ESPN's Paul Finebaum Suggests Deion Sanders Could Replace Lincoln Riley At USC

The face of ESPN's SEC Network, Paul Finebaum, has been delivering scorching hot takes over the past few weeks. He didn't slow down on Monday, suggesting that USC could move on from Lincoln Riley after this season and replace him with Deion Sanders.

Last week, Finebaum torched the Colorado program, saying that it had a "ridiculously inflated view of itself." 

The analyst was asked whether he thought the Buffaloes could reach the College Football Playoff, and he scoffed at that notion. Finebaum then suggested that Sanders wouldn't have the patience to stick with Colorado, particularly after his son Shedeur graduates. 

So, it makes sense that Finebaum might start thinking about potential new landing spots for "Prime Time" and he landed on USC. 

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum said on Monday that USC could look to move on from Lincoln Riley and replace him with Deion Sanders.

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He started by laying out the case that USC won't stick with Lincoln Riley for long, especially since he doesn't have the star power that the program demands. 

"I think [Riley has] lost the momentum," Finebaum said on First Take. "You have to win in L.A. otherwise you lose badly. And I think he's losing badly." 

Then, Finebaum moved onto his suggestion of Deion Sanders to be the next head coach of the Trojans. 

"I believe the answer after this season is Deion Sanders," Finebaum continued. "He's going to be tired of Colorado because, quite frankly, it's not prime time." 

Talk about a scorching hot take for a Monday in July! 

"You put ‘Prime’ in Tinsel Town, and I think you have one of the great combinations in history," Finebaum added. "I think Deion Sanders as the coach at Southern Cal is the answer to the problems… Deion Sanders just exudes exactly what that community is all about." 

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Paul Finebaum might be onto something suggesting that Deion Sanders could replace Lincoln Riley at USC

There are a few things to think about here. First, is Paul Finebaum simply throwing this out there to create conversation? Sure, that's part of it. 

Finebaum's job – which he's very good at – is to drive the conversation in college football. He's done that here. 

That being said, the take does make a lot of sense. Many people believe that Deion Sanders plans to bail on Colorado as soon as his son, Shedeur, graduates to the NFL. 

He had a job at Jackson State, which he used to get a gig in Division I at Colorado. Sanders helped bring unprecedented attention to the program. 

But is his ultimate goal really to coach at Colorado for the next 10 years? Probably not. 

And Finebaum's points about Sanders fitting perfectly in Los Angeles are correct. It'll be much easier for him to recruit kids to LA than to Boulder, Colorado. 

Could Deion Sanders look to leave Colorado after his son Shedeur Sanders graduates, and could he look at USC for his next coaching gig? 

(Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

USC is a storied program that hasn't had a ton of success over the past 15 years. 

They won three-straight Rose Bowls under Pete Carroll from 2006-08. They've won one Rose Bowl since. In fact, they have three bowls wins total since 2008 and three of those wins were in the Holiday Bowl. 

That's not what USC expects. That's not what Deion Sanders, a.k.a. "Prime Time," expects, either. 

It's a match made in college football heaven. And, quite frankly, a match made in content creation heaven.

I'm all-in with Finebaum here. Let's get Deion to USC!