Paul Finebaum Reacts to Lane Kiffin Departing Ole Miss Football for LSU Tigers

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is out as the Rebels' shot-caller after making the move to depart Oxford to take the LSU Tigers job, he revealed via social media on Sunday afternoon.

No. 7 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) is in the midst of a historic season in the Magnolia State with a College Football Playoff berth within arms reach, but the most coveted head coach on the market has made his move to join LSU.

“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.”

Ole Miss Rebels Football. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin answers questions from the press after a college football game between Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State 38-19 in the Egg Bowl. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via 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, after the move went official on Sunday, the reactions have been pouring in with ESPN's Paul Finebaum chiming in on the news over the weekend.

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“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.”

Ole Miss Rebels Football: Lane Kiffin. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

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“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.

“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 Ole Miss News:

Ole Miss Makes Final Decision on Lane Kiffin Coaching CFP As LSU Tigers Pick Up Steam

Potential Lane Kiffin Replacements Revealed As Future With Ole Miss 'In Doubt'

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

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