Lane Kiffin blames Paul Finebaum for ruining relationship with Phil Fulmer

Before the 2009 college football season, Lane Kiffin was hired to be the head coach at Tennessee following the 17-year tenure of Phil Fulmer. Kiffin infamously spent just one season in Knoxville before departing to take the same job at USC.

Kiffin, now the head coach at Ole Miss, joined Paul Finebaum on his SEC Network show during the opening day of the 2025 SEC Media Days. Finebaum began the interview by noting the “weird dynamic,” that’s always between present during their one one one talks. That was evident when Kiffin accused Finebaum of ruining the relationship between the two former Volunteers coaches.

“I screwed up because I was trying to get fired (from the Raiders) so I could get the Tennessee job. You didn’t know that,” Kiffin said on the SEC Network show. “I think you reported one time that I got Phil Fulmer fired. It wasn’t true at all… And Phil Fulmer never spoke to me because of that, because of you reporting that. Never once.

“I tried to reach out, try to go over and meet him. He wouldn’t talk to me because he was convinced because Paul Finebaum said that I got him fired… I was in Oakland, losing games in Oakland, kicking a 76-yard field goal.”

Thanks for fitting us into your busy schedule, Coach…@Lane_Kiffin pic.twitter.com/SajrIOjW8G

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) July 14, 2025

Fulmer’s tenure ended after missing the postseason in two of his final four seasons in Knoxville. Despite bringing a national championship to the program in 1998, Tennessee chose to move on after the 2008 season.

At the same time, Kiffin was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders with a 5-15 record as he was fired shortly into his second season with the franchise.

Once Kiffin was hired, he led the Volunteers to an improved 7-6 record during the 2009 season which included an appearance in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Tennessee finished 5-7 under Fulmer in his final year at the program’s helm.

Kiffin went on to coach USC for four seasons before becoming offensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban, where he’d go on to win a national championship. He spent three seasons at Florida Atlantic before taking his current job as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels.

Kiffin nearly led his team to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. Despite a ton of turnover on both sides of the football, Ole Miss figures to be one of the most interesting teams in the SEC once again this fall. They kick off their season against Georgia State at home.