Paul Finebaum fires back at Lane Kiffin for criticism about 'pissing off' Nick Saban

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t shy away from saying what’s on his mind. At SEC media days, there was a lot on his mind, including criticism of Nick Saban from Paul Finebaum that made headlines and Finebaum later had to clarify his point on Saban’s legacy.

As he’s proven in the past, Kiffin has some amount of reverence for Saban after the legendary Alabama coach helped revive his career. He doesn’t share that same appreciation for Finebaum, though, and during an appearance on Get Up, Finebaum tried to explain why that might be.

“Lane blames me for getting him fired at USC,” Paul Finebaum said. “I blasted him on College GameDay the morning he got fired and he later told me the president heard it and said, ‘If he loses, he’s fired.'”

While at SEC media days, Kiffin said, “I’m a Finebaum guy.” However, he also added that Finebaum should get his facts right before taking any shots at people. On Get Up, Finebaum continued to defend himself, saying his comments about Saban weren’t properly understood.

“So, what he’s talking about there is my criticism of Nick Saban. Not so much of his legacy, but that’s how it got interpreted, but where he is with Kirby Smart. Thanks to you, your question yesterday, has Saban been eclipsed by Kirby Smart?”

On top of that, it seems like Paul Finebaum thinks that Lane Kiffin might be throwing stones from a glass house with comments like these, given his own history.

“But I find it so fascinating about Lane, here’s a guy that was on Saban’s staff and do you remember, Greeny, the week before the national championship game, he got fired. Now, that sounds crazy but he had already quit. He had already announced that he was leaving. So, I don’t really take Lane Kiffin seriously when he pledges his allegiance to Nick Saban.”

Paul Finebaum clarified his criticism of Nick Saban

Paul Finebaum’s initial criticism of Nick Saban came from an appearance on First Take. There, the headline was that he questioned Saban’s legacy. However, Finebaum would later clarify on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, that he meant Saban’s current status in the SEC.

“Nick Saban’s legacy is not on the line this season or any time throughout the rest of his career. His current status in the SEC in real time will be debated, depending on what happens. But that’s absurd for anyone to suggest that not by making the playoffs, his legacy will be severely effected. I realize that may sound contradictory, but it’s not. Sometimes, and this sounds funny coming from me, circumstances of an interview dictate responses. And that was the case yesterday. I would invite people to listen to the entire interview, some of the other things that weren’t regurgitated. … I understand it, and I understand social media. I’m not about to sit up here and go, ‘Oh my goodness.’ [I won’t] pull a Charles Barkley and say I was misquoted in my own autobiography. That’s not the case,” Paul Finebaum said.

“I think anyone who doused me just needs to have followed my career for the last 17 or 18 years, mostly in Birmingham and later at ESPN and the SEC Network, and all the things that I’ve said, written, regurgitated and broadcast about Nick Saban. There was a time not long ago, I was accused of living in his guest house. I invented the word ‘Sabanologist.’ So I just find it hilarious when clickbait comes after me for something that, regardless of how it may have sounded in a short tweet, is absolutely not how I feel. And that’s all there is to it.”