LSU Football: Paul Finebaum on what could drive away Tigers rival Nick Saban

LSU football wasn’t able to repeat as the national champions in 2020 — thanks to a mass exodus of talent after the 2019 season — but it appears the program is back on track after winning its final two games of the 2020 season.

The Tigers have plenty of talent on the roster.

In fact, I think they have the talent to once again compete for a national championship.

The one potential thorn in the side for LSU is Nick Saban and Alabama.

And unfortunately for the Tigers, that’s a thorn that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

Well….maybe.

What could drive away LSU football’s biggest rival head coach Nick Saban?

SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum is skeptical that Saban will retire in the near future.

On Wednesday morning, during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up show, Finebaum made it clear he doesn’t think Saban is on his way out at Alabama.

“This guy (Saban) isn’t going anywhere,” said Finebaum (via 247Sports). “He’s got a better staff today, he’s got better players than he did two or three years ago when he was still playing for national championships.”

There’s one thing, however, that could drive Saban away according to Finebaum.

“It is going to be name image and likeness,” said Finebaum. “When this goes through in another couple of months, I think it will probably send Nick Saban and every other coach up the wall, and it really depends on how he navigates that issue in terms of how many more national championships he wins.”

I think Finebaum is spot on here (and I don’t say that often…if ever).

The name, image, and likeness rule changes that are inevitable are going to change college football as we know it.

And old-school coaches like Saban could have trouble adapting.

Saban has already indicated that he has concerns about how the NIL changes will be handled.

“My biggest concern is how do we manage this? How do we police it? How do we make sure that it’s fair for everybody,” said Saban last week to reporters.

There really isn’t anything else that Saban can accomplish in college football. He’s reached the pinnacle of the sport so many times at this point that it’s hard to imagine he even celebrates national championships anymore.

Perhaps the headache of managing NIL rules will be what finally convinces the legendary coach to call it quits and spend his fall Saturdays on a lake somewhere.