Lane Kiffin quotes NCAA president, responds to Paul Finebaum’s barbs and the ongoing NIL ‘disaster’
OXFORD, Miss. — It looks as if head coach Lane Kiffin’s latest squabble with ESPN’s Paul Finebaum isn’t ending any time soon.
Last week at SEC Media Days, the Ole Miss head coach made his thoughts very clear on the current NIL landscape, saying in his opening statement that the current state of college football is something akin to a “disaster.”
“So there’s kind of your state of the union of what all coaches are dealing with around the country. And really, a poor system that isn’t getting better is now going to get worse with this.”
Lane Kiffin at SEC Media Days on NIL and the portal
For some reason, Finebaum took issue with Kiffin’s comments, going so far as to call the Rebel head coach ‘hypocritical.’
“I find everything that Lane says to be humorous,” Finebaum said last Thursday. “But nothing more than the hypocrisy of calling college football a disaster today because players can leave at a moment’s notice considering he walked out on Tennessee in the middle of the night for USC.”
Finebaum’s barbs didn’t stop there.
“What was a ‘disaster’ is how he coached in big games last year,” Finebaum said.
Well, Ole Miss fans can be sure Coach Kiffin didn’t take those comments lying down.
He responded Tuesday via Twitter to Finebaum’s comments while continuing to address the state of NIL as he quoted NCAA President Charlie Baker.
"I think it was a big mistake by the NCAA not to do a framework around NIL when they had the opportunity to," NCAA President Charlie Baker said during the Future of College Athletics Summit, not far from Capitol Hill. "And I think there were too many people in college sports who…
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) July 25, 2023
“I think it was a big mistake by the NCAA not to do a framework around NIL when they had the opportunity to,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said during the Future of College Athletics Summit in June. “And I think there were too many people in college sports who thought NO rules would work really well for them. And what everybody’s discovered is NO rules, NO transparency, NO accountability, NO framework, doesn’t work well for anybody.”
Kiffin ended his post with a pointed question and interesting hashtag for Finebaum.
“Does that not sound like a DISASTER??? So crazy to point out. My bad #AngryLittleMan” — Lane Kiffin to Paul Finebaum.
Supporting the GOAT
Kiffin also takes issue with some of Finebaum’s comments on Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Kiffin is a big supporter of Saban who helped resurrect Kiffin’s career when the legendary coach hired Kiffin as the Tide’s offensive coordinator. So it’s understandable he takes umbrage at Finebaum’s criticisms of Saban — and his legacy.
Lane Kiffin on the dynasty that Nick Saban has built at Alabama @abc3340
"It's why we have Finebaum to motivate him every other year and say oh his dynasty is over and then we're like hey thanks a lot for pissing him off" pic.twitter.com/U30PUdBDxv
— Chris McCulley (@ChrisMcCulleyTV) July 20, 2023
“It’s why we have Finebaum to motivate him every other year and say ‘Oh his dynasty is over,’ and this is the end of Saban and then we’re like, ‘Hey thanks a lot for pissing him off,” Kiffin said. “And Paul’s always wrong on this subject, and he just did it again the other day. If he doesn’t make the playoffs, he’s not any good as a coach. So, thanks Paul.”
Stay tuned for more on the Kiffin and Finebaum feud……and get your popcorn ready!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
