Rebels Coach Lane Kiffin With Good-Natured Ribbing Of ESPN's Paul Finebaum

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin was his typical self at SEC Media Days and it led to a little banter back and forth with ESPN's Paul Finebaum.

As crazy as it might sound, questions have been swirled about Alabama head coach Nick Saban's legacy at SEC Media Days, and Lane Kiffin is not pleased.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum said earlier in the week if Kirby Smart leads Georgia to a third-consecutive national championship that the Alabama head coach's legacy might take a little bit of a hit. The Ole Miss Rebels head coach made sure that Finebaum knew he didn't like that he might be awaking a sleeping Crimson Tide giant. 

"That's why we have Finebaum, so he can motivate him every other year and say, 'Oh, his dynasty's over and this is the end of Saban,'" Kiffin said. "Then we're like, 'Hey, thanks a lot for pissing him off.' And Paul's always wrong on this subject. And he just did it again the other day, you know, 'If he doesn't make the playoffs, he's not any good as a coach,' so thanks Paul."

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

Finebaum joined SportsCenter before Kiffin did and said the Rebels head coach "took a shot" at him.

"C'mon, Lane just has to find a target," Finebaum said. "When you get him here in a few minutes, please give him my warmest greetings."

Kiffin joined Matt Barrie shortly thereafter on ESPN and said he's a "Finebaum guy" and that he was just "stating the facts" that his questions about Saban's legacy don't help Ole Miss.

"He just pisses Saban off because he says his dynasty's over every year and, when he loses all these players to the NFL and coaches, that it's over, and coach goes and proves him wrong," Kiffin said on SportsCenter.

Obviously, Kiffin had to have the last laugh.

As he was wrapping up his interview with Barrie, he said he was going to go find Finebaum, which would have been easier to do than the average person because "you can't miss those ears."

Never change, Lane.

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter at @casey_smith2419

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