Paul Finebaum eviscerates Lane Kiffin for ‘utterly destructive’ exit from Ole Miss
By David Wasson
Published:
ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum has been front-and-center observing Lane Kiffin’s coaching life for nearly 20 years, and Finebaum didn’t hold back when he was asked Monday morning on First Take what he thought of Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss to LSU.
“It is just so typical of Lane Kiffin to do something so utterly destructive,” Finebaum said. “And that’s what he did. It is hard to believe, really, almost anything he said there in that interview – if he wanted to coach these kids, as he put it, he could have. The simple answer is that he would have remained the Ole Miss football coach, where he began the season, where he told these young men ‘We have a chance to win a championship’ and they still do.
“And what does he do? What Lane Kiffin always does – he lights a match to the castle that he built and he runs out of town in the middle of the night. Although this was in broad daylight. It is utterly disgraceful, and there’s no getting around it. Lane Kiffin trying to blame others, trying to blame the adults in the room, is so comical.”
Finebaum went on to cite examples of Kiffin’s ugly departures with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, the Tennessee Volunteers, the USC Trojans and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“Finally, a major school gave him a shot again, Ole Miss, and he built a program,” Finebaum added. “Last year he would have left for Florida, two years ago he would have gone to Alabama had they bothered to call him which they didn’t. And this year, he does the most predictable thing — he walks out on his team.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
