Paul Finebaum reacts to Kirby Smart’s perceived jab at Nick Saban

Nick Saban’s Italian vacation made its way around social media as Alabama fans recognized the legendary head coach and shouted “Roll Tide” at him. It led to a possible shot during SEC Media Days from Georgia head coach Kirby Smart during his opening statement.

“My wife wants to go to Italy and the Amalfi Coast, and instead we spent it in Mississippi for five days in Southaven,” Smart said. “I enjoyed every minute of that.”

To SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum, it looked like a shot at Saban’s European excursion.

Finebaum explained his thinking during his regular appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Monday, pointing out the timing of Saban’s vacation while Georgia is getting all the buzz as a national title contender. However, he understands why the coach would take the vacation — Saban said it was a 50th wedding anniversary present that got delayed by the pandemic.

That said, Smart saw an opportunity and took it.

“Of course that’s a jab,” Finebaum said. “And by the way, I dare say 13 SEC coaches took curious note of Saban going to Italy. Nick Saban approached it very head-on. He talked about COVID putting off their anniversary plans. But I still think — and by the way, I don’t want to take Nick Saban’s three weeks in Italy away from him. He’ll never get them back. But it was curious, especially at a moment like this where another school in the SEC projected to finish higher.

“I wouldn’t have talked about it, but you knew he was going to be asked about it. I found it curious that he gave such a travel log of a place that I’ve never been and most of us haven’t been because quite frankly, it’s outside the average person’s budget to take a three-week trip to Florence and Tuscany and Milan and go to the Ferrari plant. Those aren’t just things you roll out of bed and go do. But again, he’s entitled to it, he’s deserving of it. But yeah … did Kirby Smart score a minor point there? He probably did.”

While Georgia looks for its third consecutive national championship, Alabama is in a different spot. The Crimson Tide were picked to win the SEC West, but lose to Georgia in the SEC Championship in the preseason media poll. It marks the first time since 2015 the media didn’t pick Alabama to win the conference title.

That speaks to the different positions Alabama and Georgia are in this season, and why there’s so much attention toward Saban and Smart on the national landscape.

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