There is no doubt we’ll still be hearing callers from throughout the southeastern United States as Paul Finebaum grows what ESPN hopes will be a national network of rabid college fans eager to share their opinions with him on the air. Tuesday saw The Wall Street Journal publish a report about Finebaum’s new deal with ESPN. The formal announcement and first appearances on the network’s television and radio networks came Thursday morning.

The news of Finebaum’s departure from Birmingham broke just hours after word leaked from Bristol, CT about a significant number of employees being laid off by “the worldwide sports leader” as a cost-cutting measure. Most of the initial cuts took place in the company’s sales and technology departments and resulted in an approximately 5% reduction in workforce but more are expected in the coming weeks. The folks at Business Insider published a chart earlier this week providing a better visual understanding of the May 21 BigLeadSports post suggesting the rising cost of live sports was a major reason for the layoffs.

Fortune.com published a story earlier today suggesting the layoffs were probably a little overdue and that the company will still continue hiring in new areas – like Finebaum’s new home come August 2014. Now, even though we do live in what many would consider the heart of SEC country, it probably wouldn’t hurt to visit getsecnetwork.com and make sure the new station has a presence in metro Birmingham come 2014.