Are you kidding me? Paul Finebaum got down on his knees? A day after passing a critical jab at the Ole Miss Rebels HC Lane Kiffin, ‘the voice of the SEC’ came up with an apology. It did not take place within closed doors. Instead, he ensured to come up with his grand gesture publicly. But the apology came after a lot of hoopla. Now that the mea culpa moment came from someone like Finebaum who often isn’t the first one to apologize, will it melt Kiffin’s heart and apply calming balm to the “not funny” dig? But instead of getting carried away by the digs, the Ole Miss HC is busy making some big changes in his program. 

Everything was going fine until one fine day, Finebaum appeared in an interview on the Berry Tramel Show. On July 3, things took a surprising turn when the ESPN analyst downplayed the Ole Miss HC’s social media presence and his proficiency as a coach. So when the interviewer dropped Kiffin’s name, Finebaum could not help but sarcastically comment, “Everyone in the media, Berry, we’re on the older statesman side of it, is in love with Lane Kiffin. They think he’s hilarious. I don’t think he’s that funny.” He further spilled the tea by commenting that he finds the HC “underwhelming at times” as a coach.     

But before things went out of hand, Finebaum thought it wise to become a humble pie. The analyst has a segment known as aPAULogy where he goes on tirades to back-pedal on his harsh critiques. This time, too, has been no exception. The SEC analyst was too keen to come up with an apologetic soliloquy. 

“After the Alabama game, I wrote Coach Kiffin off, said he couldn’t coach. Said the Ole Miss season was going down the drain. I was wrong. So, I beg, I beg all of you, forgive me! Coach Kiffin even turned Juice after me. Ole Miss has a great team. Lane Kiffin is the best coach in college football,” said Finebaum on his show on July 4. But even before the confession dropped in, Kiffin did manage the entire thing keeping his chill intact.   

Kiffin’s unfazed response to Finebaum 

Instead of taking offense at Finebaum’s snarky comment, Kiffin brought forward an unruffled comeback. On July 3 he took to X and wrote, “Why so angry, Paul? I think you’re funny. Also, @Vol_Baseball won the Natty!!! How can you be in such a bad mood??” It seems that the Rebels HC follows the no-nonsense mantra in his life. This allows him enough energy and time to spend on all things productive. 

Knowing that they will have an edge over their arch-rivals Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC title race, Kiffin got the much-needed push. Even though Jesse Simonton from On3 came up with a list of the Top 10 offensive line units in college football, his program landed at the tail end of the list. Hence, the Ole Miss HC now has only one mission- to shift the narrative for the better. And guess what? The wheels are in motion. 

The Rebels have started with fortifying their offensive line. Lane Kiffin and company got lucky to land the Columbia, Mo., native Taren Hedrick as their offensive tackle and 6-8, 315-pound tackle commit Kenneth Boston. The additions will only bolster Ole Miss’ O-line as it already runs high in quality with a mixture of returning starters like Jeremy James and internal options like Victor Curne.