Hour 3: David Cloninger of Post & Courier Joins the Show - The Paul Finebaum Show

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[00:01]
Announcer
Get your tickets now for the Dog Stars.
[00:06]
Paul Feinbaum
It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear out there. Kill or be killed.
[00:12]
Announcer
Jacob Elordi.
[00:13]
David Cloninger
There are people out there.
[00:14]
Paul Feinbaum
They need our help.
[00:15]
Announcer
Josh Brolin.
[00:16]
Rich Eisen
Shoot first and inquire afterwards.
[00:19]
Announcer
Margaret. Quality.
[00:20]
Swamp Dog
Okay, Tough Guy and Guy Pierce.
[00:23]
Bash
Arm up.
[00:24]
Announcer
The Dog Stars Directed by Ridley Scott. Theaters Aug. 28. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parents.
[00:32]
Podcast Host
The pride, passion and pageantry of college football lives here. This is the Paul Fine Bomb show, our three podcast.
[00:46]
Rich Eisen
This might be college football Carolina, the
[00:49]
Paul Feinbaum
last two open practice today and we'll talk about them in just a few minutes.
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Caller Bobby
Let's check in with Bobby, who's in
[00:56]
Paul Feinbaum
South Carolina this afternoon.
[01:00]
Caller Bobby
Hey, thank you for taking my call, Paul. I enjoyed your interview last night with the.
[01:07]
Swamp Dog
Yeah,
[01:10]
Caller Bobby
yeah. And, and you did you do the best with the coaches, you know, interviews, and I think that's your. You get to the point with all of them and it seems so comfortable. But the, the ones I'm seeing, the coaches, I see you interviewing from Alabama this year, not a pick fan, not an Alabama fan, but I just see. But the Alabama fan coaches and I hope their offensive line is not eating at the same lunch line they're eating at. You just seem so stressed, Paul.
[01:47]
Paul Feinbaum
They are a little bit worried. Well, you know, Alabama fans are not, are not used to having any questions. They're used to bellying up to the bar in late August and proclaiming another national championship.
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Caller Bobby
Yeah, well, I think you can kind of tell that. But I enjoyed your interview with the pit coach.
[02:14]
Swamp Dog
Very relaxed.
[02:15]
Caller Bobby
And that's what my comment was because those, you bring out the best in the, in those things. And even I heard you, you were talking about a week or two ago about the, the, the Notre Dame teams and stuff, but back in the day, those were the teams, I mean, you know, and everything coming along now the Penn State and back in the day was the teams. And I've never been, I've always been a South Carolina fan, but I enjoy your interviews with the teams that kind of go outside of the SEC and because I think it's all kind of combined.
[03:00]
Paul Feinbaum
Bobby, thank you very, very much. That's one thing we try to do this week every year, and I think we have one more guest coming up next week. But it's just, I mean, I don't know that much about Pittsburgh and I certainly don't want to subject the audience to a breakdown of their starting lineup, but sometimes the personalities are really fun to talk to. Thank you for the call. Appreciate it. Let Me check in with Dan in Florida. Hello Dan, Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mr. Feinbaum.
[03:31]
Caller Dan
How are you doing?
[03:32]
Paul Feinbaum
Fantastic, thank you.
[03:34]
Caller Dan
Good, good. First time caller. Want to thank you for passing your knowledge of college football along to all of us fans out here. It's a pleasure to get your information. I do have one issue and that's scheduling. Watching your show, putting up the team schedules and mentally just going through and checking out competitive games in the 12 game season. Happen to see Oregon and Notre Dame,
[04:09]
Paul Feinbaum
it looks as though they have at
[04:11]
Caller Dan
the very most one or two competitive games on their schedule. The sec, just about every team has anywhere from three to eight competitive games on the schedule. How can you even with that broad of distance between the competitive games, how can you even get a comparison on that?
[04:41]
Paul Feinbaum
Well, I, let me, let me address Notre Dame first. We all know their schedule is different. They're not in a conference. They had the Southern. Calgary. Well, yeah, I would agree. And then they, they use this ACC five game schedule and sometimes they're, it depends on which five they get this year they get Miami, I'm pretty sure. So they'll have that game they don't have. Notre Dame schedule is pretty weak. They, they used to play a better schedule. I mean Wisconsin, now again, I can't. Wisconsin years ago would have been a good game, but that program is a shell of itself. So yeah, Michigan State used to be good, now they're terrible. Purdue never good. And you know, Stanford's one of the ACC teams. They do play byu. Now let me stop right there. That is a very competitive game. Miami obviously is. Navy has been good. SMU is pretty good. I mean that schedule is not great primarily because Wisconsin and Michigan State are just terrible. But Oregon schedule is a little bit different and I'll explain why. Boise State is a very good game. Now Oklahoma State isn't. That used to be a good game. But at Southern Cal, at Illinois, at Ohio State, those are pretty dicey games. Including Michigan at home and Washington at home. And Nebraska, I think their schedule is pretty favorable. But Boise State is one of the tougher non conference games anyone is playing early in the season.
[06:31]
Caller Dan
Like I said, there are anywhere from three to eight competitive games on their schedule for the whole year.
[06:38]
Paul Feinbaum
No, it's, it's not like it's not like a Texas schedule. Yeah, no, I'm with you on that, Dan. Thank you for the call by the way. Appreciate it. But I happen to think that Oregon's, I mean we talked about Penn State the other day. If Penn State had this year's schedule. James Franklin would have would be assured of another year because they don't play anyone. Bobby is in Oregon and you are on the air. Hello, Bobby.
[07:07]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
Hey, thanks for taking my call. I just, just a lifetime of being a Michigan fan. I would just say pump the brakes on this whole Whittingham. I think he's a very respectable coach. I think anything is going to be better than Sharon Moore at this point. I think Michigan in general, I think we'll find out when they, when Oklahoma comes into town that second week, I expect Oklahoma to beat him, you know, handedly probably 20 points. I think Whittingham, let's not forget he had a perfect season in the Mountain West. He ended it in the Sugar bowl beating Nick Saban 13.
[07:52]
Caller Rick
Oh.
[07:52]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
So I mean he's had quite a career. He's going to bring a hellacious defense. But I think ultimately this whole Jim Harbaugh era and the AD and everything associated with it, I think the best thing Whittingham could have done was move on from the quarterback. That Underwood is the most overrated quarterback in my history that I've ever heard of. He wasn't very good last year. He's more of a running threat. Whittingham likes running quarterbacks, but when he's ever won a league championship, it's always been with a pocket passer. So anyway, I think, I think the Michigan fan base is going to be finally want to get rid of everything associated with, you know, this past and I think the clock is ticking on the new AD and bringing in a new era for Michigan athletics. Just my take, Bobby, thank you.
[08:52]
Paul Feinbaum
Appreciate it. We are heading to a break right now. We'll take a time out, come back and talk about South Carolina with David Koninger covers the team and has done so for a long time.
[09:07]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum show podcast.
[09:15]
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[10:18]
Paul Feinbaum
Headline 4 pressing questions as Gamecocks begin practice. David Cloninger is with us and some of the questions are like, what about the inconsistency? 5794, 4, 8. What is with this program? I know it's always been like that. David told us that the last time we talked to him. He's covered the team for a few years. David, good afternoon. Let's talk about what's at stake here and what can the Gamecocks do? Because I get, I'm tired of this question, like, is Shane Beamer on the hot seat? Based on what you told me a few weeks ago, if he just shows consistency or an improvement, he probably won't be. So take it from there.
[11:03]
David Cloninger
Absolutely, Paul, and thanks for having me on again. It's pretty simple, you know, they need to have a winning season. I think even, you know, just slightly above.500 season will have Shane Beamer back here next year. It's just, you know, coming off 9 and 4, you can't go 4 and 8. Even at a program like South Carolina that has routinely been inconsistent throughout its 130 plus year history. So he has a winning season and he does have the schedule to start off toward a winning season. You know, everything will be fine.
[11:33]
Paul Feinbaum
Let's talk about schedules because they're so critical, especially to changing the perception. As you, as you look at that schedule, and I'm sure you've seen it 100 million times, it's almost impossible not to get off to a good start. I mean, if this program isn't three and oh, going to Alabama, we'll both be equally shocked. But what happens then?
[11:57]
David Cloninger
Well, that's a great question, Paul. Obviously it's not easy for visiting teams to beat Alabama. I know Oklahoma did it last year and in 2024, South Carolina was within a fourth quarter turnover of doing the same. But they didn't do it. They lost that game, still ended up winning nine games. So you look at the Alabama game and most people say that's probably a loss, myself included. But then you come back the next week and play a Kentucky team that's breaking in a new quarterback, a new coach. You get that game at home. So you look at it and say one of Shane Beamer's biggest problems at South Carolina has been getting off to a slow start. You can get off to probably a 4 and 1 start this year and then you can really start to see the season ahead of you. To me, it's that hinge of back to back games against Florida and Tennessee, Florida on the road that will really kind of determine whether this season could be good or really good.
[12:48]
Paul Feinbaum
If they end up exceeding expectations and getting across that.500 line with seven or eight wins, what would be the reason? Is it, is it the defense? The all world player on defense? Is it the all world players on offense? It has to be more than that though.
[13:04]
David Cloninger
Oh sure. And I think that obviously Kendall Briles comes in here as offensive coordinator with some very high expectations. Lenora Sellers, not necessarily feeling the heat or the pressure to do better than he did last year, but just to get back to playing the kind of football that he did in 2024 when they won six straight to end the regular season. I think that the offense will be that, I guess the, the, the pushing forward the process to get them to that really good season because the defense really the past five years has been very, very consistent. So as long as they have that offense figured out and you would have to look at the schedule and say for the first two games, you should be able to figure it out, that will be the reason that they can win seven, eight, nine games.
[13:47]
Paul Feinbaum
And I mean South Carolina has had a history, as you well know, of nearly losing some of those early season games that they're not supposed to. Is it Kendall Brauls? Is it the sense of urgency? What do you think it's going to be that pushes this program up the hill?
[14:05]
David Cloninger
Well, you do have a lot of veteran talent back. Paul. Shane Beamer was just saying yesterday, immediate day they had really four seniors who started last year. They will be in position to have on the two deep depth chart this year, maybe triple that number. Now, some of those guys have come from the transfer portal and haven't necessarily played here or in the sec, but they do have a lot of guys who have been around this program and in the SEC and played in those arenas. So I think that if you have that senior leadership, you have that dynamic offense that Kendall Browse is expected to have and quite frankly is getting paid to have, then you could have a very, very strong season here.
[14:43]
Paul Feinbaum
So David, talking to David Kloninger, I want you to explain something we talked about a few weeks ago and that's the mindset of this program. I was like a lot of fans, the got to do this, got to do it. But you, you laid it out in a, in a very succinct way about why this program and Shane Beamer can survive with maybe the minimum expectation, seven wins or even eight. Where a lot of fans go, we got to do better than that. What is it about South Carolina and the expectations that seem a little bit different than a lot of the programs around?
[15:19]
David Cloninger
Well, I think you just have to look at past history, Paul. I mean, we're talking about a program that in over 130 years of football has one conference championship. Now, granted, they weren't in a conference for all of those 130 years, but they were for the great majority of them and they've got one. And since their Life in the SEC, which is over 30 years now, they've got one division title and played in the SEC championship game once. So I realize that a lot of people say, oh, history shouldn't be a deterrent, especially with the transfer portal, especially with nil and revenue share, and maybe we will see that day come here. But the fact is, is that during that nine and four season, it was great. And people expectedly said, you know, it could be even better next year. I mean, sometimes that happens and sometimes it didn't. And South Carolina did not answer the bell. They had a lousy season last year and it just kind of reversed back to what has by and large been the norm around here. That there are pockets of greatness, but there's not sustained consistency. So I think fans want to see it. But with me, Paul, you know, having been around here for so long, I say really, I understand that you want to have more, but in terms of just expectations year to year, it should be that most every year you win more games than you lose. And occasionally you beat that team in the upstate for the rivalry game because that makes people feel really good. And that's something that people can remember through the off season, especially if they don't have much else.
[16:43]
Paul Feinbaum
That team that you alluded to, Clemson, Asperrier, was leaving, the dynamics of that rivalry changed because South Carolina owned that rivalry for a considerable number of years. And then Clemson went on that run, winning two titles, being in the championship game almost every year, and then they collapsed and South Carolina has picked up a couple of critical wins even up there. How does that play into this mix? Assuming it does at all?
[17:13]
David Cloninger
Well, I think it's always going to be important, Paul, even though there are, you know, some, some folks coming in, in the university say, man, just what fixation on Clemson? Well, it's Very simple. For a lot of years, that's all they had. That was the kind of the reasonable thing that you could do to try to win bragging rights instead of trying to do something further. But especially, and this is not just football, but across the board, you have taken better steps, bigger steps. You have won national championships in women's basketball and baseball. So it's not just about winning the rivalry game anymore, but football. It's kind of been that thing of, well, if you can do better. And Steve Spurrier did it best. He won five in a row, which is something that had never been done on South Carolina side in the history of the rivalry. It did become a start to become expected. But then as you mentioned, Clemson went on that eight year stretch of dominance, that Shane Beamer was the first guy to break that run in 2022. So it is kind of a thing of measuring yourself against Clemson, but that's just for state bragging rights. I think we all understand now that the team can be capable of doing more and that's what the fans want, to just keep being consistently good and doing more than just beating Clemson and being a major player in the sec.
[18:24]
Paul Feinbaum
Beyond Clemson, everything is changing because that game against Georgia used to always be the opener and that was a big deal because of the proximity. Is there another game now on the schedule that has significant meaning other than the Upstate rival?
[18:39]
David Cloninger
Well, I think just because the schedules switch around so much now, Paul, it does become a little jumbled. I mean, South Carolina does have a lot of rival rivalry taste with Tennessee. They did play Florida, you know, for consecutive years so many times. Kentucky has become a pretty good little rivalry because of the, the little spat between Mark Stoops is no longer at Kentucky and Shane Beamer. But you know, the schedule's changed so much that when the SEC tried to manufacture rivalries, South Carolina versus Arkansas every year, South Carolina versus Texas A&M every year, South Carolina versus Missouri every year. It didn't really take. You can't just, you know, create a rivalry. You have to have been bred in it. So after taking a couple of years off from playing Georgia, I can tell you there are a lot of people down here looking forward to that game, especially being at home. But also they do kind of welcome the return of Tennessee and Florida to the schedule. Not so much because like, oh, you should win those games, which they've got a real good chance to do this year. But it's more familiarity. Those teams were all together in the old SEC east and a lot of fans got used to making that trip to the knocks war gains for every couple of years.
[19:47]
Paul Feinbaum
So David, you're the most reasonable person I've met covering an SEC team and so I want to put you in a position to try to help us. I know what your, what the expectations are. I know what the invisible line is. What do you think this program is going to end up doing this year?
[20:07]
David Cloninger
I just think you start at that midpoint line of 6 and 6 upon and just say, okay, what could add to that? What could subtract for that? I can certainly see this team winning seven games. I can certainly see this team winning nine games. If everything breaks, I would say for myself the ceiling would be a 9 and 3 regular season and just on the edge of a playoff berth. And then if everything bottoms out, I would say probably the floor would be 5 and 7. Just because as I said before, there's really no reason why this team shouldn't be 4 and 1 after the Kentucky game. And you got to figure they'll win one more game at least, right? So to me, it's going to kind of hover in between that 5 and 7 and 9 and 3 mark. But mostly I would say in my gut right now as we speak, from what I've seen against South Carolina, I'm looking at 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4.
[20:56]
Paul Feinbaum
And based on your own rule, that would give it, that would, that would end the conversation at least for a year for Shane Beamer. Thanks David. Really great to see you, a realistic reporter covering the sec. This is unusual that somebody thinks a coach can win seven games and survive. We'll take a break. More of your phone calls straight ahead.
[21:19]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum show podcast.
[21:25]
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[22:49]
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[23:13]
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Auto parts.
[23:19]
Paul Feinbaum
We are back and it's great to have you with us. A busy day of guests. Let's hit the calls right now and check in with Jim in Texas.
[23:29]
Caller Jim
Hey, Paul, thank you for taking the call.
[23:31]
Paul Feinbaum
Thank you.
[23:33]
Caller Jim
So hopefully you're doing better than I am on Friday. I am so worn out by politicians,
[23:41]
Caller Rick
coaches,
[23:44]
Caller Jim
the NCAA and all, you know, these bills that they want to pass that it sounds like you had read kind of some of the bill and you got to kind of just, just almost laugh at it because they're cobbling stuff together. They're acting like they want to save college sports, but a lot of the stuff in that village doesn't make sense. But that was really the reason I called. It's just I was listening to the
[24:07]
Caller Wild Bill
last,
[24:10]
Paul Feinbaum
not to get off subject, but you're right. I mean, but it's typical. And, you know, listening to Ted Cruz and others say that college sports is dead without this bill is true. I mean, I don't want to say that's one of the 10 greatest lies Ted Cruz has ever told, but it would certainly be in contention.
[24:29]
Caller Jim
Oh, you bet.
[24:30]
Caller Bobby
You bet.
[24:30]
Caller Jim
And I, and I've been trying to contact this, this is how well they operate. I've been trying to contact his office for a month, sent numerous emails, numerous phone calls. And it was about the, the one transfer rule. And at first one of the guys told me that it was retroactive. The players who had already transferred once would not be eligible. And I was like, wait a minute. I need, I need so verification. I want, I want to get, you know, some feedback on that. So it took about a month. And I finally got a hold of you yesterday, somebody and they said, well, it's moving forward. It'll be so it won't count against people. And I was like, okay, well, that makes sense. But that's not.
[25:07]
Paul Feinbaum
Hey, Jim, let me give you, let me give you some advice.
[25:10]
Bash
Call.
[25:10]
Paul Feinbaum
If you call Cruz's office again, just say you're calling from the Fine bomb show and you want to book him for our show. He'll answer. He'll answer in about 10 seconds.
[25:18]
Swamp Dog
Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.
[25:19]
Caller Dan
Yeah.
[25:20]
Caller Jim
Yeah, he's hard to get a hold of. But, but then as far as so, so many things, like if you look at what's happened this year just from that and this is like. And then I'll get to the main topics. I know you're, you've got a lot people waiting. But, but if you don't get the athletes involved in some way, shape or form, it's. It's just going to be injunction, lawsuit after lawsuit, injunction after injunction. Because what you've done, what's happened this year, they've taken a transfer portal away from players that they put in the play. That wasn't a players deal. They, they granted that to the players. Now they pulled the spring portal back. And the one thing is, with that, there's a lot of people that aren't involved. Like I say, I don't know if I mentioned I have a son that plays division one colle. And so what they don't, what isn't addressed and isn't addressed in this bill is when people are going through the recruiting process. Coaches promise kids a whole lot. And in today's day and age with the rev share with the nil, kids are promised a lot. And then when they get to school, everybody thinks you sign a contract and that you're guaranteed that money. That's. That's not the case. That doesn't happen. You get there. Your promise of and then you get there and when the first check is supposed to show up, they tell you that's not going to happen. We didn't get the nil that we thought we were going to get a rev share had to go to this, this and this. So you're not getting what we promised you. And that was why the spring portal was always important, because then players could, could judge if that coach was honest and go, I don't think I want to play for this guy. That's gone now. And so, so that was one aspect of it that a lot of people that aren't involved in it just don't know. And there's not as much money in college football as a lot of people on the outside think. I mean, there are starters in the group, in the group. Of six that are making $500 a month. So, I mean, I don't know if a lot of people knew that.
[27:16]
Paul Feinbaum
That was a great call, Jim. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. Be well. Let's check in with Bash, who is still in Alabama.
[27:23]
Bash
You say that that's a bad thing, Paul. It's sweet home, sweet home. It can't get any better than this is why you left North Carolina to come back to Birmingham.
[27:32]
Paul Feinbaum
True.
[27:32]
Bash
So I agree with you on that, Paul. But someone earlier this week recognized me. He's like, what do I know you from? And I'm like, I don't know. Do you watch SEC network? College football? So I was like, you're on the fanbomb show already. I'm like, yep, I am, sir. So he reminded me of this joke, Paul that he remembers because he's a fan of the show. And he's like, this is the funniest
[27:53]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
thing he ever heard.
[27:54]
Bash
And I wanted to ask you, do you remember this? And follow up on that. So he said that this caller called into the show and said and asked, is your wife a proctologist? Because your head shoved up Nick Saban's ass all the time. That it made sense if she is. You remember that joke, Paul?
[28:12]
Paul Feinbaum
I do, yeah. And I said, she's. She's got some skill in that. In that. In that specialty, but. But she isn't right now.
[28:21]
Bash
Follow up, question on that. Now that Nick Saban is retired, are you glad that you haven't, like, in the last couple years? You know, it has been less of a privilege of covering Alabama in the era that we're in. But are you happy that you don't have to hear those jokes anymore or ask those kind of questions?
[28:40]
Paul Feinbaum
I'm still recovering from January 10, 2024 bash. It was one of the worst days in my life and yours and many others. So the answer is, we'd like to have him come back at least for one more season, wouldn't you?
[28:58]
Bash
Don't tease me, Paul. No, no, don't you do it. Don't you set me up on this show and ask me a question you know the answer to. Like I asked you a few weeks ago, what happens if you put you on a polygraph test? I can't fail one, Paul. The answer to that question will be on the test and it'll be clear as day. But if that doesn't answer your question, then I'll spell it for you. Yes, I would like to, like, like, remember, Paul, last year when the Powerball was at, like, the billion like level. And every caller on the show came in and said, if I won the Powerball, Paul, then I'm gonna win and I'm gonna bop Kayla Naboar out. And if it was me, Paul, you know what I would do? I would get the band back together. I would pay every coach from every other university that used to be under Nick Saban and said, we're gonna go one last ride. I'm gonna pay you all $100 million each, and you're all just gonna ride off in the sunset together. That would have been how Nick Saban should have retired, Paul.
[29:59]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah. No, what was the Michael Jordan thing called? The Last Dance. I mean, it would.
[30:04]
Bash
Oh, yes.
[30:05]
Paul Feinbaum
It would be the ultimate. Hey, we're going to go to work on that bash. Thanks for the call. Appreciate you. We'll talk to you next week back wherever you're going next on your tour across America. Rick is in Houston. Good afternoon.
[30:20]
Caller Rick
Hey, good afternoon, Paul. I wanted to talk to you about this Cole Hudson kid that gained a fifth year eligibility coming back to Texas after participating in a minicamp with the Browns. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're in a minicap with an NFL team, you. You have signed a contract and are getting paid to do that, correct?
[30:53]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah. If you do that, you should not be back in a college camp.
[30:57]
Caller Rick
I mean, to me, that's the definition of professional.
[31:01]
Swamp Dog
Yeah, just.
[31:02]
Caller Rick
It boggles my mind that this is what's happening now. I don't think that that's what the NCAA meant by the five, you know, five years to play.
[31:18]
Paul Feinbaum
Rick.
[31:20]
Swamp Dog
Yeah.
[31:20]
Paul Feinbaum
Hey, thanks for the call. We'll look into that a little deeper. We're up against the break. More of your phone calls at 855-242-7285. Busy program. We are coming right back.
[31:30]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum Show Podcast.
[31:37]
Rich Eisen
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[33:03]
Paul Feinbaum
Appreciate you being here and let me check in with Wild Bill in Tennessee. Hey, Bill.
[33:11]
Caller Wild Bill
Hey, Paul. It's been a while and. But I couldn't stand it answer having worked with a barbecue grill for 20 years where the guys cooked on it. Okay, Southern guys, there's, there's the different barbecue sauces are the traditional one is tomato based and that goes across the country. Then the Carolinas do either a vinegar and a mustard base. And then I discovered not only is it Alabama, but it's north Alabama between Huntsville and Decatur and Athens up there right up next to the Tennessee River.
[33:57]
Paul Feinbaum
Okay.
[33:58]
Caller Wild Bill
That do the white barbecue sauce, which is mayonnaise base, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and black pepper according to how much you want to put in it. And that's what. And that's what and it's and it's not anywhere else. Now, people like that, Jackson Zachary's, they picked up on it. But I've tracked it back to like the early 1900s. It was only from people that lived up there in north Alabama. I don't know if they say what is in the water or whatever, but other than that, everything else is good. And you okay in your world?
[34:43]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, Bill, thank you for asking. And by the way, the distance between Huntsville and Decatur is very short. I mean, they are neighboring cities. They're divided by an interstate for the most part.
[34:56]
Caller Wild Bill
Yeah. And in that four lane over there, halfway over there is a little town of Mooreville, which I understand is the first capital state capitol of Alabama.
[35:07]
Caller Dan
Right.
[35:07]
Caller Wild Bill
And there was a, and there was a restaurant up there called the Green Bar. You went up through the cotton fields and there's this one little place and this one store and they've been there like 60 or 70 years and everybody says they've got the white barbecue sauce. I'd never Heard of, but it's really good. It's better on poultry than on, like, pulled pork.
[35:30]
Paul Feinbaum
Okay.
[35:32]
Caller Wild Bill
To my taste. But other than that, every time you mentioned Brett Bielema, I remember that story from a long time ago. I. I was trying to think, were y' all in Connecticut?
[35:52]
Paul Feinbaum
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, we sure were. We were. I don't know if I've exactly how far I've gone in this story, but we were up there one night and Bielema, we went all. Went out to dinner and it was. It took. It took a lot to get Belema out of that. That bar.
[36:12]
Caller Wild Bill
Oh, and that. And that wife that he met at the. In Las Vegas.
[36:19]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, I don't remember. Yeah, I've got to be careful because few of my friends have heard the.
[36:28]
Caller Wild Bill
I didn't mean to put you in it.
[36:31]
Paul Feinbaum
I don't think I've ever said too much about them other than the fact that we closed down a bar after. After dinner.
[36:37]
Bash
But
[36:39]
Paul Feinbaum
that Brett Biwam, I can say
[36:42]
Caller Wild Bill
to you, what you don't have to say to anybody else is there was a passing vision in your ways.
[36:48]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, it was quite a night. Hey, thanks for the call, Wild Bill. You. Very few people I've ever shared that story with, so I'm never going to. By the way, that's not the kind of thing you save for some latent late career memoir. I've already passed that moment. Let's check in with Swamp Dog up next. Hey, Swamp Dog.
[37:12]
Swamp Dog
Good afternoon, Paul. Thanks for taking my call.
[37:14]
Paul Feinbaum
Thank you.
[37:14]
Swamp Dog
I'll make a comparison. I want to make a comparison for you. It's kind of an odd one between two coaches. One's the board, one's Mark Rick at Georgia. When one of the last things that Vince Dooley did as athletic director was to hire Mark Rick as the head coach at Georgia. And he said, I heard him say this, that after a while, he. He was kind of worried that Mark Rick was just too. Too nice of a guy to be the head coach at Georgia might not fit, you know, and then he was watching practice one day and he saw Mark Rick go out there and just rip into one of the players that made a big mistake on the field. He said. He just chewed that guy up one side and down the other. And then he said to himself, yeah, I got the right guy. He can do it. And I believe that's what the fans in Alabama want to see out of the boar. Not just some guy that stands up there like a. Like a machine or something. Show some emotion, show some passion. And energy get mad about something once in a while. And I think that's what they're starving for at Alabama. They want to see that kind of energy coming out of him. Like. Like Vince Dooley wanted to see that energy come out of Mark Rick. And you know, he went on to have a real good, good coach. And I. The more is good coach, you know.
[38:42]
Paul Feinbaum
You know, there are some similarities between. I mean both. Both are. Both are excellent football coaches, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Their personalities are similar in that Mark Richt was impossible not to like. I feel like Kalyn DeBoer is the same way Rick was maybe because I heard him give a testimony one morning at 7am to a group of people that I feel like I know more about him. DeBoer doesn't really say much when he speaks. I'm not talking about religion. I'm just talking about. Just in general. He's very. He's very close to the vest. And what he said this week about the. The fact that people were disrespecting him, he said, I mean the we are aware line didn't exactly resonate with the. With the home base.
[39:43]
Swamp Dog
Well, I just think that's what Alabama. They want, the fans, that's what they want to see is a, you know, some fire and energy. Get mad about something, get on somebody once in a while or something, you know. Yeah. This seems to let everything though.
[40:00]
Paul Feinbaum
And what they don't want to see is if. When you lose as a big favorite to just hear a bunch of excuses there, you know, you can't play that card very often. But he just. It is the inconsistencies and everyone by heart now can talk about what he has been good at. And he's been good at a lot of things. In fact, he's still considered one of the best coaches in the country. It's just that it's some of the things that are on the other side of that don't. Don't work very well with. With the fan base.
[40:37]
Swamp Dog
I agree, man. But I don't know. I don't know. Some reason they both came to my mind today. And I said, I see a little bit of a comparison there because I remember how Vince duly felt about Mark Rick for a while and when he saw him jump on that player, he said, yeah, he's got what it takes. He can be the head coach of Georgia, you know.
[40:59]
Paul Feinbaum
Well, swap dog. You're right. I think maybe because I got to know Mark Rich a little bit better.
[41:06]
Caller Rick
He.
[41:07]
Paul Feinbaum
He was a. He was different Remember that fake outrage that Georgia showed right at the beginning of the Florida game when they ran on the field? Yeah. I mean, I mean, he, he at least tried it once in a while. I've yet to see deboer try that. Hey, thank you for the call. We have an hour to go and we'll continue taking your phone calls. There's Kalshee right now. Has me an underdog whether I'm going to make it one more hour, but I will bet on me. We're coming right back.
[41:53]
Podcast Host
Thank you for listening to the Best of the Paul Finebaum show podcast. Watch the Paul Finebaum show weekdays from 3 to 7 Eastern on the NC plus, you can listen and watch on the ESPN app.
[42:13]
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Summary7 min read

The Paul Finebaum Show — Hour 3 (August 7, 2026) Guest: David Cloninger (The Post & Courier, South Carolina Gamecocks Beat Writer)

Episode Overview

This episode of The Paul Finebaum Show centers on deepening perspectives around the upcoming SEC football season, with a special focus on South Carolina as practice begins. Paul takes calls from fans across the country, discusses national scheduling disparities, debates Michigan's prospects, and then welcomes veteran South Carolina beat writer David Cloninger for a thorough breakdown of the Gamecocks' expectations and challenges heading into the season. The episode also touches on broad NCAA issues, traditions, and coaching personalities across college football, keeping the banter candid, insightful, and true to Finebaum’s style.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fan Calls: Schedules, Coaches, & Program Outlooks

Notre Dame and Oregon Scheduling (03:34–06:38)

Caller Dan raises concerns over the disparity in schedule toughness between teams like Notre Dame/Oregon and SEC programs.
Paul Finebaum acknowledges that Notre Dame's schedule is "pretty weak," due to former powers like Wisconsin and Michigan State being down, while Oregon has a harder road with Boise State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Washington.

"Notre Dame schedule is pretty weak. ... Oregon schedule is a little bit different ... Boise State is one of the tougher nonconference games anyone is playing early in the season."
— Paul Finebaum (04:40–05:31)

Michigan's Coaching Transition (07:06–08:52)

Caller Bobby (Michigan fan) cautions against overhyping Kyle Whittingham's fit at Michigan, betting Oklahoma will beat them and questioning the new QB Underwood's credentials.
Suggests the program needs a fresh start and skepticism on the AD's tenure.

2. Main Segment: Interview with David Cloninger — South Carolina Gamecocks Preview

Begins at 10:17

The Shane Beamer Question & What’s at Stake (10:17–11:32)

Paul openly questions if South Carolina's coach Shane Beamer is on the hot seat.
Cloninger notes that a winning season—even just above .500—should secure Beamer’s job:

"They need to have a winning season. I think even, just slightly above .500 season will have Shane Beamer back here next year. ... Coming off 9–4, you can't go 4–8. Even at a program like South Carolina that has routinely been inconsistent throughout its 130-plus year history."
— David Cloninger (11:02)

Importance of Early-Season Schedule & Key Hinges (11:32–12:47)

The start is crucial: South Carolina should be 3–0 before facing Alabama; a 4–1 start is realistic.

"You can get off to probably a 4 and 1 start this year and then you can really start to see the season ahead of you. ... Back to back games against Florida and Tennessee ... will really kind of determine whether this season could be good or really good."
— David Cloninger (11:57)

What Will Drive Success? (12:47–14:04)

The offense is the potential difference-maker; new OC Kendall Briles brings high expectations.
QB Lenora Sellers does not feel pressure, but must recapture his 2024 form.
The defense is "very, very consistent."

"If they have that offense figured out ... that will be the reason that they can win seven, eight, nine games."
— David Cloninger (13:04)

Veteran Leadership and Urgency (14:04–14:43)

The team returns significant senior leadership, both from in-program veterans and experienced transfers.
Brailes’ dynamic offense is expected to push the program forward.
Beamer’s salary and expectations are high.

South Carolina’s Unique Mindset & Fan Expectations (14:43–16:42)

Historic context matters: one conference championship in 130+ years, one division title in the SEC.
Fans want more, but annual above-.500 seasons and occasional rivalry wins over Clemson are realistic expectations.

"There are pockets of greatness, but there's not sustained consistency. ... Expectations year to year, it should be that most every year you win more games than you lose. And occasionally you beat that team in the upstate for the rivalry game ..."
— David Cloninger (15:19)

The Clemson Rivalry’s Evolving Significance (16:42–18:23)

While beating Clemson remains pivotal for bragging rights, fans’ ambitions are now broader due to successes in other sports.
Under Beamer, beating Clemson brought state hope, but aspirations are for more SEC competitiveness.
Spurrier era dominance shifted, Clemson pulled ahead, and Beamer broke their streak in 2022.

Other Rivalries & Schedule Realignment (18:23–19:47)

Rotation in the SEC has diminished historic rivalries; new (and old) matchups with Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky are notable, but no single contest outside Clemson carries the same weight.

David Cloninger’s Record Expectation (19:47–20:56)

Predicts a range of 5–7 (floor) to 9–3 (ceiling), most likely landing at 7–5 or 8–4.
Beamer would keep his job at that level.

"I can certainly see this team winning seven games. I can certainly see this team winning nine games. ... But mostly I would say in my gut ... I'm looking at 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4."
— David Cloninger (20:07)
Paul notes the rarity: "This is unusual that somebody thinks a coach can win seven games and survive." (20:56)

3. Other Notable Fan Topics

NIL & Transfer Portal Woes (23:33–27:15):
Caller Jim describes how NIL promises are not always kept, and how eliminating the spring portal harms player leverage.

"In today's day and age ... kids are promised a lot. And then when they get to school ... that's not going to happen." (26:00)
Coaching Personalities & SEC Expectations (37:11–41:05):
Swamp Dog draws analogies between Kalen DeBoer (Alabama) and Mark Richt (Georgia), arguing fans want to see emotion and accountability, not just competence.
- Paul agrees, noting both are "impossible not to like" but differ in outward passion shown.
Humor & Show’s Running Gags (28:12–28:40):
Bash recaps a classic show joke about Paul's "allegiance" to Nick Saban, and Paul riffs on missing Saban’s era.

4. Random College Football Lore & Food Fights

White Barbecue Sauce Origins (33:10–35:31):
Wild Bill explains North Alabama’s unique mayonnaise-based barbecue sauce, drawing on regional pride and fine details beloved among SEC fans.

Memorable Quotes

On Shane Beamer’s security:

"He needs a winning season. ... Even at a program like South Carolina that has routinely been inconsistent throughout its 130-plus year history."
— David Cloninger (11:02)
On South Carolina's program ethos:

"There are pockets of greatness, but there’s not sustained consistency. ... Occasionally you beat that team in the upstate for the rivalry game."
— David Cloninger (15:19)
Paul on SEC fans’ psychology:

"Alabama fans are not used to having any questions. They’re used to bellying up to the bar in late August and proclaiming another national championship." (01:47)
Cloninger on expectations ceiling:

"The ceiling would be a 9 and 3 regular season and just on the edge of a playoff berth. ... [but] in my gut ... I'm looking at 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4." (20:07)
Paul on NIL/Transfer confusion:

"Listening to Ted Cruz and others say that college sports is dead without this bill ... I don't want to say that's one of the 10 greatest lies Ted Cruz has ever told, but it would certainly be in contention." (24:06)
Caller Bash's “Nick Saban” Powerball fantasy:

"If I won the Powerball, Paul ... I would get the band back together. ... That would have been how Nick Saban should have retired, Paul." (29:36)
Swamp Dog on coaching emotion:

"[F]ans in Alabama want to see out of DeBoer ... show some emotion. ... Show some passion and energy ... get mad about something once in a while." (38:25)

Timestamps of Key Segments

Notre Dame & Oregon schedule debate: 03:34–06:38
Michigan/Whittingham discussion: 07:06–08:52
Main South Carolina Interview (Cloninger): 10:17–20:56
- Beamer job security: 11:02
- Schedule and expectations: 11:32–14:43
- Program history/context: 15:19
- Rivalries: 16:42–19:47
- Record prediction: 19:47–20:56
NIL/Transfer portal “on the ground” insights: 23:33–27:15
Coaching personalities & SEC fan mentality: 37:11–41:05
Regional food culture interlude (white BBQ sauce): 33:10–35:31

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode is classic Paul Finebaum: conversational, sometimes irreverent, but always steeped in the traditions and culture of SEC football. The discussion with Cloninger stands out for its realism and historical grounding, painting South Carolina’s challenges and modest ambitions with clarity and empathy. Fan calls provide a grab-bag of hot takes, genuine questions, and regional flavor, with recurring humor about SEC culture and lingering nostalgia for the Nick Saban era.

The recurring themes: expectations (realistic and otherwise), the shifting sands of conference lineups, and the wild west of NIL and transfer rules. Through it all, Paul and his guests keep things rooted in the lived realities of programs — not the clickbait headlines.

For those who missed the hour, you’ll leave with:

A grounded sense of the South Carolina Gamecocks’ prospects
Insight into scheduling inequalities in modern college football
A parade of SEC lore, fan emotion, and food talk
And that ever-essential Finebaum blend of humor and straight talk

Loading summary

Transcript132 lines

[00:01]
Announcer
Get your tickets now for the Dog Stars.
[00:06]
Paul Feinbaum
It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear out there. Kill or be killed.
[00:12]
Announcer
Jacob Elordi.
[00:13]
David Cloninger
There are people out there.
[00:14]
Paul Feinbaum
They need our help.
[00:15]
Announcer
Josh Brolin.
[00:16]
Rich Eisen
Shoot first and inquire afterwards.
[00:19]
Announcer
Margaret. Quality.
[00:20]
Swamp Dog
Okay, Tough Guy and Guy Pierce.
[00:23]
Bash
Arm up.
[00:24]
Announcer
The Dog Stars Directed by Ridley Scott. Theaters Aug. 28. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parents.
[00:32]
Podcast Host
The pride, passion and pageantry of college football lives here. This is the Paul Fine Bomb show, our three podcast.
[00:46]
Rich Eisen
This might be college football Carolina, the
[00:49]
Paul Feinbaum
last two open practice today and we'll talk about them in just a few minutes.
[00:54]
Caller Bobby
Let's check in with Bobby, who's in
[00:56]
Paul Feinbaum
South Carolina this afternoon.
[01:00]
Caller Bobby
Hey, thank you for taking my call, Paul. I enjoyed your interview last night with the.
[01:07]
Swamp Dog
Yeah,
[01:10]
Caller Bobby
yeah. And, and you did you do the best with the coaches, you know, interviews, and I think that's your. You get to the point with all of them and it seems so comfortable. But the, the ones I'm seeing, the coaches, I see you interviewing from Alabama this year, not a pick fan, not an Alabama fan, but I just see. But the Alabama fan coaches and I hope their offensive line is not eating at the same lunch line they're eating at. You just seem so stressed, Paul.
[01:47]
Paul Feinbaum
They are a little bit worried. Well, you know, Alabama fans are not, are not used to having any questions. They're used to bellying up to the bar in late August and proclaiming another national championship.
[02:05]
Caller Bobby
Yeah, well, I think you can kind of tell that. But I enjoyed your interview with the pit coach.
[02:14]
Swamp Dog
Very relaxed.
[02:15]
Caller Bobby
And that's what my comment was because those, you bring out the best in the, in those things. And even I heard you, you were talking about a week or two ago about the, the, the Notre Dame teams and stuff, but back in the day, those were the teams, I mean, you know, and everything coming along now the Penn State and back in the day was the teams. And I've never been, I've always been a South Carolina fan, but I enjoy your interviews with the teams that kind of go outside of the SEC and because I think it's all kind of combined.
[03:00]
Paul Feinbaum
Bobby, thank you very, very much. That's one thing we try to do this week every year, and I think we have one more guest coming up next week. But it's just, I mean, I don't know that much about Pittsburgh and I certainly don't want to subject the audience to a breakdown of their starting lineup, but sometimes the personalities are really fun to talk to. Thank you for the call. Appreciate it. Let Me check in with Dan in Florida. Hello Dan, Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mr. Feinbaum.
[03:31]
Caller Dan
How are you doing?
[03:32]
Paul Feinbaum
Fantastic, thank you.
[03:34]
Caller Dan
Good, good. First time caller. Want to thank you for passing your knowledge of college football along to all of us fans out here. It's a pleasure to get your information. I do have one issue and that's scheduling. Watching your show, putting up the team schedules and mentally just going through and checking out competitive games in the 12 game season. Happen to see Oregon and Notre Dame,
[04:09]
Paul Feinbaum
it looks as though they have at
[04:11]
Caller Dan
the very most one or two competitive games on their schedule. The sec, just about every team has anywhere from three to eight competitive games on the schedule. How can you even with that broad of distance between the competitive games, how can you even get a comparison on that?
[04:41]
Paul Feinbaum
Well, I, let me, let me address Notre Dame first. We all know their schedule is different. They're not in a conference. They had the Southern. Calgary. Well, yeah, I would agree. And then they, they use this ACC five game schedule and sometimes they're, it depends on which five they get this year they get Miami, I'm pretty sure. So they'll have that game they don't have. Notre Dame schedule is pretty weak. They, they used to play a better schedule. I mean Wisconsin, now again, I can't. Wisconsin years ago would have been a good game, but that program is a shell of itself. So yeah, Michigan State used to be good, now they're terrible. Purdue never good. And you know, Stanford's one of the ACC teams. They do play byu. Now let me stop right there. That is a very competitive game. Miami obviously is. Navy has been good. SMU is pretty good. I mean that schedule is not great primarily because Wisconsin and Michigan State are just terrible. But Oregon schedule is a little bit different and I'll explain why. Boise State is a very good game. Now Oklahoma State isn't. That used to be a good game. But at Southern Cal, at Illinois, at Ohio State, those are pretty dicey games. Including Michigan at home and Washington at home. And Nebraska, I think their schedule is pretty favorable. But Boise State is one of the tougher non conference games anyone is playing early in the season.
[06:31]
Caller Dan
Like I said, there are anywhere from three to eight competitive games on their schedule for the whole year.
[06:38]
Paul Feinbaum
No, it's, it's not like it's not like a Texas schedule. Yeah, no, I'm with you on that, Dan. Thank you for the call by the way. Appreciate it. But I happen to think that Oregon's, I mean we talked about Penn State the other day. If Penn State had this year's schedule. James Franklin would have would be assured of another year because they don't play anyone. Bobby is in Oregon and you are on the air. Hello, Bobby.
[07:07]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
Hey, thanks for taking my call. I just, just a lifetime of being a Michigan fan. I would just say pump the brakes on this whole Whittingham. I think he's a very respectable coach. I think anything is going to be better than Sharon Moore at this point. I think Michigan in general, I think we'll find out when they, when Oklahoma comes into town that second week, I expect Oklahoma to beat him, you know, handedly probably 20 points. I think Whittingham, let's not forget he had a perfect season in the Mountain West. He ended it in the Sugar bowl beating Nick Saban 13.
[07:52]
Caller Rick
Oh.
[07:52]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
So I mean he's had quite a career. He's going to bring a hellacious defense. But I think ultimately this whole Jim Harbaugh era and the AD and everything associated with it, I think the best thing Whittingham could have done was move on from the quarterback. That Underwood is the most overrated quarterback in my history that I've ever heard of. He wasn't very good last year. He's more of a running threat. Whittingham likes running quarterbacks, but when he's ever won a league championship, it's always been with a pocket passer. So anyway, I think, I think the Michigan fan base is going to be finally want to get rid of everything associated with, you know, this past and I think the clock is ticking on the new AD and bringing in a new era for Michigan athletics. Just my take, Bobby, thank you.
[08:52]
Paul Feinbaum
Appreciate it. We are heading to a break right now. We'll take a time out, come back and talk about South Carolina with David Koninger covers the team and has done so for a long time.
[09:07]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum show podcast.
[09:15]
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[10:18]
Paul Feinbaum
Headline 4 pressing questions as Gamecocks begin practice. David Cloninger is with us and some of the questions are like, what about the inconsistency? 5794, 4, 8. What is with this program? I know it's always been like that. David told us that the last time we talked to him. He's covered the team for a few years. David, good afternoon. Let's talk about what's at stake here and what can the Gamecocks do? Because I get, I'm tired of this question, like, is Shane Beamer on the hot seat? Based on what you told me a few weeks ago, if he just shows consistency or an improvement, he probably won't be. So take it from there.
[11:03]
David Cloninger
Absolutely, Paul, and thanks for having me on again. It's pretty simple, you know, they need to have a winning season. I think even, you know, just slightly above.500 season will have Shane Beamer back here next year. It's just, you know, coming off 9 and 4, you can't go 4 and 8. Even at a program like South Carolina that has routinely been inconsistent throughout its 130 plus year history. So he has a winning season and he does have the schedule to start off toward a winning season. You know, everything will be fine.
[11:33]
Paul Feinbaum
Let's talk about schedules because they're so critical, especially to changing the perception. As you, as you look at that schedule, and I'm sure you've seen it 100 million times, it's almost impossible not to get off to a good start. I mean, if this program isn't three and oh, going to Alabama, we'll both be equally shocked. But what happens then?
[11:57]
David Cloninger
Well, that's a great question, Paul. Obviously it's not easy for visiting teams to beat Alabama. I know Oklahoma did it last year and in 2024, South Carolina was within a fourth quarter turnover of doing the same. But they didn't do it. They lost that game, still ended up winning nine games. So you look at the Alabama game and most people say that's probably a loss, myself included. But then you come back the next week and play a Kentucky team that's breaking in a new quarterback, a new coach. You get that game at home. So you look at it and say one of Shane Beamer's biggest problems at South Carolina has been getting off to a slow start. You can get off to probably a 4 and 1 start this year and then you can really start to see the season ahead of you. To me, it's that hinge of back to back games against Florida and Tennessee, Florida on the road that will really kind of determine whether this season could be good or really good.
[12:48]
Paul Feinbaum
If they end up exceeding expectations and getting across that.500 line with seven or eight wins, what would be the reason? Is it, is it the defense? The all world player on defense? Is it the all world players on offense? It has to be more than that though.
[13:04]
David Cloninger
Oh sure. And I think that obviously Kendall Briles comes in here as offensive coordinator with some very high expectations. Lenora Sellers, not necessarily feeling the heat or the pressure to do better than he did last year, but just to get back to playing the kind of football that he did in 2024 when they won six straight to end the regular season. I think that the offense will be that, I guess the, the, the pushing forward the process to get them to that really good season because the defense really the past five years has been very, very consistent. So as long as they have that offense figured out and you would have to look at the schedule and say for the first two games, you should be able to figure it out, that will be the reason that they can win seven, eight, nine games.
[13:47]
Paul Feinbaum
And I mean South Carolina has had a history, as you well know, of nearly losing some of those early season games that they're not supposed to. Is it Kendall Brauls? Is it the sense of urgency? What do you think it's going to be that pushes this program up the hill?
[14:05]
David Cloninger
Well, you do have a lot of veteran talent back. Paul. Shane Beamer was just saying yesterday, immediate day they had really four seniors who started last year. They will be in position to have on the two deep depth chart this year, maybe triple that number. Now, some of those guys have come from the transfer portal and haven't necessarily played here or in the sec, but they do have a lot of guys who have been around this program and in the SEC and played in those arenas. So I think that if you have that senior leadership, you have that dynamic offense that Kendall Browse is expected to have and quite frankly is getting paid to have, then you could have a very, very strong season here.
[14:43]
Paul Feinbaum
So David, talking to David Kloninger, I want you to explain something we talked about a few weeks ago and that's the mindset of this program. I was like a lot of fans, the got to do this, got to do it. But you, you laid it out in a, in a very succinct way about why this program and Shane Beamer can survive with maybe the minimum expectation, seven wins or even eight. Where a lot of fans go, we got to do better than that. What is it about South Carolina and the expectations that seem a little bit different than a lot of the programs around?
[15:19]
David Cloninger
Well, I think you just have to look at past history, Paul. I mean, we're talking about a program that in over 130 years of football has one conference championship. Now, granted, they weren't in a conference for all of those 130 years, but they were for the great majority of them and they've got one. And since their Life in the SEC, which is over 30 years now, they've got one division title and played in the SEC championship game once. So I realize that a lot of people say, oh, history shouldn't be a deterrent, especially with the transfer portal, especially with nil and revenue share, and maybe we will see that day come here. But the fact is, is that during that nine and four season, it was great. And people expectedly said, you know, it could be even better next year. I mean, sometimes that happens and sometimes it didn't. And South Carolina did not answer the bell. They had a lousy season last year and it just kind of reversed back to what has by and large been the norm around here. That there are pockets of greatness, but there's not sustained consistency. So I think fans want to see it. But with me, Paul, you know, having been around here for so long, I say really, I understand that you want to have more, but in terms of just expectations year to year, it should be that most every year you win more games than you lose. And occasionally you beat that team in the upstate for the rivalry game because that makes people feel really good. And that's something that people can remember through the off season, especially if they don't have much else.
[16:43]
Paul Feinbaum
That team that you alluded to, Clemson, Asperrier, was leaving, the dynamics of that rivalry changed because South Carolina owned that rivalry for a considerable number of years. And then Clemson went on that run, winning two titles, being in the championship game almost every year, and then they collapsed and South Carolina has picked up a couple of critical wins even up there. How does that play into this mix? Assuming it does at all?
[17:13]
David Cloninger
Well, I think it's always going to be important, Paul, even though there are, you know, some, some folks coming in, in the university say, man, just what fixation on Clemson? Well, it's Very simple. For a lot of years, that's all they had. That was the kind of the reasonable thing that you could do to try to win bragging rights instead of trying to do something further. But especially, and this is not just football, but across the board, you have taken better steps, bigger steps. You have won national championships in women's basketball and baseball. So it's not just about winning the rivalry game anymore, but football. It's kind of been that thing of, well, if you can do better. And Steve Spurrier did it best. He won five in a row, which is something that had never been done on South Carolina side in the history of the rivalry. It did become a start to become expected. But then as you mentioned, Clemson went on that eight year stretch of dominance, that Shane Beamer was the first guy to break that run in 2022. So it is kind of a thing of measuring yourself against Clemson, but that's just for state bragging rights. I think we all understand now that the team can be capable of doing more and that's what the fans want, to just keep being consistently good and doing more than just beating Clemson and being a major player in the sec.
[18:24]
Paul Feinbaum
Beyond Clemson, everything is changing because that game against Georgia used to always be the opener and that was a big deal because of the proximity. Is there another game now on the schedule that has significant meaning other than the Upstate rival?
[18:39]
David Cloninger
Well, I think just because the schedules switch around so much now, Paul, it does become a little jumbled. I mean, South Carolina does have a lot of rival rivalry taste with Tennessee. They did play Florida, you know, for consecutive years so many times. Kentucky has become a pretty good little rivalry because of the, the little spat between Mark Stoops is no longer at Kentucky and Shane Beamer. But you know, the schedule's changed so much that when the SEC tried to manufacture rivalries, South Carolina versus Arkansas every year, South Carolina versus Texas A&M every year, South Carolina versus Missouri every year. It didn't really take. You can't just, you know, create a rivalry. You have to have been bred in it. So after taking a couple of years off from playing Georgia, I can tell you there are a lot of people down here looking forward to that game, especially being at home. But also they do kind of welcome the return of Tennessee and Florida to the schedule. Not so much because like, oh, you should win those games, which they've got a real good chance to do this year. But it's more familiarity. Those teams were all together in the old SEC east and a lot of fans got used to making that trip to the knocks war gains for every couple of years.
[19:47]
Paul Feinbaum
So David, you're the most reasonable person I've met covering an SEC team and so I want to put you in a position to try to help us. I know what your, what the expectations are. I know what the invisible line is. What do you think this program is going to end up doing this year?
[20:07]
David Cloninger
I just think you start at that midpoint line of 6 and 6 upon and just say, okay, what could add to that? What could subtract for that? I can certainly see this team winning seven games. I can certainly see this team winning nine games. If everything breaks, I would say for myself the ceiling would be a 9 and 3 regular season and just on the edge of a playoff berth. And then if everything bottoms out, I would say probably the floor would be 5 and 7. Just because as I said before, there's really no reason why this team shouldn't be 4 and 1 after the Kentucky game. And you got to figure they'll win one more game at least, right? So to me, it's going to kind of hover in between that 5 and 7 and 9 and 3 mark. But mostly I would say in my gut right now as we speak, from what I've seen against South Carolina, I'm looking at 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4.
[20:56]
Paul Feinbaum
And based on your own rule, that would give it, that would, that would end the conversation at least for a year for Shane Beamer. Thanks David. Really great to see you, a realistic reporter covering the sec. This is unusual that somebody thinks a coach can win seven games and survive. We'll take a break. More of your phone calls straight ahead.
[21:19]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum show podcast.
[21:25]
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[22:49]
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[23:13]
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[23:19]
Paul Feinbaum
We are back and it's great to have you with us. A busy day of guests. Let's hit the calls right now and check in with Jim in Texas.
[23:29]
Caller Jim
Hey, Paul, thank you for taking the call.
[23:31]
Paul Feinbaum
Thank you.
[23:33]
Caller Jim
So hopefully you're doing better than I am on Friday. I am so worn out by politicians,
[23:41]
Caller Rick
coaches,
[23:44]
Caller Jim
the NCAA and all, you know, these bills that they want to pass that it sounds like you had read kind of some of the bill and you got to kind of just, just almost laugh at it because they're cobbling stuff together. They're acting like they want to save college sports, but a lot of the stuff in that village doesn't make sense. But that was really the reason I called. It's just I was listening to the
[24:07]
Caller Wild Bill
last,
[24:10]
Paul Feinbaum
not to get off subject, but you're right. I mean, but it's typical. And, you know, listening to Ted Cruz and others say that college sports is dead without this bill is true. I mean, I don't want to say that's one of the 10 greatest lies Ted Cruz has ever told, but it would certainly be in contention.
[24:29]
Caller Jim
Oh, you bet.
[24:30]
Caller Bobby
You bet.
[24:30]
Caller Jim
And I, and I've been trying to contact this, this is how well they operate. I've been trying to contact his office for a month, sent numerous emails, numerous phone calls. And it was about the, the one transfer rule. And at first one of the guys told me that it was retroactive. The players who had already transferred once would not be eligible. And I was like, wait a minute. I need, I need so verification. I want, I want to get, you know, some feedback on that. So it took about a month. And I finally got a hold of you yesterday, somebody and they said, well, it's moving forward. It'll be so it won't count against people. And I was like, okay, well, that makes sense. But that's not.
[25:07]
Paul Feinbaum
Hey, Jim, let me give you, let me give you some advice.
[25:10]
Bash
Call.
[25:10]
Paul Feinbaum
If you call Cruz's office again, just say you're calling from the Fine bomb show and you want to book him for our show. He'll answer. He'll answer in about 10 seconds.
[25:18]
Swamp Dog
Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.
[25:19]
Caller Dan
Yeah.
[25:20]
Caller Jim
Yeah, he's hard to get a hold of. But, but then as far as so, so many things, like if you look at what's happened this year just from that and this is like. And then I'll get to the main topics. I know you're, you've got a lot people waiting. But, but if you don't get the athletes involved in some way, shape or form, it's. It's just going to be injunction, lawsuit after lawsuit, injunction after injunction. Because what you've done, what's happened this year, they've taken a transfer portal away from players that they put in the play. That wasn't a players deal. They, they granted that to the players. Now they pulled the spring portal back. And the one thing is, with that, there's a lot of people that aren't involved. Like I say, I don't know if I mentioned I have a son that plays division one colle. And so what they don't, what isn't addressed and isn't addressed in this bill is when people are going through the recruiting process. Coaches promise kids a whole lot. And in today's day and age with the rev share with the nil, kids are promised a lot. And then when they get to school, everybody thinks you sign a contract and that you're guaranteed that money. That's. That's not the case. That doesn't happen. You get there. Your promise of and then you get there and when the first check is supposed to show up, they tell you that's not going to happen. We didn't get the nil that we thought we were going to get a rev share had to go to this, this and this. So you're not getting what we promised you. And that was why the spring portal was always important, because then players could, could judge if that coach was honest and go, I don't think I want to play for this guy. That's gone now. And so, so that was one aspect of it that a lot of people that aren't involved in it just don't know. And there's not as much money in college football as a lot of people on the outside think. I mean, there are starters in the group, in the group. Of six that are making $500 a month. So, I mean, I don't know if a lot of people knew that.
[27:16]
Paul Feinbaum
That was a great call, Jim. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. Be well. Let's check in with Bash, who is still in Alabama.
[27:23]
Bash
You say that that's a bad thing, Paul. It's sweet home, sweet home. It can't get any better than this is why you left North Carolina to come back to Birmingham.
[27:32]
Paul Feinbaum
True.
[27:32]
Bash
So I agree with you on that, Paul. But someone earlier this week recognized me. He's like, what do I know you from? And I'm like, I don't know. Do you watch SEC network? College football? So I was like, you're on the fanbomb show already. I'm like, yep, I am, sir. So he reminded me of this joke, Paul that he remembers because he's a fan of the show. And he's like, this is the funniest
[27:53]
Caller Bobby (Michigan fan)
thing he ever heard.
[27:54]
Bash
And I wanted to ask you, do you remember this? And follow up on that. So he said that this caller called into the show and said and asked, is your wife a proctologist? Because your head shoved up Nick Saban's ass all the time. That it made sense if she is. You remember that joke, Paul?
[28:12]
Paul Feinbaum
I do, yeah. And I said, she's. She's got some skill in that. In that. In that specialty, but. But she isn't right now.
[28:21]
Bash
Follow up, question on that. Now that Nick Saban is retired, are you glad that you haven't, like, in the last couple years? You know, it has been less of a privilege of covering Alabama in the era that we're in. But are you happy that you don't have to hear those jokes anymore or ask those kind of questions?
[28:40]
Paul Feinbaum
I'm still recovering from January 10, 2024 bash. It was one of the worst days in my life and yours and many others. So the answer is, we'd like to have him come back at least for one more season, wouldn't you?
[28:58]
Bash
Don't tease me, Paul. No, no, don't you do it. Don't you set me up on this show and ask me a question you know the answer to. Like I asked you a few weeks ago, what happens if you put you on a polygraph test? I can't fail one, Paul. The answer to that question will be on the test and it'll be clear as day. But if that doesn't answer your question, then I'll spell it for you. Yes, I would like to, like, like, remember, Paul, last year when the Powerball was at, like, the billion like level. And every caller on the show came in and said, if I won the Powerball, Paul, then I'm gonna win and I'm gonna bop Kayla Naboar out. And if it was me, Paul, you know what I would do? I would get the band back together. I would pay every coach from every other university that used to be under Nick Saban and said, we're gonna go one last ride. I'm gonna pay you all $100 million each, and you're all just gonna ride off in the sunset together. That would have been how Nick Saban should have retired, Paul.
[29:59]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah. No, what was the Michael Jordan thing called? The Last Dance. I mean, it would.
[30:04]
Bash
Oh, yes.
[30:05]
Paul Feinbaum
It would be the ultimate. Hey, we're going to go to work on that bash. Thanks for the call. Appreciate you. We'll talk to you next week back wherever you're going next on your tour across America. Rick is in Houston. Good afternoon.
[30:20]
Caller Rick
Hey, good afternoon, Paul. I wanted to talk to you about this Cole Hudson kid that gained a fifth year eligibility coming back to Texas after participating in a minicamp with the Browns. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're in a minicap with an NFL team, you. You have signed a contract and are getting paid to do that, correct?
[30:53]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah. If you do that, you should not be back in a college camp.
[30:57]
Caller Rick
I mean, to me, that's the definition of professional.
[31:01]
Swamp Dog
Yeah, just.
[31:02]
Caller Rick
It boggles my mind that this is what's happening now. I don't think that that's what the NCAA meant by the five, you know, five years to play.
[31:18]
Paul Feinbaum
Rick.
[31:20]
Swamp Dog
Yeah.
[31:20]
Paul Feinbaum
Hey, thanks for the call. We'll look into that a little deeper. We're up against the break. More of your phone calls at 855-242-7285. Busy program. We are coming right back.
[31:30]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum Show Podcast.
[31:37]
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[32:11]
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[33:03]
Paul Feinbaum
Appreciate you being here and let me check in with Wild Bill in Tennessee. Hey, Bill.
[33:11]
Caller Wild Bill
Hey, Paul. It's been a while and. But I couldn't stand it answer having worked with a barbecue grill for 20 years where the guys cooked on it. Okay, Southern guys, there's, there's the different barbecue sauces are the traditional one is tomato based and that goes across the country. Then the Carolinas do either a vinegar and a mustard base. And then I discovered not only is it Alabama, but it's north Alabama between Huntsville and Decatur and Athens up there right up next to the Tennessee River.
[33:57]
Paul Feinbaum
Okay.
[33:58]
Caller Wild Bill
That do the white barbecue sauce, which is mayonnaise base, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and black pepper according to how much you want to put in it. And that's what. And that's what and it's and it's not anywhere else. Now, people like that, Jackson Zachary's, they picked up on it. But I've tracked it back to like the early 1900s. It was only from people that lived up there in north Alabama. I don't know if they say what is in the water or whatever, but other than that, everything else is good. And you okay in your world?
[34:43]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, Bill, thank you for asking. And by the way, the distance between Huntsville and Decatur is very short. I mean, they are neighboring cities. They're divided by an interstate for the most part.
[34:56]
Caller Wild Bill
Yeah. And in that four lane over there, halfway over there is a little town of Mooreville, which I understand is the first capital state capitol of Alabama.
[35:07]
Caller Dan
Right.
[35:07]
Caller Wild Bill
And there was a, and there was a restaurant up there called the Green Bar. You went up through the cotton fields and there's this one little place and this one store and they've been there like 60 or 70 years and everybody says they've got the white barbecue sauce. I'd never Heard of, but it's really good. It's better on poultry than on, like, pulled pork.
[35:30]
Paul Feinbaum
Okay.
[35:32]
Caller Wild Bill
To my taste. But other than that, every time you mentioned Brett Bielema, I remember that story from a long time ago. I. I was trying to think, were y' all in Connecticut?
[35:52]
Paul Feinbaum
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, we sure were. We were. I don't know if I've exactly how far I've gone in this story, but we were up there one night and Bielema, we went all. Went out to dinner and it was. It took. It took a lot to get Belema out of that. That bar.
[36:12]
Caller Wild Bill
Oh, and that. And that wife that he met at the. In Las Vegas.
[36:19]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, I don't remember. Yeah, I've got to be careful because few of my friends have heard the.
[36:28]
Caller Wild Bill
I didn't mean to put you in it.
[36:31]
Paul Feinbaum
I don't think I've ever said too much about them other than the fact that we closed down a bar after. After dinner.
[36:37]
Bash
But
[36:39]
Paul Feinbaum
that Brett Biwam, I can say
[36:42]
Caller Wild Bill
to you, what you don't have to say to anybody else is there was a passing vision in your ways.
[36:48]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, it was quite a night. Hey, thanks for the call, Wild Bill. You. Very few people I've ever shared that story with, so I'm never going to. By the way, that's not the kind of thing you save for some latent late career memoir. I've already passed that moment. Let's check in with Swamp Dog up next. Hey, Swamp Dog.
[37:12]
Swamp Dog
Good afternoon, Paul. Thanks for taking my call.
[37:14]
Paul Feinbaum
Thank you.
[37:14]
Swamp Dog
I'll make a comparison. I want to make a comparison for you. It's kind of an odd one between two coaches. One's the board, one's Mark Rick at Georgia. When one of the last things that Vince Dooley did as athletic director was to hire Mark Rick as the head coach at Georgia. And he said, I heard him say this, that after a while, he. He was kind of worried that Mark Rick was just too. Too nice of a guy to be the head coach at Georgia might not fit, you know, and then he was watching practice one day and he saw Mark Rick go out there and just rip into one of the players that made a big mistake on the field. He said. He just chewed that guy up one side and down the other. And then he said to himself, yeah, I got the right guy. He can do it. And I believe that's what the fans in Alabama want to see out of the boar. Not just some guy that stands up there like a. Like a machine or something. Show some emotion, show some passion. And energy get mad about something once in a while. And I think that's what they're starving for at Alabama. They want to see that kind of energy coming out of him. Like. Like Vince Dooley wanted to see that energy come out of Mark Rick. And you know, he went on to have a real good, good coach. And I. The more is good coach, you know.
[38:42]
Paul Feinbaum
You know, there are some similarities between. I mean both. Both are. Both are excellent football coaches, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Their personalities are similar in that Mark Richt was impossible not to like. I feel like Kalyn DeBoer is the same way Rick was maybe because I heard him give a testimony one morning at 7am to a group of people that I feel like I know more about him. DeBoer doesn't really say much when he speaks. I'm not talking about religion. I'm just talking about. Just in general. He's very. He's very close to the vest. And what he said this week about the. The fact that people were disrespecting him, he said, I mean the we are aware line didn't exactly resonate with the. With the home base.
[39:43]
Swamp Dog
Well, I just think that's what Alabama. They want, the fans, that's what they want to see is a, you know, some fire and energy. Get mad about something, get on somebody once in a while or something, you know. Yeah. This seems to let everything though.
[40:00]
Paul Feinbaum
And what they don't want to see is if. When you lose as a big favorite to just hear a bunch of excuses there, you know, you can't play that card very often. But he just. It is the inconsistencies and everyone by heart now can talk about what he has been good at. And he's been good at a lot of things. In fact, he's still considered one of the best coaches in the country. It's just that it's some of the things that are on the other side of that don't. Don't work very well with. With the fan base.
[40:37]
Swamp Dog
I agree, man. But I don't know. I don't know. Some reason they both came to my mind today. And I said, I see a little bit of a comparison there because I remember how Vince duly felt about Mark Rick for a while and when he saw him jump on that player, he said, yeah, he's got what it takes. He can be the head coach of Georgia, you know.
[40:59]
Paul Feinbaum
Well, swap dog. You're right. I think maybe because I got to know Mark Rich a little bit better.
[41:06]
Caller Rick
He.
[41:07]
Paul Feinbaum
He was a. He was different Remember that fake outrage that Georgia showed right at the beginning of the Florida game when they ran on the field? Yeah. I mean, I mean, he, he at least tried it once in a while. I've yet to see deboer try that. Hey, thank you for the call. We have an hour to go and we'll continue taking your phone calls. There's Kalshee right now. Has me an underdog whether I'm going to make it one more hour, but I will bet on me. We're coming right back.
[41:53]
Podcast Host
Thank you for listening to the Best of the Paul Finebaum show podcast. Watch the Paul Finebaum show weekdays from 3 to 7 Eastern on the NC plus, you can listen and watch on the ESPN app.
[42:13]
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