ESPN's Paul Finebaum Calls $91M SEC HC a “Cult Leader” and Reveals His Pattern: “He’ll Have Excuses Ready”
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Lane Kiffin has been a polarizing figure throughout his coaching career. He fell out with Raiders owner Al Davis as he left the NFL team. The Tennessee exit was also poorly handled. Even at USC, he was fired at the tarmac before he could board a flight after a loss against ASU. The latest is his departure from Ole Miss, which made him an overnight villain at Oxford.
However, despite those ugly exits, Kiffin rarely struggles to gel with the fans of his new teams. That has to do with how his teams play. At the same time, the LSU head coach also makes an effort to mold himself to fit the fans’ identity. Tat ‘Juice Kiffin’ Labrador, whom he introduced at Ole Miss, or that 4D chess recruiting, were clear signs that he was a master at that. Because of that ability, ESPN journalist Paul Finebaum went up a notch and labeled him a cult leader.
“One thing about Lane Kiffin, as starry as his character has shown to be, he has this innate ability to make a fan base fall in love with him,” Paul Finebaum said on the August 12 680 The Fan podcast. “The reality was that Ole Miss fans believed everything he said. He’s like a cult leader. Lane doesn’t hand out drinks of poison like Jim Jones 40 years ago. But he does have this ability.”
“And I mean, people wanted to fight you on the streets of the square: ‘How could you dare say he’s going to leave?’ And now they want to kill the guy. Same thing happened in Tennessee.”
Lane Kiffin got a yellow Labrador, Juice, for his daughter, Landry Kiffin. In no time, Juice became a celebrity in Oxford. Kiffin featured him on recruiting trips and in viral social media videos, and Ole Miss fans connected with them.
Kiffin’s social media game also plays a part in this. He knows how to create a moment. In 2021, before a game at Alabama, Kiffin’s “get your popcorn ready” line to CBS went viral. And again, when he faced Tennessee, fans pelted the field with trash.
That also included a French mustard bottle and a golf ball. Instead of complaining about it, he scooped the ball into his pocket, carried it with him, and even showed it off in the post-game interviews. As for the mustard bottle, he famously signed it at the SEC Media Days the next summer. Those acts immediately made Kiffin a darling of the fanbase. Moreover, he didn’t hesitate toshow his emotional side when he needed to.
According to Paul Finebaum, though, all of this has a predictable storyline as Kiffin arrives in Baton Rouge. If Kiffin fails to deliver results in one or two seasons, he will show a familiar pattern. Because for many, Kiffin has everything from a top transfer portal class to elite coaches to a lucrative $91 million contract. Failing isn’t an option now at LSU. But if it happens?
“Lane Kiffin will have excuses ready to go,” Finebaum said. “I mean, he’s good at that. And a lot of people in the media will follow suit.”
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