Should USC Fans Be Mad at Paul Finebaum?

Absolutely not.

Actually, whatever Paul Finebaum says is pure entertainment for the CFB world. I mean that in the best sense of that description. It’s all good.

His overly malicious comments about Lincoln Riley bring eyeballs and ears to the sport, so his comically haughty yet sourpuss, self-important persona is something to laugh at for me.

I couldn’t care less about some of his off-the-wall opinions, though he should be pretty damn well informed and clued-in about the SEC.

But anybody who denies that Lane Kiffin has done anything less than fantastic work at OLE MISS is either off his rocker or getting paid for making statements like that — just like Finebaum is. Kiffin’s now entering his 5th year at OLE MISS and making $9 Mil+, with a Top 5 team. At OLE MISS, that’s a miracle.

Finebaum’s comments about Lane Liffin (“I don’t think he’s that funny and his coaching has been underwhelming. Lane’s a hypocrite. He blames me for getting him fired at USC. I don’t really take Lane Kiffin seriously. He’s the Miley Cyrus of college football.”) are pretty easy to figure out.

Kiffin totally hosed and abandoned TENN (Finebaum is an alumnus) in the middle of the night after only one year on their sidelines. That was a brutal move, and Lane could have still made the move and surely handled it considerably better. A few burned mattresses would have been saved.

Lane would be the first to admit that, but SC was at the time his dream gig. It all happened incredibly fast under immense pressure, and I don’t see many CFB or NFL coaches passing up those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Plus Kiffin always gives as good as he gets, and he rips Finebaum whenever it suits him. Again, for me at least, it’s all entertainment for the CFB world and furthers the sport. Here we are on the TDB talking about these guys.

Lane, always one of the best in the biz for ideas, quotes and comebacks, describes the NIL as “legalized cheating. You just told donors you could pay the players. That’s what you did.” Sounds correct to me, though the Supreme Court would accurately tell us that “cheating” has been necessarily redefined in the interests of player rights per the U.S. Constitution.

My last thought about SEC honk Finebaum is that he is unquestionably terrific for USC football. Why?

Finebaum can’t ever seem to get the Trojans (or their former coaches) off his mind. Were I the deservedly beleaguered Lincoln Riley, and suffering massive verbal abuse every time Finebaum opened his mouth about me, I’d be on my toes 24/7 to finally start getting the job done at USC that I promised every USC fan I would do when I took the job in the first place.

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