Paul Finebaum Reacts to Lane Kiffin Leaving Ole Miss For LSU Football Coaching Job

The LSU Tigers have officially hired Lane Kiffin as the program's next head coach after the Ole Miss Rebels shot-caller made the move to depart Oxford on Sunday.

In an unprecedented move, Kiffin walks away from the Ole Miss program amid a College Football Playoff run in 2025 where he now heads to Baton Rouge.

“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” Kiffin said in a statement.

“I was hoping to complete a historic six season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong, and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern.

“My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance. Unfortunately, that means Friday’s Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels.”

LSU Tigers Football. — Nov 28, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin looks on in the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

“While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss,” Kiffin continued. “And I will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford.”

Now, with the move made official as Kiffin departs the Ole Miss Rebels amid a College Football Playoff run, ESPN's Paul Finebaum has chimed in on the situation.

Paul Finebaum Weighs In: SportsCenter Edition

“Well, it concludes one of the greatest odysseys we’ve ever seen in college football coaching with him talking to at least or talking about going to at least three different schools, Ole Miss, LSU and Florida,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter.

“This is the one that most people coalesced around in the final days. But what took so long is the question and most people believe that Kiffin, meeting with the chancellor yesterday and the AD, was lobbying to either coach in the SEC championship game, which would have happened had Auburn beaten Alabama, and ultimately the playoffs, which will happen a couple weeks later.

“They apparently did not want him to do that. He tried to lobby them to have the team decide they apparently chose not to do that as well.”

Paul Finebaum Second Thoughts: Matt Barrie Podcast

“Didn’t work,” Paul Finebaum said. “It didn’t move anybody in Oxford because they had already made the decision because they just frankly didn’t trust Lane Kiffin anymore.

"He was their coach through the Egg Bowl, but they didn’t trust what would happen if he gets named at LSU on Sunday and then is two weeks later coaching in Oxford, by the way, with full access to the Ole Miss computers where all the secrets are, where all the recruits are, where all the contacts are, and they didn’t trust him to take all that information while he’s also building and recruiting for LSU, their biggest rival.”

“But I think it’s blown up again, and as somebody who really likes Lane Kiffin, I feel badly that because of greed, because it’s better over there than it is where I am, even though my team is ranked in the Top 10 and LSU is nowhere to be found. Kiffin is going to blow up yet another SEC campus for his own personal greed,” Finebaum said.

News: #LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is beginning to assemble his staff in Baton Rouge.

Kiffin will bring the following from Ole Miss, @mzenitz reports:

- OC Charlie Weis Jr.
- WR coach George McDonald
- S&C coach Nick Savage
- GM Billy Glasscock

New era at LSU is set to begin. pic.twitter.com/h5eAFJctTm
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) November 30, 2025

“I hope he’s successful and I think he will be successful. But, ultimately, he still doesn’t have a championship on his resume. I saw a comparison head-to-head between Lane Kiffin and Gus Malzahn this morning…

"I mean, Gus Malzahn is 3-5 lifetime against Nick Saban, the best coach of all time. Kiffin is 0 for his career against Saban. It was just amazing, Gus Malzahn, who may or may not have a job at the end of the day as a coordinator, blows Kiffin away on a head-to-head basis.”

More LSU News:

Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban Evaluate Lane Kiffin's Decision Amid LSU Football Push

Lane Kiffin 'Trending Toward Ending Up at LSU' As Tigers Pursue Coveted Head Coach

No. 1 Wide Receiver in Louisiana, LSU Football Commit Remains Locked in With Tigers

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