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During Thursday's live TV encounter between Paul Finebaum and Lane Kiffin on "The Paul Finebaum Show" amid the SEC Media Days, things came to a boiling point. At one point, the veteran ESPN SEC analyst mentioned his part in Coach Kiffin's dismissal from the USC Trojans, saying:
“It’s a better story if I got you fired.”
The Ole Miss Rebels coach didn't reply cheerfully to the insinuation and responded with a hint of irony:
“You really did, 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."
Lane Kiffin's next job was as the offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Spending time as a member of Nick Saban's staff at Alabama gave him time to re-settle in the sport. There he built what would become a national championship-winning offense, and the job proved a stepping stone to his head coaching gig in the SEC with the Ole Miss Rebels.
Lane Kiffin slams Paul Finebaum's takes on live TV
While Paul Finebaum gave in to Lane Kiffin's response with something of an apology, saying that the Rebels are a genuine contender in 2024, the coach was far from finished. On the pundit's eponymous show, Kiffin went all in against Paul Finebaum:
“So you were wrong on that, 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.”
It's well known that the two aren't each other's favorite person, but Thursday's clash made for compelling TV.
Also Read: Paul Finebaum calls Big Ten head coach a "disaster" during 2024 SEC Media Days
