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Paul Finebaum is one of the most opinionated personalities at ESPN and is never afraid to make a bold claim. Just over the last month alone he’s said Nick Saban’s time at Alabama may be running out and that Mike Gundy should be fired for wearing a t-shirt with three letters on it.
Now, he’s coming after NCAA president Mark Emmert due to his lack of leadership when it comes to the upcoming college football season amid the pandemic.
Finebaum recently had North Carolina head coach Mack Brown on his radio show and the two agreed on the idea that there is a lack of leadership in college football and that having one single commissioner, like professional sports leagues, would make things much easier. With the coronavirus being at the forefront of any future plans regarding college football, the scope of uncertainties and informalities across the college football landscape have been put under a microscope.
It’s been very clear that some conferences are operating much differently than others. The Big Ten and Pac 12 have already announced they are going to have conference-only schedules for all fall sports, including football. Other major conferences, like the SEC and ACC, aren’t making a move in that direction, at least not yet.
Finebaum doesn’t believe Emmert has done a good job at all when it comes to balancing the upcoming college football season and the pandemic, nor does he think he’s the person that could ultimately change things for the better. During an appearance on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ on Friday, Finebaum called for Emmert’s firing.
“First of all, it was nice of Mark Emmert to come out of the ‘Witness Protection Program’ yesterday to let us know what we should all know about the college football season,” Finebaum said according to 247 Sports. “He’s the president of the NCAA. He makes $3.5 million a year. And him telling us there is a problem is like a meteorologist telling us during a hurricane that it is raining outside.
“(Emmert) is a complete, abject failure of leadership … quite frankly, I think he should be fired. We might wait until this storm passes to get rid of him, but he has no use whatsoever except taking up airwaves with idiotic, inane and unimportant statements
At the end of the day, this is Finebaum being Finebaum having to put the blame on someone.
When it comes down to it, the uncertainties surrounding the college football season right now far outweigh the certainties. Sure, the idea of having one uniform voice manning the college football landscape makes a lot of sense, but even if that person was Finebaum himself, what difference would it make at this point?
Maybe Finebaum would speak more if he was in Emmert’s position, put out a few extra press releases about what the future may hold, but we’re still a couple of months away from the start of the scheduled college football season, nobody, including Finebaum, knows what it may look like come the fall.
Somebody is always going to find something, or someone, to complain about and this is coming from someone who believes the college football season should 100% be played this fall.
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Mark is an associate editor at BroBible. Follow him on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris for the occasional good tweet. Feel free to contact him at Mark@BroBible.com.