Paul Finebaum and coach Lane Kiffin bury the hatchet from USC Gameday firing incident

Giving coach Lane Kiffin at the time a certain degree of leeway was reasonable. After all, USC was hit with the since-proven unjust sanctions by the NCAA. Unfortunately for him at the time, by his fourth year with the Trojans, the latitude was not further extended, and the famous 'tarmac firing' saw coach Ed Orgeron take over as interim head coach during the 2013 season.

The morning of the eventual USC defeat to Arizona State, ESPN's Paul Finebaum took to College GameDay and famously did not help the then-HC at the time, calling him the "Miley Cyrus of college football."

While Finebaum's comments did little to help coach Kiffin, as the current Ole Miss HC would now admit, being able to learn under coach Nick Saban at Alabama is what has prepared him now in his current role, having also spent some time in charge of the FAU program.

The two have spent time in their somewhat tenuous relationship, with the reminder of what was said while coach Kiffin was with the Trojans coming up at times to the dismay of Finebaum. The commentator has since admitted that his words came more from a place of looking to create a moment for himself as a newcomer at the time to the network.

More recently on the Paul Finebaum Show, the Ole Miss HC made an appearance with the ESPN personality who questioned his place in the sport all of those years ago.

Famous moment for former USC HC put to rest

After teasing Finebaum about the incident, coach Kiffin would then share with his current friend (odd to think of the two like that considering how their relationship started), as shared by Awful Announcing on X:

" We'll put it to rest here. There's the Gulf. I'm no longer gonna bring it up. I'm grateful for it, though, that's what I've said. Everything happens for a reason."

At the time, coach Kiffin certainly did not appreciate Finebaum potentially being the final nail in his coffin at USC. Looking back now and with his current perspective, he has learned, and while the prior media occurrences between the two provided more in terms of entertainment value, this was a nice, wholesome moment between the two at-odds parties.