Paul Finebaum's analysis of spring games, 'paranoid' coaches is spot-on

Paul Finebaum knows a thing or two about college football. He's been one of the biggest broadcasting voices in the sport for years now, with a specific dedication to covering the SEC.

That means Finebaum knows how college football coaches think. He's interviewed most of them on his show, after all.

He also knows how fans think, especially SEC fans. That's why his analysis of multiple programs doing away with spring games is spot-on. 

Spring games used to be an event for the fans to be able to take in the team in its entirety and potentially get a preview of some of the young up-and-comers of the future. Now, coaches are worried that their best players will be poached in the transfer portal or given a better NIL deal elsewhere, so some are cancelling or choosing not to broadcast spring games.

“I mean, I always used to laugh because I think we read too much into it, but it was an inflection point of the spring," Finebaum explained on "McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning" (h/t On3). "Now it’s not. I think the most important thing for spring games is for fans to participate. You know a lot of these young guys who are walk ons and they have the biggest moment of their career in a spring game, and on national television too, by the way. But ultimately, I think we’re just in a different era now."

We're in a different era because players can be poached left and right. A top recruit can sign somewhere in the winter and be playing for another school by the fall. And then there's retention. Not only do coaches have to recruit players, but they have to keep them from entering the transfer portal.

Finebaum is right. We're still in the "Wild West" of the NIL and portal era, and that's why coaches are dedicated to making sure their rosters aren't being scouted for talent via spring games. They're paranoid, as they should be.

“Coaches are far more paranoid than they’ve ever been," Finebaum explained, and he's 100% right on that.

Notable schools to have dropped spring games include Ohio State, Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, Florida State and USC.