Paul Finebaum, the longtime ESPN host and veteran Birmingham, Ala., college football commentator, is seriously considering entering the Republican primary to replace outgoing Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), three sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

Finebaum, 70, began considering a run in late August, as it became clear that former Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, whom Finebaum had encouraged over the summer to enter the race, was not going to make his own bid. Both men are Jewish and have known each other for over a decade as prominent figures in the Southeastern Conference — Pearl as a legendary college basketball coach and Finebaum as an outspoken football commentator. 

Finebaum has largely avoided talking about politics during his career commentating on college football. The ESPN host, whose contract with the network ends in mid-2027, made some comments critical of President Donald Trump early in his first term, though Finebaum grew supportive of the president before he left office in 2021. During that time, Finebaum also grew tired of what he has described to those in his orbit as liberal bias at ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, the media giant that owns the network, according to a source close to Finebaum. 

While confirming his interest in the seat in an appearance on the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” in late September, Finebaum said that he unsuccessfully lobbied ESPN to allow him to interview Trump on the network in 2019.

Reached for comment, Finebaum told JI, “It’s true, I’ve received a lot of calls encouraging me to run for Senate. So many of those calls have the same theme: Alabamians aren’t looking for someone running for the Senate as a job promotion. They want a senator ready to fight for their families, for conservative values and for President Trump’s agenda.”

“We all have a belief system, things that drive us and make us who we are, faith is a big part of that for me. I’m praying about the best path forward for me and my family,” his statement continued. “I’m flattered that so many people think I can serve in that role for them. Like I tell everyone who calls me or stops me at the grocery store, I’ll have something to say soon.”

A spokesperson for ESPN said they were “politely declining” JI’s request for comment.

Known as the “Mouth of the South,” Finebaum spent decades building a devoted following of college football fans as host of “The Paul Finebaum Radio Network,” a sports radio program devoted to Southeastern Conference athletics. Finebaum left Birmingham for Charlotte, N.C., in 2013, when ESPN signed him to a multiyear deal to help launch SEC Network the next year and rebrand his program as “The Paul Finebaum Show.” 

The longtime sports analyst moved back to Alabama with his family earlier this year, and has since been splitting his time between his new residence and Charlotte, where the studio for his syndicated ESPN program is based. 

While he has until late January to file for next May’s GOP primary, Finebaum has privately acknowledged he needs to make a decision about running imminently, with numerous other candidates already in the race. The SEC Network host has given himself a deadline of the first week in December to decide, though sources close to Finebaum say he has privately acknowledged that he is facing growing frustration from some in Alabama’s political class over the prolonged wait. 

Finebaum, who grew up attending an Orthodox synagogue in Memphis, Tenn., would be the only Jewish Republican in the Senate.  

As part of his Jewish upbringing, Finebaum was a member of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO). He said in a 2017 interview with the organization that he got involved in a Memphis-area chapter as a teen after being connected through his mother, who had been involved with BBYO for more than three decades. He eventually became a regional president at 16 years old.

Finebaum credited BBYO with teaching him “how to communicate, which is something I now do every day.” He also touted “the relationships that I formed and learning how to listen to people” as the main things he “took away from BBYO.” 

Finebaum, whose family moved from New York to Memphis just before he was born, told the Athletic in a July profile that he has “explored Christianity” and once considered converting to Catholicism with his wife Linda, who was raised Methodist. He said he still practices Judaism, however, to honor his parents. 

“I had a political operative tell me about a month ago: ‘Listen, I like you. I’ve followed you my entire career. I appreciate how you’ve spoken out on hypocrisy and held the people that run college football accountable. But you’re Jewish, and it will never work in Alabama,’ Finebaum said In an appearance on Travis and Sexton’s program on Monday. “I disagree strongly. I have lived in Alabama most of my adult life.”

“I believe in God and very strongly in faith, but it has been a challenge to find my way,” Finebaum said of exploring different faiths. “As I got older and opened my eyes to other things, it really helped me. … It’s a lifelong journey for me.”

“Whatever that means,” he added jokingly.

In an appearance on Travis and Sexton’s program on Monday, Finebaum said bringing Christians and Jews together would be one of his “major goals” as a Jewish senator for Alabama. 

“Right now, I don’t need to tell anyone listening to the show where that issue is and how much division is out there,” Finebaum said. “I had a political operative tell me about a month ago: ‘Listen, I like you. I’ve followed you my entire career. I appreciate how you’ve spoken out on hypocrisy and held the people that run college football accountable. But you’re Jewish, and it will never work in Alabama.’ I disagree strongly. I have lived in Alabama most of my adult life.”

Finebaum argued that the claim that Alabamians wouldn’t support a Jewish candidate was a “ridiculously unfair attack” on the people of the state, who he said “have been painted in a corner.” 

“That may have been true 50 or 60 years ago, but it’s not true today,” Finebaum said.

“I’m not going to run on being a Jewish Republican senator, if I chose to, from Alabama,” he continued. “But I think it would, you know, standing up there, assuming it happened, with [Alabama] Sen. [Katie] Britt, who is someone who has represented the great values of the state. I think we would make an incredible tandem. … I’m not in the field, but I think I’m the only person that could actually do that.”

If he enters the race, Finebaum would face no shortage of GOP competitors. The crowded Republican field to replace Tuberville includes Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who has been the state’s chief law enforcement officer since 2017; Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL); Morgan Murphy, Tuberville’s former national security advisor; and Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL and pro-Trump businessman. 

Moore has the support of the Club for Growth, the well-funded conservative organization that was once at odds with Trump but has pledged to “work closely” with the president in the midterms. He’s also been endorsed by Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Steve Daines (R-MT), the latter of whom chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP campaign arm, last cycle. On the House side, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) have gotten behind his campaign. 

Hudson is endorsed by Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT).

Trump has not endorsed in the race yet, nor has Tuberville or the NRSC. Finebaum has been making overtures to people close to the president about seeking his endorsement. He has also engaged with some of the state’s leading campaign operatives and donors, as well as the NRSC, about getting in the race.

Finebaum told those around him in recent weeks that he came away from his conversations with senior NRSC officials feeling encouraged about their interest in his candidacy, despite the fact that he’d be making such a late entry into the race. He has also cited what he described as overtures from conservative commentators, GOP lawmakers and other Trump allies urging him to run as reason to consider throwing his hat in the ring. 

A NRSC spokesperson did not respond to JI’s request for comment.

“Paul is smart. He loves the country,” Sen. Tommy Tubervile (R-AL) said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast in late September. “[He’s] been a friend of mine for a long time. I tell you, he’s got 100% name ID in Alabama. He’d have a lot of big people behind him. He would be a force in the race if he decided to get into it.”

The ESPN mainstay had initially planned to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with GOP senators and NRSC officials about a potential run after the August recess, but had to cancel the trip due to scheduling conflicts. He faced headwinds in organizing a trip this fall due to the government shutdown, and has not made it to Washington since starting to consider entering the race. 

Tuberville, who opted against seeking a second term in the Senate to run for governor of Alabama, has publicly embraced the idea of Finebaum running to succeed him. 

“Paul is smart. He loves the country,” Tuberville said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast in late September. “[He’s] been a friend of mine for a long time.”

“I tell you, he’s got 100% name ID in Alabama. He’d have a lot of big people behind him. He would be a force in the race if he decided to get into it,” he added of Finebaum.

Britt is not getting involved in the GOP primary and plans to hold off on weighing in until she endorses the Republican nominee in the general election, three sources familiar with her thinking told JI. The Alabama senator and her husband Wesley Britt, a former NFL tackle with the New England Patriots, are longtime friends of Pearl’s and have socialized with Finebaum for years through Alabama sports circles. 

A spokesperson for Britt did not respond to JI’s request for comment.

Regardless of how Trump or the NRSC land on endorsing Finebaum’s campaign, the ESPN host is certain to face some right-wing detractors. Far-right commentator Laura Loomer has accused him of being a “Trojan horse” for his “radical” and “left-leaning views,” including his comments supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 and criticisms he made of Trump during his first term. 

Loomer, a close ally of the president’s, claimed in a series of tweets last month that Finebaum’s views are “at odds with the conservative values that define the Republican Party and Alabama’s electorate,” and accused him of “using” Trump-aligned “influencers” to “dupe MAGA into thinking he’s conservative so he can run” for Tuberville’s seat.

Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is leaning against running to replace outgoing Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and will make a final decision on entering the race by the end of the month, Jewish Insider has learned. 

Pearl, 65, spent the summer meeting with GOP campaign operatives and Republican senators as he considered whether to enter the race following Tuberville’s announcement in late May that he was opting against seeking a second term in the Senate to run for governor of Alabama. At the beginning of the summer, Pearl had just finished the academic year coaching Auburn’s basketball team, which he joined in 2014 and where he has led the SEC team to six NCAA tournament appearances, including this year’s Final Four.

Two sources familiar with Pearl’s thinking told JI that he has not officially decided against running yet and has given himself until the end of September to make a final call, though he is unlikely to enter the contest. 

Pearl declined JI’s request for comment on his plans. 

If Pearl decided to get into the race, it would make him the most high-profile name in the crowded Republican primary to succeed Tuberville, who also coached at Auburn before jumping into politics, leading its football team from 1999-2008. It would also mean walking away from a lucrative contract with Auburn for a far more modest government salary. 

Republicans already in the primary include Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who has been the state’s chief law enforcement officer since 2017; Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) and Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL and pro-Trump businessman. 

The winner of the GOP primary is expected to go on to win the general election given Alabama’s conservative electorate.

The last Jewish Republican to serve in the Senate was former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who now chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition after losing his bid for a second term to former Sen. Al Franken by 312 votes in 2009. The late Sen. Arlen Specter left the GOP for the Democratic Party in the spring of 2009 while facing a primary challenge from former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Specter ultimately lost the Democratic primary for his seat and left the Senate in 2011.

The Auburn basketball coach has emerged as a vocal Jewish advocate and become increasingly politically involved in fighting the rise of domestic antisemitism and supporting Israel in recent years. He became one of the most outspoken voices in sports in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

Pearl often tells the story of his grandparents immigrating to the U.S. in 1929 to escape the pogroms in Eastern Europe (where most of the rest of his family perished in the Holocaust) and makes mention of his Hebrew name, Mordechai, in interviews. 

He has also been active in the Jewish advocacy space for at least half a decade. He joined the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA) board of directors in 2021 and took over as chairman of the board in April of this year. The nonprofit focuses on educating government officials involved in advancing the U.S.-Israel relationship on the pro-Israel cause, and Pearl has led trips for his players to the Jewish state in recent years through the organization. 

In his public comments, Pearl has been outspoken in support of Israel and has voiced his disapproval of any agreement between the U.S. and Iran that allows the latter to enrich uranium. 

Speaking at a breakfast commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month on Capitol Hill in late May, Pearl argued that a Palestinian state had already been “tried” in Gaza in 2005 following the Israeli withdrawal from the area. “They had an opportunity and they turned it into a terrorist state. We cannot make that same mistake again,” Pearl said at the time.

“There cannot be another Palestinian state,” he continued. “We need to practice our faith and we need to put our faith into practice. My Jewish friends, we need to wake up and understand that when we said never again, we meant never again, but it happened again on Oct. 7.”

Pearl also encouraged the U.S. to back Israel in taking out Iran’s nuclear program through an airstrike campaign and praised the U.S. push in nuclear negotiations to force Tehran to ship enriched material to a location where it cannot be used.

“Enriched Uranium is for a weapon, not power. Iran says it will not give up its ability to enrich uranium against US demands. For Iran, it is a matter of national honor and part of their identity. If Iran had it, they would use it,” Pearl wrote on X in late May, adding that Iran must “dismantle it now” for the sake of achieving peace “or Israel needs to do it.”

Jewish Insider’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed to this report.

With Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the former Auburn University head football coach, announcing on Tuesday that he’ll forgo a second term in the Senate to instead run for governor of Alabama, chatter is emerging that another Auburn University coach, Bruce Pearl, might follow in Tuberville’s footsteps and make a bid for his Senate seat.

Semafor reported on Tuesday that Pearl’s name is being floated for the seat, but it’s not clear that he is interested. Pearl is Jewish and has become politically active on issues related to Israel and Middle East policy and antisemitism — delivering a keynote address just last week on Capitol Hill at a breakfast celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month.

“Alabama is a Republican stronghold, so the NRSC is confident voters will elect another Republican to continue representing them and championing President Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement about Tuberville’s decision, which did not mention Pearl specifically.

In his speech on the Hill last week, Pearl, who coaches Auburn’s men’s basketball team, rejected the idea of a two-state solution.

Pearl argued that a Palestinian state had effectively been “tried” in Gaza, following the Israeli withdrawal from the territory in 2005. “They had an opportunity and they turned it into a terrorist state. We cannot make that same mistake again,” he said.

“There cannot be another Palestinian state,” Pearl said. “We need to practice our faith and we need to put our faith into practice. My Jewish friends, we need to wake up and understand that when we said never again, we meant never again, but it happened again on Oct. 7.”

Pearl said that he supports the position recently articulated by Trump administration officials on Iran — that negotiations are the right first step but that Iran must dismantle its nuclear program.

“I’m glad President [Donald] Trump is taking leadership and having this discussion, and giving them the opportunity, and if they don’t take the opportunity, it’s got to be done for them,” Pearl said.

He pushed back on charges of genocide leveled against Israel, highlighting that the Palestinian population has ballooned since 1948, and said that Holocaust education should be mandatory and that colleges should be teaching the truth about the Middle East. Pearl also condemned countries that have criticized Israel’s conduct in the war.

“We’ve gotta protect ourselves from those people that want to kill us,” Pearl, who does not have Israeli citizenship, said. “And the second thing is this: We’ve got to be mensches. We’ve got to be kinder. We’ve got to be more generous. We’ve got to be the very best versions of ourselves that we possibly can. That’s what we’re simply commanded to do.”

Pearl told his family’s story at the event — his grandfather fled the pogroms to the United States with three siblings, while the rest of his family remained in Europe, where most died in the Holocaust. 

He said he remembers sitting with his crying grandfather watching television coverage of the Six-Day War; Pearl said his grandfather was afraid that Israel would be wiped out overnight.

“He said if Israel was a state, maybe, in 1929, maybe more of his family would have been able to go to Israel,” Pearl said. “And maybe some of his relatives would still be alive. He told me two things that day: Number one, the United States of America saved his life … And the second thing was that if Israel was born sooner, maybe more of my family would still be alive.”

Pearl said that his love for Israel is an intrinsic part of his love of his Jewish faith.

He highlighted connections between the Abrahamic faiths — that Abraham “is the father of all nations, that connects us all” and that Jesus was Jewish.

“The Jewish people are strong. The Jewish people know how to work hard. We’re taught to speak the truth. We’re taught to hold the right values. We’re taught to stand up for injustice. We’re taught to teach it to our children,” Pearl said, describing that spirit as the one that brought him and two other Jewish coaches into the college basketball Final Four this year.

He said he believes the “vast majority of Americans support the Jewish people and support the State of Israel,” and praised Evangelical Christians who support Israel for reasons of faith.