RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesLSU football head coach Lane Kiffin revealed during SEC media day that he logged off of social media. The Tigers' new leader described it as a way to stay focused on building the program without the opinions of others in his head. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said Kiffin wants to divert attention away from his whereabouts.
"If you were expecting Lane Kiffin to make news this morning, he did not," Finebaum said. "Lane Kiffin is trying to lower the flames on his reputation."
Finebaum equated Kiffin's decision to stay off social media and his 21-minute monologue on Thursday during SEC media day as ways to avoid distractions and questions about his actions. Neither came as a surprise to Finebaum.
"This was not a surprise," Finebaum said. "He acted like his whole career has been misunderstood."
After going 5-15 with the Oakland Raiders as the NFL's youngest head coach, Kiffin got fired with cause by Al Davis. Nick Saban let Kiffin, then the offensive coordinator at Alabama, go before the national championship game as he struggled to multitask after accepting the head coaching job at FAU. And Kiffin racked up strikes as the head coach at Tennessee between accusing others of recruiting violations and picking them up himself.
Leaving Ole Miss ahead of its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history to take the LSU job is another occurrence drawing criticism to Kiffin. But addressing his whereabouts on Thursday set the table for a highly-anticipated first season in Baton Rouge.
Finebaum was impressed by Kiffin's media day performance.
"Most of what Lane has done has been self-inflicted," Finebaum said. "I think he met the moment today fairly well."
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: What Paul Finebaum said about Lane Kiffin during SEC Media Day
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