I don’t think anybody wants to replace Saban — it’s an impossible task.
“But I will say this, before anyone says it’s impossible to replace Nick Saban, I think the only person who can replace Nick Saban is Dabo Swinney.”
This is going to be a storyline until Saban retires and his replacement is hired. And if you’re Swinney, it’s certainly not a bad problem to have.
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Andrew Holleran
Editor, The Spun
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