Paul Finebaum Believes a Major SEC Coach is the 'Villain' of College Football

Just about every college football season, there seems to be a villain that emerges. This year, it feels as though LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin has fully embraced that role.

Lane Kiffin's Wild Offseason Takes Another Turn

Kiffin started his path toward being the villain at the end of last season, when he left the Ole Miss Rebels high and dry after an impressive 11-1 season and the school's first College Football Playoff berth. Kiffin elected to leave to take the LSU job; therefore, he wasn't allowed to coach the team during its playoff run.

Kiffin then made more headlines this offseason when he said it was hard to recruit to Ole Miss because players' families did not want them to live in Oxford. This caused an uproar from the fanbase that once loved him.

Paul Finebaum Calls Kiffin College Football's Villain

His villain status went to a new level because he is the only SEC head coach adamant about adding a player who was on an NFL roster during the preseason, despite conference rules not allowing it. That's why Paul Finebaum said that, despite trying to play the victim, Kiffin is the villain here.

LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the press. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Lane Kiffin is just a pawn in all of this," Finebaum said on 'McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.' "He's the villain, and we all know, but to me, the administration at LSU is completely in question here. You've got a president at LSU who votes with the SEC on Tuesday, and then I'm sure after getting called from the governor he abstains, he still hasn't said, 'I'm against this SEC policy.'"You've got a president at LSU who votes with the SEC on Tuesday, and then I'm sure after getting called from the governor, he abstains; he still hasn't said, 'I'm against this SEC policy.'"

Finebaum Questions LSU's Administration Amid Eligibility Fight

Finebaum sees the LSU coach as the face of the controversy, but believes the more significant questions may involve the administration that has allowed LSU to take such an aggressive position.

And that's what makes Kiffin's villain status so interesting. The coach isn't simply generating headlines because of what he says or because he left one SEC program for another. He's now at the center of a larger fight over how college football should regulate roster construction in an era where the boundaries between college and professional football continue to disappear.

Kiffin may be the most visible figure in that fight, but Finebaum's comments suggest LSU itself could eventually have to answer for the position it has taken. Whether that makes Kiffin the villain, the face of a broken system or simply a coach willing to push every available boundary, one thing is already clear: college football is going to be watching LSU and Kiffin very closely.

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