Paul Finebaum mocks Lane Kiffin’s Pat McAfee appearance: ‘Was he trying out for Shakespeare?’

Ultimatum or not, Paul Finebaum doesn’t believe Lane Kiffin has said anything that implies he’s still committed to Ole Miss.

While Kiffin is leading Ole Miss to its best season in more than a half-century, he’s also being linked to job vacancies at LSU, Florida and even the New York Giants, who have his former quarterback Jaxson Dart. As these possible destinations await, Ole Miss reportedly gave Kiffin an ultimatum, a report the head coach denied Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. But while Kiffin denied being given an ultimatum, Finebaum noticed he didn’t deny having interest in other jobs during his appearance with McAfee.

“That was not exactly a denial yesterday. What was all that about? Was he trying out for Shakespeare? That was absurd…Lane, it’s up to you, if you want to end the speculation, end it right now.” – Paul Finebaum on Lane Kiffin pic.twitter.com/nMCM34ulhM

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 19, 2025

“That was not exactly a denial yesterday,” Finebaum said Wednesday on First Take. “What was all that about? Was he trying out for Shakespeare? That was absurd. The bottom-line is if you want to stay at Ole Miss — and I don’t think he wants to — you just say, ‘Yeah, I’m committed to Ole Miss…’ he attacked the question about was there an ultimatum. Certainly, Ole Miss has told him, you need to make a decision at some point.”

Finebaum noted Kiffin’s family visited Baton Rouge and Gainesville earlier this week amid reports that the head coach has been linked to vacancies at LSU and Florida.

“This is all going on while Ole Miss is having its best season in about 60 years, hasn’t won an SEC Championship since John Kennedy was president and Lane’s raging about all this stuff going on,” Finebaum continued. “Lane, it’s up to you, if you want to end the speculation, end it right now. But you haven’t ended it. All you have done is exasperated it.”

With McAfee, Kiffin denied the ultimatum, but opted to preach living in the moment rather than address his future with Ole Miss or anywhere else. If an alleged ultimatum hasn’t been enough to make Kiffin recommit to Ole Miss, then a Finebaum rant probably won’t do it either. But if Kiffin doesn’t want to deal with these questions, rumors, reports and narratives while attempting to win a championship with Ole Miss, then

Ole Miss is right for wanting an answer on whether or not Kiffin will be their head coach next season. But Kiffin knows he holds the cards. If the alleged ultimatum date comes and goes and Kiffin decides to reaffirm his commitment to Ole Miss, he knows they’re not going to push him out the door.