With every passing day, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum’s tough exterior is starting to crumble, and we’re loving every minute of it. And guess this time who was able to reveal this soft side of the analyst? That’s none other than Ole Miss Rebels HC Lane Kiffin. Well, isn’t that surprising?

A few months back, Kiffin could not even qualify in Finebaum’s list of favorites as the analyst tagged him as the “Miley Cyrus of college football coaching.” Looks like one game against Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs was enough for Kiffin to turn Finebaum guilty for the harsh words that he hurled at the Ole Miss HC.

Paul Finebaum’s change of heart for Lane Kiffin

Maybe somewhere deep down, Kiffin too was left surprised by how his boys crushed Georgia 28-10 on November 9, Saturday. Being in a do-or-die kind of situation, the Rebels have put their playoff hopes back on track. Even though the Bulldogs had a steady start taking a 7-0 lead that came with intercepting Kiffin’s signal-caller Jaxson Dart, the rest of the time was taken care of by the Rebels who stood up to their name. They swapped to a full revenge mode and sacked Smart’s QB Carson Beck five times. The Ole Miss feat was enough to stir Finebaum. On the Matt Barrie Show, the analyst thus had to let his guard down as he dropped a big confession, “Matt let me say… I’m as guilty and maybe more guilty than anybody else.”

He then comes up with a promise: “The narrative that Lane Kiffin can’t win the big game just gets stuck to him… can never say that again.” Well, the Ole Miss face-off against Georgia showed how Kiffin’s strategy to use proven transfers to bolster the Rebels’ offensive line and defensive front paid him well. That’s why Finebaum tagged him as “an elite football coach.” That’s the exact opposite of what the ESPN analyst earlier thought that Kiffin was.  

Revisiting Paul Finebaum’s Kiffin gripes

Back in July, Finebaum got into a beef with Lane Kiffin for his harsh words hurled in honor of the Ole Miss HC. The analyst went too far while commenting on him in an interview with the Tulsa World newspaper. When asked about his opinion on the chances of Kiffin and his squad making it to the College Football Playoff, Finebaum did not inch before straight away commenting, “I would say no.”

He then questioned Kiffin’s coaching talents as he was fired by the USC Trojans back in 2013, “How did someone like Lane Kiffin ever get these jobs?… In some respects, Lane Kiffin is the Miley Cyrus of college football. He has very little talent, but we simply can’t take our eyes off him.” Finally, Finebaum realized how he went too far with his words.

And guess what? Lane Kiffin is not the only one for whom he has felt this way. The ESPN analyst also came up with good words for Clemson Tigers HC Dabo Swinney, who failed to live up to standards as they lost to the Louisville Cardinals 21-33. So Finebaum now holds himself responsible for how brutally the Tigers HC is now criticized. Well, will you still say that the analyst is heartless?