Paul Finebaum calls out Stephen A. Smith for making Lane Kiffin debate…
Paul Finebaum said it was “terribly unfair” for ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith to make the debate surrounding Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s future “racial” by insinuating that black gamers don’t need to go to Oxford, Miss.
Smith took that stance on Wednesday’s episode of “First Take” during a dialogue with Finebaum, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and host Shae Cornette about whether or not Kiffin ought to take one in every of the teaching vacancies in the SEC, Florida or LSU.
“Let’s get this out of the way. Now listen ladies and gentlemen, I’m gonna say it. Y’all can’t say it. Don’t you dare say it, Paul. Don’t you dare say it, Doggie. Don’t you say it, Shae. Leave it to me. I’ll say it. The brothers ain’t trying to come to Oxford, Miss. for the most part, compared to Gainesville or Baton Rouge, La. Let’s just call it what it is, OK?” Smith started.
“You have a look at the job that Lane Kiffin has completed at Ole Miss, it’s phenomenal. The man has received 74 p.c of his games over the last six years. Ole Miss, they’re in the image. They can win a national championship. Lane Kiffin, his persona, his cachet, it ain’t Nick Saban he’s received to fret about. He’s received the potential to be another Nick Saban, but it surely ain’t gonna occur at Ole Miss. Not for years down the highway to come back. No, no, no, no, no, no. But Gainesville, at the University of Florida? But Baton Rouge, Death Valley, LSU? That’s a different animal.
Stephen A. Smith (l.) and Paul Finebaum (r.) during ESPN’s “First Take” on Nov. 19, 2025. ESPN
“I’m not saying that you don’t have black players and stuff like that on the team. Of course you do. … But I’m just talking about from a recruiting standpoint, in terms of longevity, establishing a sustained level of success for many, many years to come when you’re going up against Alabama, when you’re going up against Georgia, when you’re going up against teams like that. Ole Miss? I don’t have that kind of faith that a sustained level of excellence that’s comparable to what those two programs have done [is possible].”
Ole Miss is at the moment 10-1 and sitting at No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings in Kiffin’s sixth season at the helm.
On his eponymous present later Wednesday, Finebaum called Smith’s comments “wrong.”
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin (r.) places his arm round working again Kewan lacy (l.) after the team’s win over Florida on Nov. 15, 2025. Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
“I realize a lot of you did not see what Stephen A. said, but he clearly made it racial,” Finebaum said. “He clearly said, in his phrases, ‘the brothers do not want to go to Oxford, Miss.,’ which has been confirmed to be fully incorrect.
“I’ve been to Oxford a million times and I think it’s terribly unfair to bring up echoes of yesteryear, the ’60s, and try to portray Oxford as that type of place today. It’s not. The south has changed. You can make your own interpretation, but to dump on Oxford while saying that Gainesville and Baton Rouge would be utopia was just baffling to me.”
LSU fired Brian Kelly and Florida axed Billy Napier last month. Kiffin has been linked to each jobs.
Earlier this week, a number of reviews said LSU flew members of Kiffin’s household in to tour Baton Rouge, including his ex-wife Layla, with whom Kiffin has reportedly reconciled after their 2016 divorce. The couple shares three youngsters.
Smith assured by January that Kiffin shall be at both LSU or Florida.
“You can book it, because he ain’t stupid,” Smith said.
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