Lane Kiffin has long been an easy target for ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum, the voice of the SEC. That’s increased tenfold over the last year, and not only because Kiffin bailed on Ole Miss in the middle of a College Football Playoff run to become head coach of SEC rival LSU.
Kiffin and LSU are at the center of the college football discourse right now after Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, players who were at NFL training camps and signed pro contracts, are eligible to play for the Tigers after receiving preliminary injunctions in a controversial ruling from a Louisiana judge on Thursday. The SEC even sued LSU over the intent to play the ex-pros. LSU is holding Wright and Harris out for Saturday’s game against Clemson in Baton Rouge.
Pat McAfee to Lane Kiffin: “I’m a daily sports show host, so thank you.”
Kiffin also addresses the eligibility of Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris and the decision not to roster them yet for LSU. pic.twitter.com/3xwBic9l8g
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 5, 2026
On SEC Network’s SEC Nation on Saturday, Finebaum absolutely blasted Kiffin and LSU, while praising SEC commissioner Greg Sankey for being a “hero” through all of this.
Paul Finebaum: “[Lane Kiffin is] a child. He’s a 51-year-old man behaving like a 16-year-old… There are no adults in the room… If the presidents of the SEC took a vote today, they very well might vote to kick LSU out of the league.”pic.twitter.com/616W3nMCbf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 5, 2026
“Matt, in a week of utter chaos, there was one hero, and he is Greg Sankey, the commissioner of the SEC,” Finebaum told new SEC Nation host Matt Barrie. “What he did, with the backing of 15 other presidents, helped preserve the integrity of a great league. In a time when there is absolute chaos and moral decay in our game, he stopped what would have been one of the worst moments in the history.”
“And what’s interesting is the other side of it,” Finebaum continued. “We can all wrap our arms around Lane Kiffin, and say he’s lovable and he’s a great coach. But in the end he’s a child. He’s a 51-year-old man behaving like a 16-year-old.
“And the worst part- there are no adults in the room. I thought all college campuses have an athletic director. The one at LSU has been nowhere to be found. The president, Wade Rousse, has been nowhere to be found. The governor is calling all of the shots. And I wonder if there’s any supervision. Does LSU have a board of supervisors? Is someone in charge to allow this to go on?”
Finebaum then said that he thinks that if the SEC presidents took a vote right now, “they very well might vote to kick LSU out of the league.”
‘We can quibble about, ‘Should these guys have come back?’ That’s for another day. That’s for a court. But what happened down there has left a stain on this league. And I know it’s not going to happen, and it probably shouldn’t happen. But if the presidents of the SEC took a vote today, they very well might vote to kick LSU out of the league. And I can tell you, fans out there would not be the least bit upset by it.”
Kiffin makes his debut as head coach of the Tigers on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. LSU enters the season ranked No. 11 in the AP poll. And the team’s performance, to go with the eligibility of ex-pros, will be the talk of the college football world this season. You can be sure that Finebaum will deliver honest commentary about all of it.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.