Paul Finebaum, from the SEC Network, tells McElroy & Cubelic why Lincoln Riley will be done by year's end, how the vibe was in Austin & Norman as they officially joined the league, and what he wants to learn during SEC Media Days
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All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, 716 a.m. Monday, July 8th, right here on JOX 94.5. He joins us each and every week. Thanks to our friends at Crane Works from ESPN, the SEC Network. You can hear him 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays right here on WJOX. It's Paul Feinbaum. Lift it, load it, grade it, grind it, move it.

The Big Dog's Got It. Paul Feinbaum on Back in Cube in the Morning is brought to you by Crane Works. Lift it, buy it, rent it. The Big Dog's Got It. Now, Paul Feinbaum.

Paul, always great to have you in on a Monday. Going back just a little bit, you were part of the Oklahoma-Texas celebration coming into the league. The turnout there in Austin was incredible. What did you learn? What did you take away? What do you maybe view a little bit differently now that it's official and you had a chance to be around some of the Texas press as they entered the Southeastern Conference?

Cohen, anyways, it was surreal. We've been talking about it for three years and counting down every day on the network, but still, it was...

It was almost hard to believe Saturday. It was almost hard to believe Sunday night standing up looking down over, I don't know, 40 or 50,000 people mulling around that this moment in time had finally arrived. I detected something.

Incredible enthusiasm, exuberant excitement from both Texas people on Saturday, and then we quickly moved over to Norman afterwards. And even though the scene was a little bit different, it was in the middle of the afternoon leading into the official celebration on Monday night, it was...

It was one of the most emotional. Sunday night was one of the most emotional things I've ever encountered in this business. The fact that the reality had arrived and these two incredibly meaningful and historic programs were coming in.

Paul, when you look at just how quickly Texas is going to be able to compete, we've kind of documented that. That I'm not concerned about. I think most people have them in the preseason top 10, top 5, top 3 in some cases. But when you look at Oklahoma, how quickly do you think they'll be able to handle the gauntlet that is the SEC?

I don't think they're that far behind now. Again, sometimes Greg, and you do this as well. You can get a little bit too close to the sun, but I, I sense genuine confidence from, from Brent Venables Monday when we, a week ago, when we talked to him, I think that show in Joe Kistiglione, the athletic director's decision to reward him after only two years, one, including one bad year. I,

I think from a recruiting standpoint, they're, they're, they're on their way. Uh, they took a bump, uh, and it hit after Lincoln, while Riley left, they had to reprogram the entire place, reboot it. And I said, now again, uh, I'm not, I'm not looking, uh, as hard as the X's and O's charts and the depth charts as maybe you guys are, but from where I think they, from a sense of, you know, from a vibe standpoint, I think the program's there. I think this year, uh,

uh if they can land uh somewhere between eight and four and nine and three they'll they'll be okay considering their schedule but but i don't have any doubt oklahoma is clearly on the way back paul feinbaum with us in the buyers right hotline joins us every monday thanks to crane works uh we played the quote from joe castiglione you've heard it you know what it was about how every coach was excited to join the sec outside of the ones that aren't there anymore and it's it's a shot at lincoln riley and

I think the problem with it, Paul, is that it continues to push that cart for Lincoln Riley and maybe what his perception is as a coach down the same path. And it's becoming more of a reality than a perception of him. And it's the word soft that a lot of people are going to use or just maybe not wanting to take the difficult path very often. Can he overcome that? Is it too late? Are we too far down that road? And that's just kind of now what Lincoln Riley sort of is?

I don't think Lincoln Riley has a path back. And what we all sensed on Monday out there was real. This wasn't just the beat up of the coach. I mean, listen, we all lived through that 20 years ago at Alabama when Dennis Franchoni left. But this was even more stark because Lincoln Riley...

was popular. I mean, he was beloved by Oklahoma people. He had taken the program, what, the three playoffs and a couple of Heisman Trophy winners. And he just

He was clearly tucked and ran. And in the parlance of college sports, as most of you know, running away from something is probably the worst look. And that's how they feel about him. And this is an incredibly proud program that has been at the pinnacle of the sport for 100 years. Yeah.

And, you know, it's not a matter of wishing him bad luck out there. That's already happening. And if you look at the reality, the number of players that are bailing on Lincoln Riley in Southern California is startling. I've always thought he was a really good coach, especially on the offensive side. But I don't think anybody today views him in that same realm.

And quite frankly, I think he'll be out of Southern Cal at the end of the season. It's a matter of whether it crashes and burns or whether he just decides he's got to seek elsewhere. But I don't think there's any way he is going to be successful out there. I think that train has pulled out of the station. And if indeed that happens, this is one of the most historic crash and burns in the history of modern college football because –

Five years ago, Lincoln Riley was literally considered among the top three or four coaches in the country. Every time the Cowboys job came around, everybody feared he would leave. But he made a disastrous decision, I think, in the end. But what do you think? I mean, where's he going to go, Paul? I understand the NFL. I mean, does he take a coordinator job? I don't think the head coaching jobs are necessarily going to be there in the event in which he struggles. Where do you think...

going to end up. I mean, his buyout is enormous. I think you said it. And I don't know how you get through that except some negotiated settlement. But I think his only way back is as a coordinator. And

and it doesn't take much, by the way, in the NFL, Greg. I mean, you, you, you become a coordinator and have, have a 15 minutes of success and you can get a bunch of NFL head coaching jobs. And I, I think Lincoln Riley is very smart, but I also think he, he would be better if indeed he doesn't get fired. By the way, I'm, I would have no difficulty as the athletic director at Southern Cal getting rid of him. Frankly, I thought he was on, he should have been on 10 eyes last year. Uh,

And it's just a matter of whether he can stop the bleeding or not. But if you look at his roster right now, he's not a factor in the Big Ten. And that league, I think, will eat him up.

Paul, we really appreciate the time as always. Great stuff. Look forward to see you in Dallas SEC media days. Anything specific you want to try to learn that you're looking forward to hearing? It could be Oklahoma, Texas, a certain coach. What sort of has your antenna up for SEC media days this year?

Yeah, I mean, I think those two go without saying. I think it's how easily I believe Kalen DeBoer is going to move into that chair, succeeding Nick Saban, especially with Nick Saban being

I think that's something I'm fascinated by. And by the way, anyone who doubts that he will have an easy time out there has not been paying attention because the transition has been one of the most seamless I have ever seen in college football. So I think that's certainly a subplot that I know a lot of our listeners here are going to be intrigued by. Paul, always appreciate the time. Great stuff. We'll see you in Dallas next week.

Enjoyed it. Thank you.

And something else that Greg sort of mentioned earlier in the show about the Oklahoma job in the Southeastern Conference. I want to have that conversation about the USC job in the Big Ten. Before we move there, if you're looking to move out of your house, who should you call, Greg? That'd be Crocker Movie Services, our local company owned by an Iraq war veteran, Eric Crocker. Crocker believes in hiring movies you can trust to complete full background checks and run drug tests on every single employee. These are good guys.

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He likes us that much? I guess so. And I appreciate it because I'm filling in for Paul today. So I'll be seeing a little bit more of his show, but obviously not hearing a lot of him 2 to 6 p.m. today. Are you flying to Charlotte? I'm not. I'm doing it from here. That's right. We've got the takeovers this week on television. So it's non-television. So just radio only. But be there doing that. It should be a fun day. We'll have fun with it. But when we come back, I want to finish up.

What Paul said about Lincoln Riley, if you miss that, you probably need to hear what he just said again.

But also, let's take that USC job and ask the same question that Greg just asked about the Oklahoma job in the Southeastern Conference. Where would it rank in the Big Ten? Maybe a little bit easier practice. We'll do that next on Mac and Cube in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kublik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts.

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