"It's the most bizarre thing": Paul Finebaum opens up on hilarious relationship with Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin have a strange relationship that keeps fans guessing. It’s part awkward, part entertaining and often leaves people wondering if they actually like each other or not.

Finebaum joined J.D. PicKell on On3’s “The Hard Count” and talked about his unique connection with Kiffin. PicKell asked him (Timestamp: 3:20):

“You guys have a good relationship it seems. There is some banter there, walk me through that. I think some people watching at home are like, ‘Is this real? Are they on good terms? Where are we at?’”

Finebaum said:

“There’s a long story behind it, which I’ll leave out. I mean, just Google me and Lane Kiffin and you’ll get it that he blames me for getting him fired at Southern Cal. Now, yesterday he blamed me for getting him fired at the Oakland Raiders so I could get him to Tennessee.

“I mean, all of a sudden it’s being described as like the buddy movies of the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s. It’s the most bizarre thing.’”

Their latest interaction happened at the 2025 SEC media days on Monday.

“He (Kiffin) comes on, he wasn’t even invited yesterday,” Finebaum said. “We don’t invite coaches. We’re told by the SEC, who will be there in your time slot. … So, I get a text from Kiffin, ‘How come I’m not on?’ I said, ‘Well, coach, you know, we were told you weren’t available.’ He said, ‘I’ll be there in 20 minutes.’

"So he literally showed up and it was like it always is, just weird. Cringeworthy. But according to the public: very funny.”

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Paul Finebaum says talking Lane Kiffin is like speed dating

Before Lane Kiffin talked with Paul Finebaum on Monday, the analyst spoke on “McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning” about his relationship with the coach.

“I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with him, and I’m too old to have gone through speed dating, but that’s kind of, like, you sit down with him and you don’t know you have,” Finebaum said. “You have five minutes. You have no earthly idea what he’s going to say, how he’s going to say it. That’s his personality.

"I mean, he’s mercurial, but incredibly smart, and I think he looks at (SEC media days) as an inconvenience.”

Lane Kiffin’s program will open its 2025 season at home on Aug. 30 against Georgia State.