In the whirlwind two days of speculation between Nick Saban retiring and Alabama naming his replacement as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, one confident voice stood alone.

His message was clear. It was confident. It was followed by a deep, raspy “Roll damn Tide, Paul. See you, buddy.” It was also counter to the running narrative, which, at the time, had Alabama aiming for Oregon’s Dan Lanning to be the next coach.

“Hey Paul, I got some breaking news. A little birdie I know just came to my bedroom window and told me Kalen DeBoer to Tuscaloosa. Done deal,” Dominic from Pittsburgh emphatically proclaimed on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Thursday, Jan. 11.

“Take it for what you want, but I trust this birdie.”

Did we mention Dominic is 12?

That’s right. A sixth-grader had done what journalists couldn’t. He named the replacement for a 72-year-old legend a day before the rest of the college football-watching world caught up. The breaking news he offered – along with his trademark conclusion to the call – has earned a nomination from Finebaum for call of the year.

“When he said it after coach Saban retired, we all just shook our heads because DeBoer wasn’t that prominent in the conversation,” Finebaum told AL.com on Monday. “We thought he was just a cute kid who was turning into a good caller. However by the next day, Dominic had turned into Nostradamus and had our rapt attention.”

On Monday, AL.com caught up with college football’s newest insider, who was finishing up some homework which included glue and other middle school necessities.

“It is pretty crazy because I was just trying to call in and see what his reaction was, and I wasn’t really trying to do anything,” Dominic told AL.com of the reaction to his call. “I was just seeing what he thought about SEC football.

“It’s super cool.”

So how did he know?

“Well, that’s Blackbeard’s birdie,” Dominic said. “Sorry, man.”

Can’t blame an insider for protecting his sources, but you can’t blame a guy for trying either.

Dominic’s dad, T.J., didn’t budge either.

“I don’t think he will ever tell you that one,” T.J., a local high school football coach, told AL.com. “A friend of the family who owns a bird told him that this is what it is looking like it will be. He’s like, ‘I have to call Mr. Finebaum.’”

It wasn’t his first call the SEC Network analyst’s show.

On Thursday, he caught Finebaum by surprise with his biting commentary on why Saban was calling it a career.

“I can’t really blame him (for retiring), though, having to deal with all this NIL bull-crap and kids not wanting to compete anymore,” Dominic said. “He will forever be the GOAT. Roll damn Tide, Paul! See you, buddy.”

The reaction to Dominic’s call has surprised the family.

“It’s pretty crazy,” T.J. said. “I’m not a huge social media person. No one in our family has a social media presence at all. We just love college football, and it’s kind of snowballed. I get texts. People who I used to deal with through high school football are calling and asking questions. It’s nuts. People sending me screens shots on Twitter is wild.

“Dominic is a character, you know what I mean? He’s the type of kid that you can take him to a barber shop, and someone can talk MLB, NFL or college, and he can carry on a conversation.”

Dominic doubled down on his prediction, suggesting that Ryan Grubb would be the next coach at Washington. That didn’t turn out to be the case.

Grubb, sources told ESPN’s Chris Low, is expected to join former Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer at Alabama as its new offensive coordinator.

“That one was a little off, but my birdie told me the big one,” he said. “Even if my birdie was wrong on that one, I’m happy Grubb is at Alabama.”

Dominic meets Finebaum

The sixth-grader has been an Alabama fan, like his dad, for a long time.

He scored SEC Championship Game tickets – 11th row, if you were wondering – and saw his first Alabama game, which just happened to be Saban’s final win.

“Really cool,” said Dominic, who writes Saban letters and received two autographed pictures in return. “We got to see everything in person. As much fun as it is to sit in the living room and watch it on TV and cheer, it was just a crazy atmosphere. Sometimes you go to some Steelers games, and we sit down and stand up on third downs. We stood up for the whole game. It was nuts.”

Prior to the game, Dominic and T.J. hit the SEC FanFare. That’s where they saw Finebaum.

“We kind of stalked him a little,” T.J. admitted. “(Dominic) wears an outfit every Saturday for Bama games. It’s shorts, T-shirt, underwear and socks. My wife washed it right before the Texas game, and they lost that game. He literally would not let her wash it the rest of the year. It went to Hawaii with us over Thanksgiving, in a garbage bag, because it didn’t get washed. Came with us to the SEC Championship Game. When he saw him, he was telling him he was trying to call his show, and he can never get through.”

During the conversation, Dominic told Finebaum about the outfit.

“Paul was like, ‘That is disgusting. Give me a call on Monday,’” T.J. recalled.

Finebaum said Dominic was hard to forget.

“I do remember meeting him and was really impressed with his football acumen,” he said Monday.

T.J. said his son made it his mission to get on Finebaum’s show.

“He literally tried to call him 10 to 12 times a day and finally got through that Tuesday after the semifinal game.

“He’s goofy, takes notes, says what he wants to say, tries to answer questions.”

The math teacher

During one of his calls, Dominic told Finebaum he was taking notes to prepare for the show during math class. His teacher took them from him.

“She’s always given me A’s, and I’m a good student,” he said of his teacher. “Then the one time I’m doing my math – I was starting to write stuff – I had like a couple of questions (of homework left), she just took everything away from me. “

Dominic made it known his math teacher is a Penn State fan. Yet another example of how in the SEC, it just means more.

What’s next?

Dominic has no immediate plans for the future, except to finish sixth grade and prepare for DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa.

“I may just want to be a regular (on Finebaum) and talk to him about what’s going on in the sports world,” Dominic said.

As far as how the Crimson Tide will do next season, he said he doesn’t need a birdie for that prediction.

“A natty in ‘24,” he said with the confidence of his DeBoer prediction.

What about Texas and Oklahoma coming to the SEC?

“I ain’t scared of them.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.