Lane Kiffin apparently is still holding a grudge against Paul Finebaum.
During SEC media day Monday, old wounds between the pair resurfaced on-air when the conversation turned to Kiffin’s ugly exit at USC, which Finebaum, who was with ESPN’s “College GameDay” at the time, may have had a hand in.
Finebaum famously called Kiffin “the Miley Cyrus of college football” during a live broadcast just hours before the USC football coach was fired on the tarmac at LAX after the Trojans’ loss to Arizona State, a moment neither man has forgotten about to this day.
“It’s a better story if I got you fired,” Finebaum said of Kiffin’s USC dismissal.
Kiffin took his quip in stride, using the opportunity to rip into Finebaum, with whom he has long butted heads.
“You really did,” Kiffin said. “Because it is a true story that the athletic director and the president were on that trip. We were playing that night and you were on ‘College GameDay’ and you had to make your big splash. They were watching it because I know the other person in the room who was watching it with them. And you said what a joke I was, I’m the ‘Miley Cyrus of college football coaching’ and I should be fired. They looked at each other and later that night, I was fired.
“But hey, look what happened,” Kiffin continued. “I would never have gotten to work for Coach (Nick) Saban. All of these other things wouldn’t have happened. So, I appreciate you for helping getting me fired.”
Finebaum attempted to cool the conversation, touching on the success Kiffin has enjoyed since the dark days after his USC firing.
“Look at what you’re doing today,” Finebaum replied. “You’re predicted to go to the playoff. Look at Miley Cyrus. She’s had a nice comeback too.”
But Kiffin didn’t relent.
“So, you were wrong on that,” Kiffin clapped back. “I mean, you put me down with that. Really, I don’t know what you’re good at. You predicted Coach Saban was done, that didn’t happen. You basically said Miley Cyrus stinks and she’s still going.”
After leaving Southern California, Kiffin worked three seasons as Saban’s offensive coordinator before parlaying that job into a head coaching position at Florida Atlantic.
In 2020, Kiffin rose to the head coaching job at Ole Miss, which went 11-2 last season and is expected to be a national championship contender in 2024.
