Paul Finebaum: 'It was quite frankly shocking' to see Nick Saban outcoached by Jim Harbaugh
Paul Finebaum was stunned to see the respective coaching performances delivered by Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh in the Rose Bowl.
To be fair, most of the country was surprised to see a Michigan squad that looked two steps ahead at every turn considering Harbaugh’s track record. By that same token, Saban’s status as a legendary head coach has long been established, but the Crimson Tide looked ill-prepared from the jump and struggled to make adjustments late.
During Tuesday’s broadcast of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Finebaum confirmed he felt Harbaugh absolutely outcoached Saban, something that felt totally shocking as the Rose Bowl unfolded:
“Being around a bunch of analysts on the field during the game, that’s what I kept hearing from them. And by the end of the game, you can pick a million places if you want,” said Finebaum. “Obviously, players have to execute as you said, but ultimately you expect Nick Saban to outcoach everyone, especially Jim Harbaugh, the one that some of us have maligned and wondered about and pointed out his postseason record. And to see that happen, it was quite frankly shocking.
“I have the utmost respect as all of you do for Nick Saban. We know his record… but yesterday Nick Saban was outcoached by Jim Harbaugh.”
One area Finebaum especially pinpointed for Alabama was the offensive performance of OC Tommy Rees. The game plan of Rees left Finebaum “underwhelmed” as the offensive line struggled and Jalen Milroe never looked settled in the matchup.
“I was underwhelmed, and this is a guy who a lot of us were questioning after the Texas game on Sept. 9. And then the next week, we all know what happened, he pulled Jalen Milroe… What we saw last night was the offensive line of the Texas game, and it’s hard to really put into words the morning after, but Tommy Rees did not dial up a good game,” Finebaum explained.