Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

The Lane Train Versus The Media

The vengeful Ole Miss coach strikes back at unfounded media reports

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‘Cause baby, now we got bad blood – a lyric from the Taylor Swift song “Bad Blood,” a staple from her album “1989” seems apropos after the recent pop culture exchange between Paul Finebaum and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

“They asked the Taylor Swift favorite song, it’s ‘Karma.’ I just spent like, whatever it’s been, eight years or something like that waiting for my chance to get back at you for getting me fired at USC that time,” Kiffin said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “For calling me Miley Cyrus. So I waited this long to turn Coach Saban against you.”

It takes a lot to get “The Mouth Of The South,” to begin to backpedal and things really began to get awkward between humor and confrontation between Finebaum and Kiffin:

“All I said on College GameDay in front of three million people as you were mired in a bit of a struggle —” Finebaum said as Kiffin cut him off.

“Including my athletic director who was watching the TV when you said it that morning,” Kiffin said.

“— all I said was you are the Miley Cyrus of college football,” Finebaum said, finishing his thought.

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“I thought that was a compliment but most people didn’t think that was a compliment,” Kiffin said. “But like a lot of your things, people buy into it but when you really study it, Miley’s still going pretty good. So that really wasn’t that bad of a thing to say.”

Kiffin used a bit of wit to defuse an exchange with Finebaum that was mixed with humor and revenge: 

“And your athletic director obviously wasn’t impressed,” Finebaum said.

Kiffin paused, then dropped arguably the funniest line of the show.

“Yeah, our first half of the game probably didn’t help that, either,” Kiffin said.

While on the surface, you can say Kiffin and Finebaum have a good relationship and they were tossing around barbs in a playful manner, it seemed as a primer for his recent target – Jon Sokoloff of WCBI News, a CBS affiliate in Northern Mississippi. 

Sokoloff on November 21 tweeted from his account that Kiffin was going to step down following the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State to accept the Auburn coaching position, but through the hook that Auburn haven’t officially offered the job to anyone.

https://twitter.com/JonSokoloff/status/1594852462422261766

Kiffin seemed to allow the Sokoloff news be a distraction as he took to Twitter and refute the news, and maybe instead of having a laser focus against Mississippi State, he spent valuable time refuting the news: 

Ole Miss would drop the Egg Bowl 24-22 as Ole Miss dropped four of their final five games after the Rebels started 7-0. 

The tactics employed by Kiffin and his agent Jimmy Sexton seemed to work as Kiffin is signing a six-year contract extension that has roll-over provisions that can extend it to eight years. He’ll make an average of $9 million per year with the new extension. 

If you thought Kiffin and Sokoloff was water the under the bridge and over with, you are mistaken. 

Sokoloff yesterday posted an article on WCBI’s website and went to Twitter to justify his reporting on the Kiffin news: 

Kiffin didn’t resist the opportunity to eviscerate Sokoloff some more took to Twitter and left a few parting shots to Sokoloff. If the Finebaum/Kiffin encounter was playful with a twist of vengeful payback, this was completely full of vengeful payback:

It began with a replay of the classic great sources, then came a sort of reprimand tweet from Kiffin tagging Sokoloff. 

It ended with Kiffin citing an Ole Miss fan site apologizing for the news last week and Kiffin only using emojis to express his emotions: 

In no way I am defending Sokoloff here, but in this world of the competition to get news and report is so hyper-competitive, it is a rush to first report the news and be right because the rewards of being right on a big time story is very lucrative. 

A reporter like Sokoloff has a few trustworthy sources with whom he has built up a strong rapport over the years, giving him the ability to deliver informative news to the Northern Mississippi region. However, I will say Sokoloff took unfair liberties, he tried to break news but at the same time in his now infamous tweet, he tried to save himself if the news fell through. 

To me, you cannot have it both ways. Sokoloff trying to double down his reporting is just shameful at this point, he is better off just saying I got it wrong. 

Kiffin’s scorched earth tactics here have been distraction for him. 

Ole Miss has rewarded Kiffin for getting the Rebels back to the Sugar Bowl last season, and his fast start this season. 

Kiffin has been paid handsomely and the transient coach has to learn now in his career he needs to develop roots and build a program. The compensation Kiffin is receiving now is to deliver double digit win seasons and flirt with New Year’s Six bowls, SEC Championship Games, and potentially the College Football Playoff. 

As Taylor Swift wrote in “Karma,” “My pennies made your crown. Trick me once, trick me twice. Don’t you know that cash ain’t the only price? It’s coming back around.”

Ole Miss’s “pennies” have been delivered for Kiffin’s crown, don’t trick the Rebels because karma will come back around, put asunder the media beefs and get back to winning, because karma isn’t always kind to coaches who lose big rivalry games and four of five.

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