Paul Finebaum questions LSU's appeal as Kiffin nears decision

Even with Ole Miss on a bye week, Lane Kifin remained in the news and the headlining topic of several shows and podcasts across the country. Florida, Ole Miss, and LSU are all bidding to get Lane Kiffin locked in for 2026 and beyond and with various rumors and intel from all sides coming out, it’s unclear how long this plays out.

In the meantime, everyone has an opinion of where Kiffin should go. Paul Finebaum, has his take as well, and believes Kiffin should go to Florida if he leaves Ole Miss, which he said on The Matt Barrie Show.

“The conventional wisdom as of Sunday morning is LSU. I will disagree,” Finebaum said. “I think Florida right now is riper. The fact that Florida looked so bad last night makes that job a little bit easier than LSU who ran out a pretty good coach. Kelly was good, maybe not great, but LSU had everything on its shelf this year to win a title. They just couldn’t get it done. So, I would gravitate toward Florida a little bit.”

Finebaum was then asked if he thinks Kiffin could win a title at Ole Miss.

“No and I hate to say that because I respect them, but I don’t think they can and I don’t think Lane Kiffin thinks they can and that’s why we’re having this conversation,” Finebaum said.

*FOR THE LATEST INTEL ON LSU’S PUSH FOR KIFFIN CLICK HERE*

Podcast host Matt Barrie gave his thoughts on the situation and agreed LSU may not be as impressive as people think.

“I don’t know that LSU is as roster stacked as people thought as the season went on,” Matt Barrie said. “I know they spent some money, but the offense never really took off. If we’re being fair, the best two teams Brian Kelly had were the two he inherited with Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, and that crew.

“All the smoke was with LSU this week and Florida was like ‘oh no, we lost him, but they’re still hanging around.”

Kiffin and Ole miss have set a date for next Saturday to make a decision, after the final game of the regular season against Mississippi State. Kiffin will seemingly finish out the season, then finalize where he will be coaching next year.

“My guess is when he went to meet with chancellor Boyce and Keith Carter the other day, it was to tell them ‘Listen, I’m not sure what I’m doing, you’re still in contention, I’ll give you an update in a week, because otherwise an announcement would have been made and this circus would be over,” Finebaum said.

“This is a family decision; it isn’t a Lane Kiffin decision. That’s why it was important for Layla Kiffin to go to Florida, where her father played, and where there are some roots.”