Alabama hiring Nick Saban changed the college football game forever; everyone knows that. However, before Saban came on board in 2007, Rich Rodriguez, the West Virginia head coach, was quite close to being hired at Alabama. “Rodriguez was very, very interested in the position, and basically gave a verbal acceptance of it,” said former Alabama search consultant Chuck Neinas, who had negotiations with Rodriguez at the time. The move then was fully in the pipeline, and except for a formal announcement, it was pretty much done. However, Paul Finebaum came out of the blue and halted the move as he details 18 years since.
Ian Rapoport, at the time an Alabama beat writer, broke the news of Alabama hiring Rodriguez. According to his sources, Rodriguez, including his family, was on board and was packing for moving to Tuscaloosa. Not just that, Rapoport detailed how the move remained just a “formality,” and all elements, including his assistants joining Alabama, were all agreed upon. Except before joining the program, Rich’s wife, Rita, one odd day, decided to put on ‘The Paul Finebaum Show’ on her TV, and everything went downhill from then on.
Paul Finebaum appeared on the ‘OutKick’ podcast with Clay Travis on Tuesday and was asked about the whole story from Finebaum’s perspective, and he didn’t hold back. “He (Rich Rodriguez) was supposed to be introduced at noon on Friday. Rich, he was going to fly up from West Virginia. On Thursday night, some guy called in our show just railing about Rita Rodriguez, saying that she looks, you know, just attacking Rich Rod’s wife. And Clay, I could have stopped it. Yeah. But it was pretty entertaining. Yeah. I let it go, and then somehow it got to her that I had said it, and the word was that they backed out on that,” said Finebaum. But why the backout?
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Paul Finebaum in Tuscaloosa was extremely popular, and his callers ranged from outright drunk guys rambling about teams to giving polarizing opinions. Rich’s wife might have felt it too mentally exhausting to face those harsh takes every day, navigating Alabama’s pressure cooker environment. In comparison, West Virginia, in the Big East, was relatively calm, and the expectations were easy to navigate. As for Finebaum, while he accepts that he should have stopped the caller, but still takes credit for Alabama’s success under Saban.
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“They literally did not get on the plane that morning that was sent, and it came out about 2:00 as we were coming on the air,” said Finebaum. Clay Travis then asked if Finebaum thinks that he had a role in Saban’s hiring, and Finebaum took some credit. “He, Rich Rod, has tried to tamp it down, but I mean, I lived it in real time. The only other possibility is that Joe Manchin got involved to try to talk him into staying there. But I’m going to side with the fact that I cost it,” said Finebaum. It’s an interesting tale by Finebaum, because before now, the whole incident was just a theory in Tuscaloosa.
Apart from the Paul Finebaum incident, outlets at the time reported that boosters at West Virginia persuaded Finebaum, the head coach, to stay. West Virginia, at that time, was in the midst of three consecutive 11-win seasons, and the program couldn’t afford to lose Rodriguez. So, WVU boosters like the Arizona Diamondbacks managing partner, Ken Kendrick, came forward and essentially gave Rodriguez a blank cheque, including promises to upgrade facilities. For Rodriguez, although he would later leave for Michigan after falling out with the program, the Alabama move went down the drain. As for Rodriguez’s take, the head coach has a different theory about his Alabama move.
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The real reason, according to Rich Rodriguez, for the Alabama snub
Nick Saban’s move in 2007 wasn’t a clear-cut possibility, as he had rejected Alabama when approached for a head coaching job. Saban was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and was in his second season. However, after Rich Rodriguez rejected the Alabama job, the program came for Saban full throttle, and just one month after Rich Rod’s rejection, Saban was finally on board. Now, when you ask Rich Rodriguez about the snub, he has a wholly different picture.
“We were one bad game away from playing for the national title that very next year, so I knew how good we were going to be. Listen, it was still Alabama, and I was very interested. I made that very clear to Mal, but never even visited the campus. I told him I needed to go back to West Virginia before I made any decision. I left New York and went back to West Virginia, and we were getting ready to play in the Gator Bowl, so I had a press conference in Jacksonville for the bowl game, and that day was when a couple of boosters put together a proposal,” said Rich Rodriguez to ESPN. Rich Rodriguez even denies agreeing to “verbal” terms with Alabama.
Whether Finebaum had anything to do with Saban’s hiring or not is up for debate. But watching Finebaum’s show and seeing the harsh takes and banters his callers often take on things can send any coach packing his bags. The veteran journalist didn’t even spare Saban and, in 2022, termed Alabama a “declining dynasty.” Whatever had changed the mind of Rodriguez was for Alabama’s good because from 1997 to 2006, before the Nick Saban era, Alabama had more losing seasons than 10-win seasons. As for Paul Finebaum, he is a hero now for Alabama fans even though he prevented Rich Rodriguez in Tuscaloosa.
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“I was attacked viciously by talk show hosts across the state. Paul Finebaum cost Alabama Rich Rodriguez. Now couple of months later, I was a hero,” concluded Paul Finebaum as Alabama went on to achieve unparalleled success with Saban.