Lane Kiffin doubles down on Wilbon's 'earth-shattering' hot take

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s dispute with Michael Wilbon continued Wednesday afternoon as Kiffin fired another shot back at the ESPN commentator’s assertion that Kiffin is a “clown” and his antics would result in a loss in Tuscaloosa this weekend. 

On Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference, Kiffin addressed the ongoing controversy.

“I think everybody has a right to whatever [opinion],” Kiffin said. “You can’t control what people do. I worry more when the person has actually met you, knows you and says those things versus someone that has never met you or doesn’t know you at all. To say those things is pretty over the top compared to most professional media say. But he got attention, and that’s the name of the game.”

Kiffin, who is never shy to speak his opinion, fired off a sarcastic jab at the end of his comments. 

“It’s not like the guy had Earth-shattering news that Alabama is going to beat us,” Kiffin added. “He should go to Vegas with that Earth-shattering prediction.”

The Rebels are 14.5-point underdogs as of Wednesday afternoon in a game that has a crazy over/under of 80 points. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 23-0 against his former assistants, and Kiffin was the Alabama offensive coordinator from 2014-2016.

Feud between two recognizable faces continues into its second day

The dispute between Kiffin and Wilbon started yesterday when Wilbon fired off the aforementioned rant on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption.” One of ESPN’s top commentators took multiple shots at the second-year head coach who has now held four head coaching jobs in college and was the head coach of the then-Oakland Raiders.

“The answer is Alabama because of Lane Kiffin,” Wilbon said regarding Saturday’s matchup between the two top-15 teams. “There’s nothing to be proud of if you’re in college football or any other sport for Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin’s a clown. Lane Kiffin has been an embarrassment at multiple stops. Nobody’s going to run out there and say ‘I want Lane Kiffin right here on the logo representing me.’ 

“The answer’s Alabama. Lane Kiffin is a cute little story for guys like us who have to talk about sports every day and we can come in Monday and say ‘Hahaha Lane Kiffin.’ Once again Lane Kiffin equals embarrassment at some point wherever he is.”

The social media-savvy head coach initially responded on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday morning. First, Kiffin deplored Wilbon for his anger: “I’ll (pray) for you. Life is too short to be so angry.”

After some more time to think about it, Kiffin added his thoughts on the ESPN talking head’s “hot take.”

“And way to go out on a limp [sic] and pick the number one team in the country at home who is a huge favorite,” Kiffin tweeted. “How long did you watch film to come up with that surprise pick??? Really News worthy [sic] captain obvious.”

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report.