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Paul Finebaum and Lane Kiffin have a bit of a rocky history dating back to the head coach’s days in sunny Los Angeles. In fact, Kiffin would say that the sports show host helped get him fired from his USC gig.
The two made amends when Kiffin returned to a head coaching role in the SEC with Ole Miss, but on Tuesday, Finebaum threw a decade of peace to the wayside!
Let’s rewind a bit.
After his first (brief) head coaching stint with SEC, Kiffin famously bailed on Tennessee for Southern California. After three and a half largely mediocre campaigns on the West Coast, he was fired midseason before boarding his plane following a loss to Arizona State.
Just before that canning, Paul Finebaum made Kiffin’s uncertain job status a national headline.
“How did someone like Lane Kiffin ever get these jobs? How did he land the Raiders job? At Tennessee? And particularly the one at SC? People think it’s because of his father, Monte, the great defensive wizard.
“In some respects, Lane Kiffin is the Miley Cyrus of college football. He has very little talent, but we simply can’t take our eyes off him.”
Kiffin joked that the remark planted the seed for his USC firing while speaking with Finebaum ahead of a 2022 matchup between Ole Miss and Alabama.
“I spent eight years waiting for my chance to get back at you for getting me fired at USC… For calling me Miley Cyrus. My athletic director was watching the TV when you said it that morning!”
They seemed to call a truce that Saturday afternoon in Oxford, but Finebaum is stirring the pot yet again!
Paul Finebaum has reignited his feud with Lane Kiffin this offseason.
Tuesday, he spoke his mind on both Kiffin and his Ole Miss program as they enter the 2024 season. While many consider the Rebs a legitimate playoff contender, Finebaum needs to “see it before he believes it.”
SEC Network analyst Paul @finebaum joined @BerryTramel and has some choice words regarding Ole Miss head coach @Lane_Kiffin:
“Everyone in the media is in love with Lane Kiffin.” “They think he’s hilarious. I don’t think he’s that funny.”
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/7FYUlLZO7T
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) July 3, 2024
“Everyone in the media… is in love with Lane Kiffin. They think he’s hilarious. I don’t think he’s that funny… And his coaching has been underwhelming.”
Projections aside, Finebaum is WAYYY off here. Kiffin is one of the best follows on social media!
His assessment on coaching is up for debate, though it’s worth noting that the Rebels have won 29 games over the last three seasons, finding their way into the Top 10 at some point in each one of those campaigns.
And 2024 is setting up to be his best yet!
Can Lane Kiffin lead Ole Miss to the playoff? Certainly! Will he? That’s still to be determined.
Maybe he’ll take a page out of his buddy Nick Saban’s book and use Finebaum’s “rat poison” to motivate his squad.