Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin got perhaps the signature win of his career in their Week 11 win over the Georgia Bulldogs. But according to Kiffin, none of this would have been possible without ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.
Finebaum and Kiffin have quite the checkered past, with Finebaum in particular being quite critical of Kiffin’s coaching career as a whole.
But of all the negative things that Finebaum has said of Kiffin, perhaps his most damaging comment came during a College GameDay appearance in 2013 while Kiffin was head coach of the USC Trojans, calling him the “Miley Cyrus of college football” with “very little talent.”
“How did someone like Lane Kiffin ever get these jobs?” said Finebaum of Kiffin. “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.”
Just hours later, Kiffin was fired from his role at USC, something that Kiffin has continuously said was due to Finebaum’s public comments.
Despite Finebaum’s continuous criticism of Kiffin in the past, it seems like it is all water under the bridge. Especially so now, considering Kiffin has finally gotten Ole Miss over the hump against an elite SEC program like Georgia this season.
During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, Kiffin actually thanked Finebaum for getting him fired at USC, as it opened up the experience of both coaching under Nick Saban at Alabama and later as the head coach at Ole Miss.
“Somebody else is going to get the Finebaum love somewhere else,” said Kiffin of his checkered past with Finebaum. “And I’m okay with that when you take the shots. We’ve talked about this before, it makes you better. It makes you overcome things. When you got me fired at USC, we’ve said that before. Now, I’m saying I wouldn’t have been here and to have the Georgia win if you hadn’t have gotten me fired. I wouldn’t have gotten to work for Coach Saban. So I’m grateful to you Paul. Thanks for that day. Thanks for the Miley Cyrus comment.”
Finebaum responded by giving Kiffin his flowers for the Georgia win and the success he has had at Ole Miss.
“Thank you coach for always remembering that. And congratulations again, we’re all very happy for you. Whether we have to be reminded of Miley Cyrus or not.”
Nothing to see here… just a normal interview with @Lane_Kiffin pic.twitter.com/U3yMC0SknR
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 13, 2024
After their win over Georgia, Kiffin and his Ole Miss program now have a very real chance to make the College Football Playoff for the first time ever. And if Ole Miss can make any noise in the CFP, you can bet Paul Finebaum will be one of the first people Kiffin will remind.
