Not enough words exist in the English language to fully describe Lane Kiffin.
So, ESPN's Paul Finebaum borrowed a French phrase.
“Kiffin is the enfant terrible of college football,” Finebaum eloquently put it to me on a recent episode of USA TODAY Sports' “College Football Unfiltered” podcast
, during which we covered a variety of Week 1 topics, most notably Kiffin’s upcoming LSU debut against Clemson.“Everything about him gets attention,” Finebaum added.
Kiffin commands a blindingly bright spotlight in the run-up to this game. He and LSU remain entrenched in their desire to play former pro players who were cut from NFL preseason camps, a move SEC chancellors and presidents
vow could result in hellfire coming down on LSU.
As for the game itself, Finebaum calls it “a mismatch.”
That assessment reflects just how far Clemson has fallen since LSU beat Dabo Swinney’s Tigers in the national championship game to culminate the 2019 season.
“I don’t think we expect anything from Dabo Swinney anymore,” Finebaum said during the podcast. “He has been devalued to the penny stocks, for the most part.”
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE, AS FINEBAUM JOINS ‘COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNFILTERED’:
Will Lane Kiffin be joining ‘Finebaum Show’ anytime soon?
Finebaum’s professional relationship with Kiffin goes back many years, and it’s featured a few interesting twists.
What’s the status of Finebaum’s relationship with Kiffin at the moment?
“It’s hard to explain,” Finebaum said on the “College Football Unfiltered” podcast. “It’s like an ex-girlfriend, but you still talk. You still text."
Call it the latest chapter in a fascinating tale.
Finebaum famously dubbed Kiffin “the Miley Cyrus of college football” in 2013 on “College GameDay." Never mind that Miley’s career turned out fine, because Finebaum’s diss came in like a wrecking ball.
“He has very little talent,” Finebaum said of Kiffin during that "GameDay" takedown, “but we simply can't take our eyes off him. … I think Kiffin will be gone at the end of the season.”
It didn’t take that long.
Kiffin’s USC Trojans lost 62-41 to Arizona State, hours after Finebaum’s blistering assessment.
By the next morning, USC had fired Kiffin.
Kiffin, in the years since, has (half)-jokingly blamed Finebaum for getting him fired from USC, but he sat down with Finebaum for many memorable interviews on the SEC Network throughout Kiffin's tenure at Mississippi.
Finebaum once described his interviews with Kiffin as something of a "Vaudeville act." Certainly, their sketches delivered some laughs and greatest hits, but not recently.
Kiffin hasn’t appeared on “Finebaum” in several months. Meanwhile, Finebaum uncorked blistering takes of Kiffin on ESPN and the SEC Network throughout the offseason.
“He’s not avoided (Finebaum’s show), he just hasn’t done a lot of interviews lately. … I think he will pop back up on (‘Finebaum’) again,” Finebaum said.
Will Lane Kiffin win a national championship at LSU?
Kiffin left Mississippi on the playoff’s doorstep, taking a blow torch his Ole Miss legacy in favor of a traitorous exit to rival LSU.
Kiffin considered LSU a better job, and he relishes the idea of being on the bigger stage that LSU and Tiger Stadium supply.
On cue, No. 13 LSU’s opener against No. 23 Clemson will be the prime-time ABC broadcast.
So, will Kiffin come to regret leaving Ole Miss? Or, will he win a national championship at LSU, like Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron before him?
“The stock answer here is that he will go down in flames, and he will be sorry that he (left Ole Miss). However, I think he will win a national championship,” Finebaum said. “This isn’t Lane Kiffin at Tennessee — even though he still acts the same way, he does it more craftily. He’s a much more polished teenager than he was in 2009 (at Tennessee)."
“And, I think you have to really work at not winning a title at LSU," Finebaum added. "Two of the biggest buffoons in college football history, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron, both won titles there.”
Kiffin’s LSU predecessor, Brian Kelly, also predicted Kiffin will win a title coaching the Tigers.
“Kiffin is smart, and he’s got everyone moving in the right direction, from the governor on down,” Finebaum said. “I think it sets up really well for him.”
Later in his appearance on “College Football Unfiltered,” Finebaum sounded off on Kalen DeBoer, Indiana, and Arch Manning, and he recalled the story of how he almost met Dolly Parton.
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream episodes on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts, Spotify or iHeart.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Finebaum: Lane Kiffin like 'an ex-girlfriend' — but he'll win title at LSU
