All the detractors out there, take notes from Lane Kiffin. He sure excels as a head coach at Ole Miss, but his internet personality is a total game-changer for his fans. So much so that fans even want a Netflix series on him, but that’s for another day.

Right from his knee-slapping humorous interviews to his digs at other coaches on his social media, and also his too-sweet-to-handle sarcastic replies to his haters, Lane Kiffin is slowly becoming a social media genius. Not only have these things given an outlet for all the humor of Kiffin, but they have also made him a fan favorite, increasing the fandom of his program.

Hence, when Paul Finebaum had something bitter to say about the Rebels’ head coach, Kiffin was armored with a bitingly sweet response. It all started when Lane Kiffin took a shot at LSU HC Brian Kelly and Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz for their antics with their recruits. Some viral videos of head coaches unveiled Drinkwitz playing guitar with a recruit, while Kelly’s video had him dancing awkwardly with a recruit. “Just when I thought BK’s couldn’t be beat,” Kiffin wrote, accompanying it with a facepalm emoji.

SEC analyst Paul Finebaum was not too keen on Lane Kiffin’s dig, so he launched his own attack on him. “I don’t think he’s that funny,” Finebaum told Tulsa World. Additionally, Finebaum also called Kiffin’s coaching at Ole Miss “underwhelming at times.” Well, Kiffin was not about to let it slip.

He instantly took to his X account to shoot another shot at Finebaum. “Why so angry, Paul? I think you’re funny. Also, @Vol_Baseball won the Natty!!! How can you be in such a bad mood??” Kiffin wrote, simply dismissing the feud that Finebaum was trying to spark here.

While Lane Kiffin might have dismissed the claim of Finebaum, he might have to back it up with some strong performance this season, even making it to the playoffs, to truly shut the detractors off.

Why do Lane Kiffin and Co. need to make it to the playoffs?

The reason Finebaum called Kiffin’s coaching “underwhelming” was because Ole Miss has not made it to the playoffs under Lane Kiffin’s rein, or in their school history, for that matter. Finebaum thinks that this season, too, Ole Miss will not make it to their first CFB playoffs in school history.

Even though Kiffin sharply responded to the “funny” part of Kiffin’s criticism, he knows that reaching the playoffs this season would only be a sharp retort to the “underwhelming” part. The best part is that the Ole Miss team is looking strong enough this season to make it there.

247 Sports’ Brad Crawford predicts that the No. 7 Rebels could host a first-round game in CFB this season, squaring off against an ACC foe in Oxford. Back in May, Lane Kiffin asserted his belief in this season’s roster at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, saying, “This is definitely the best roster.” Not to mention the fact that last season, Kiffin had already broken the school record for most wins in a season with their 11-win record. However, will Kiffin’s ‘good roster’ make a ‘good team’? Only time will tell.