Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin to LSU? Paul Finebaum Analyzes What Could Play Out

The coaching carousel is red-hot this fall with multiple premier jobs in college football coming open across the last handful of weeks.

From the LSU Tigers gig to the Penn State Nittany Lions job, there are multiple coaching vacancies in 2025 with the landscape set to change once again.

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has emerged as a hot commodity already with his name popping up as a potential candidate for multiple jobs - namely the LSU and Florida openings.

But ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum believes recent events in Baton Rouge may have impacted the LSU Tigers' chances for Kiffin.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry spoke out during the week surrounding the steps that will be taken during the coaching search - along with contractual details that could negatively impact candidates.

“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry said. “This is a pattern. The guy that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M 70 something million dollars. We’ve got a 53 million dollar liability. We are not doing that again. I believe we’re going to find a great coach — maybe we’ll let President Trump pick it, he loves winners.

"I’m not gonna be picking the next coach, but I can promise you we’re going to pick a coach and make sure he’s successful. We’re going to make sure he’s compensated properly and we’re going to put metrics on it because I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country, then leaving the tax payers to foot the bill.”

What were Finebaum's take on the Louisiana Governor's comments?

“I’ve heard a lot of people say this week, ‘We need to keep politics out of college football,'” Paul Finebaum said. “Wrong. Every university president goes to the state legislature, whether it’s Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico, and that’s where the money comes from. Not for athletics, per se, but for the university.

"All we’ve heard for three years, every commissioner going to Washington, pleading with Congress. So, politics and college football are intertwined, but the problem with this governor is he just became a caricature of Louisiana governors. That’s hard to do, by the way, when you understand the history of that state.”

Now, the college football icon believes the comments could negatively impact the LSU's Tigers' hunt to get Kiffin out of Oxford.

“He made it if you’re Lane Kiffin or somebody else,” Finebaum said. “You’re going, ‘Do I want to deal with that?’ Of all the things that Governor Landry did, he did one thing that really mattered. He fired the athletic director live. I’ve never seen that before.”

“The problem is, LSU went from the best job in the country to behind a couple of other ones. Now, that can repopulate,” Finebaum said. “Assuming they can get someone in there quickly to be the president and try to settle everyone down.

"It’s still a great, but particularly for someone like Lane Kiffin who I think is the number one target of all those schools, I think they were hurt.”

Now, all eyes remain on Kiffin this fall as the coaching search heats up this fall with the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators battling for the Ole Miss decision-maker.

More Ole Miss News:

National Analyst Believes Miami Dolphins Should Hire Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss Football Great Doubles Down on Lane Kiffin to Florida Gators 'Not Happening'

Tony Vitello Pokes Fun at Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin in Goodbye to Tennessee

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