The SEC Job Lane Kiffin ‘Begged’ Paul Finebaum to Help Him Get

Lane Kiffin may have been the biggest name to jump onto the college football coaching carousel this past offseason when he dumped Ole Miss for LSU, but he could have made an even bigger splash before then.

The only problem was, Kiffin couldn’t get them to pick up the phone.

That’s according to Paul Finebaum, who relayed an interesting story about the work Kiffin was apparently doing behind the scenes to put himself in position to replace the retiring Nick Saban and become the next head coach at Alabama.

Part of that work was to get in touch with Finebaum personally, and have the veteran voice of SEC football try to influence decision makers in Tuscaloosa through his national call-in show, thinking that the Mouth of the South’s reputation would sway the Bama brass to consider him.

Kiffin ‘Begged’ for Bama, According to Finebaum

Lane Kiffin ‘Begged’ Paul Finebaum to Get Him an SEC Job – But It Wasn’t LSU — USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

“He begged for the Alabama job. Ask me how I know,” Finebaum said on UnSportsmanLike with Evan, Canty, and Michelle.

He added: “[Kiffin] called me in the middle of my show one day and said, ‘Can you get me this job?’ after Saban left. ‘They won’t call me.’”

How could he sway Alabama? Finebaum recalled of Kiffin: “He said, ‘Go on air and say I will take the job. I turned down Auburn for this.’”

“I mentioned I had been told by sources Saban was blocking him,” Finebaum said. “He didn’t respond and just added if I could go on air and get some momentum, he might have a chance.”

Alabama Never Wanted Lane Kiffin

Anyone who was vaguely familiar with Alabama’s historic search to replace Saban knows that Kiffin was not going to get that job.

Despite rampant fan speculation and Kiffin’s own apparent lobbying, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne and the school’s leadership never had him in the mix.

Kiffin did a remarkable job modernizing Alabama’s offense as coordinator from 2014 to 2016, but his time there ended abruptly when Saban fired him before the 2017 national championship game after it was apparent Lane was moving on to Florida Atlantic.

Bama officials also were reportedly turned off by his reputed off-field antics – remember “Joey Freshwater”? – and from what Finebaum says, Saban apparently even positioned himself as a roadblock to Kiffin landing at Alabama.

Which eventually paved the road for Kiffin to land at LSU. The next chapter of that story will be told at Ole Miss on Saturday night.

(Finebaum)

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