Paul Finebaum didn’t just weigh in on the LSU-Lane Kiffin mess - he came out swinging.
On ESPN’s College Football broadcast, Finebaum framed the dispute as a full-blown crisis and put SEC commissioner Greg Sankey at the center of the response. In his view, Sankey and the league’s presidents kept the situation from spinning even further out of control.
“In a week of utter chaos, there was one hero, and he is Greg Sankey,” Finebaum said.
He said Sankey, backed by 15 other presidents, helped shield the SEC’s reputation during what he described as a bizarre eligibility fight. Finebaum went even further, saying the episode had pushed college football toward “absolute chaos and moral decay.”
At the heart of the dispute is LSU’s effort to roster former NFL players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris after legal action created a path for their return. The SEC pushed back, setting up an unusual showdown between the conference and one of its own members.
Kiffin took his share of the heat, too. Finebaum acknowledged the coach’s appeal and track record before unloading on him.
“We can all wrap our arms around Lane Kiffin and say he’s lovable and he’s a great coach,” he said.
“But in the end, he’s a child,” Finebaum continued. “He’s a 51-year-old man behaving like a 16-year-old.”
Finebaum said the deeper problem is LSU’s leadership, not just the coach at the center of the storm.
“The worst part, there are no adults in the room,” he said.
He then added, “I thought all college campuses have an athletic director. The one at LSU has been nowhere to be found. The president, Wade Rousse, has been nowhere to be found.”
“The governor is calling all the shots, and I wonder if there’s any supervision,” Finebaum said.
His criticism points to what he sees as a bigger breakdown: when authority isn’t clear, roster decisions and eligibility issues become messier fast. In this case, he believes the fallout has already spread beyond one program.
“What happened down there has left a stain on this league,” Finebaum said.
“There are no adults in the room.”
He even floated the possibility of the SEC taking the extreme step of removing LSU, though he admitted that outcome is a long shot.
“They very well might vote to kick LSU out of the league,” Finebaum said.
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