Paul Finebaum poured direct gasoline on the still-raging hatred that Rebels fans might forever carry against Kiffin.
The Rebel Nation bursts out laughing when they hear the words "loyalty" and "Lane Kiffin" in the same sentence, and Finebaum's latest comments validated their anger in a way that they'll love him for.
Paul Finabum torches Lane Kiffin
Touching upon the hottest hires of 2024, Finebaum strongly believed Kiffin would have made every call possible to become Saban's hire at Alabama.
“He would have crawled to Tuscaloosa, but Greg Byrne and others — I’m guessing Sabin was probably behind this as well. I guarantee that Nick Saban did not encourage Greg Byrne to hire Lane Kiffin at Alabama," Finebaum said.
On a side note, Kiffin stated Saban was the one who advised him to follow his heart between Ole Miss and LSU. The Rebel Nation is going to find those words particularly amusing now that Finebaum has let the cat out of the bag.
Finebaum noted that while Lanning was a top-tier target to succeed Saban, he pulled his name from the hat on the very next day.
“Dan Lanning was (the favorite) within 10 seconds of Nick Saban’s retirement announcement. Lanning was the betting favorite. By the next day, he was out of it because Dan Lanning didn’t want the job. The guy that did want the job was Lane Kiffin."
Inside word had that Kiffin was making every call he could to get inside that door in Tuscaloosa.
“I can absolutely confirm that Lane Kiffin was calling everyone imaginable to get him in the door,” Finebaum added. “Absolute fact.”
For Finebaum, it might have just been another page in his long-standing rivalry with Kiffin, but for the fans in Oxford, it was a moment of realization.
If Finebaum had been this transparent months ago, it would’ve saved Ole Miss fans a lot of sideline searching; they’d have understood exactly why their coach took the handoff from LSU.