Paul Finebaum: Lane Kiffin Was 'Looking Around' at Other SEC Programs Last Season

Finebaum discussed Kiffin's season with the Rebels in 2024, if Florida was a school of interest for the Ole Miss shot-caller.

Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; SEC Nation analyst Paul Finebaum looks on prior to the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will begin Spring Camp on Tuesday with the program set to take the field in Oxford (Miss.) to get practice underway.

Kiffin and Co. are set to begin a new era in "The Sip" with quarterback Jaxson Dart off to the next level, but expectations remain high for the program.

Despite the Rebels working through the offseason, analysts have begun chiming in on the 2024 season and Kiffin's future in Oxford.

SEC analyst Paul Finebaum hopped on the Saturday Down South Podcast to discuss Kiffin's "interest" in another SEC program and his thoughts on last fall for the Rebels:

"I think he blew it," Finebaum said. "He had, as everyone said before the season and during the season, his best shot. It came down to two unforgivable losses. Primarily the one against Kentucky. Although, I think he let the game against Florida get away as well. If he wins either one of those, he's in the playoff and you can figure out whether or not he would have gone far."

"I think his team was good enough to make a run. I don't know what happens next for him. I also believe very strongly that he was looking around, and I think we all know he was looking at Florida. He can deny it, but I don't think there's anything to deny. I think it's a fact. That situation never opened, of course."

This isn't the only time that Finebaum has weighed in on Kiffin and the Florida Gators opening if Billy Napier had been let go.

“I think you’ll hear Lane Kiffin’s name,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show in November. “I don’t know if there’d be any legitimate openings this year, but I think at some point he’s going to have to take a deep, long look. I almost went to Auburn, he would say to himself, I thought about Florida. Do I continue here? Do I look to the NFL? I don’t know but I guarantee Lane Kiffin, once he wraps up the Egg Bowl, will have to do some soul searching.”

Finebaum also came back to reiterate how talented of a coach Kiffin is and the talented rosters he continues to construct in Oxford.

“Lane Kiffin is a really smart guy,” Finebaum added. “He knows this was his shot. And I’m sure if you’re an Ole Miss fan, you say, ‘Oh, what do you mean? I mean, we can come back.’ I don’t know about that. I mean, to me, it’s not that easy for Ole Miss to be the best team in the country, which I thought they were yesterday before that game. 

“I want to make it clear I think Lane Kiffin is an excellent football coach … People told me close to that program, when I was there a few weeks ago, that the one reason they were playing better against Georgia than they were against Kentucky, that with so many free agents, it takes a while, and finally they got the rhythm. So there’s just no excuse.”

Despite outside noise, Kiffin has doubled down on his thoughts regarding Oxford, the fan base and the community:

“Oxford is amazing. I said a year or two ago that I needed Oxford a lot more than it needed me, and even since then, continuing with Landry at the time going to Oxford High School, and then to come to Ole Miss," Kiffin said in November.

"It’s been really special. I’m very appreciative of them for bringing us here and embracing us. It’s been awesome.”

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