Paul Finebaum agrees with Lincoln Riley, believes rushed return could be 'catastrophic' for college football
When it comes to the timeline for a return to college football, everyone seems to have an opinion. The latest big-name coach to voice his opinion on the subject was Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who cautioned against a quick return to campus for athletes.
Interestingly, Riley’s comments came just hours after word was released that the SEC was planning to meet next week to discuss a potential June 1 return for athletes across the conference.
The Sooner coach may not have called out the SEC directly but he did mention the exact timeline for return the SEC is considering.
“All this talk of these schools wanting to bring players back on June 1 is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard,” Riley said on Thursday. “And so, we got to be patient, we’ll get one good shot at it to bring them back at the right time when we are as prepared and know as much about this as we possibly can. But I do believe if we do it right and we don’t get ahead of ourselves that we will be able to play season.”
During a Friday appearance on ESPN morning show “Get Up,” Paul Finebaum was asked to share his response to Riley’s comments.
While many in SEC country have been quick to call out Riley following his recent comments, Finebaum is not among them.
“Well, I think he’s right about one thing, if college football comes back — or this goes for any sport — comes back too quickly and is not prepared, it is going to be catastrophic,” Finebaum said on the show. “Remember the NCAA Basketball Tournament? On Tuesday we were debating fans, on Wednesday we said, ‘Well, we’ll put more hand sanitizer out.’ By Thursday, there was no sports.
“That’s how convoluted the thinking was back then and I really agree with him. Because people need to be very very careful, this goes for the entire country, if you rush back and you’re not prepared, it sets everyone back weeks if not months.”
Without a doubt, that concern has to be on the minds of the SEC leaders scheduled to meet next week in regards to a potential soft opening of campuses for athletes. While everyone wants to see a return done as soon as possible, doing so with minimal risk will be paramount.