“First and foremost, he’s knowledgeable,” says Steve Spurrier, the head football coach at South Carolina and one of the most innovative and successful college coaches of the past 25 years.
“With Paul,” Spurrier says, “you’re dealing with a guy who knows what he’s talking about. But he’ll also be the first to say, ‘I’m not always right.’ You don’t get a lot of that from most sports radio guys, and I think that’s a big reason why there’s an appetite for what he does.”
Tony Barnhart is the long-tenured college sports editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and also writes regularly for cbssports.com.
“You have the right personality, the right location, the right format and as good a cast of characters in his regular callers as you’ll find anywhere – including prime time television,” Barnhart says. “And Paul is absolutely the ringmaster. He’s caustic, sharp-elbowed, and he will eviscerate you if he senses for a second that you’re trying to put something over on him or his audience. Paul’s a pro, and his show is great, entertaining radio.”
Gene Hallman, president and CEO of the Bruno Event Team, a Birmingham-based sports marketing and event management firm. Hallman says Finebaum is “just getting to the cusp of his national growth,” while his influence in Alabama continues to expand.
“In my opinion, Paul is the most influential media person in the state, period,” Hallman says. “I don’t know of another state where that person is a sports broadcaster. It’s a role he’s evolved into. He used to be a flamethrower, but he’s become more of a facilitator. And he’s an intellect. He’s bored, and he knows his listeners are bored by a lot of chatter about who’s going to be the starting center. They can get that anywhere.”
Total Members: