Paul Finebaum makes decision about US Senate seat

One of the most prominent voices in college football media is going to be sticking to sports after all.

Longtime college football pundit and radio host Paul Finebaum will not be running for a soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, he said to AL.com on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

While Finebaum told the outlet he was ‘deeply moved by so many people in Alabama who have reached out encouraging me to run,’ he has decided against a campaign.

‘It’s time for me to devote my full attention to something everyone in Alabama can agree upon – our love of college football,’ he said in a statement.

Finebaum’s decision brings an end to more than two months of speculation over whether he would launch a bid to run for the Senate seat currently occupied by former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who is abdicating the seat to run for Alabama governor.

In a Sept. 29 interview with Outkick’s Clay Travis, Finebaum first expressed an interest in a Senate bid, citing the Sept. 10 assassination of right-wing political commentator and organizer Charlie Kirk as an inspiration for a potential campaign. He added that he would run if asked by President Donald Trump.

‘The biggest issue is the direction of ‘Where are we going (as a country)?’’ Finebaum said at the time. ‘And I don’t like some of that.’

The deadline for Finebaum or any other candidate to enter the primary is Jan. 23, 2026.

The 70-year-old Finebaum recently moved from North Carolina back to Alabama, where he first rose to prominence as a columnist for the Birmingham Post-Herald and as a sports talk radio host who amassed a colorful collection of callers.

Finebaum joined ESPN in 2013 and has about a year-and-a-half remaining on his contract with the network. About a week after his initial interview with Finebaum, Travis reported that ESPN had cancelled all of Finebaum’s scheduled appearances on platforms across its family of networks. ESPN swiftly denied Travis’ claim, calling it ‘totally false.’ Finebaum was back to appearing on ESPN shows later that week.

In his statement to AL.com, Finebaum thanked his bosses at ESPN for ‘allowing me to explore this opportunity.’