Lane Kiffin is used to public criticism, but he clearly finds recent remarks made by Michael Wilbon to be overly harsh.
On Tuesday’s “Pardon the Interruption,” Wilbon was critical of Kiffin after co-host Tony Kornheiser asked whether an Ole Miss win or an Alabama win would be better for the rest of the college football season when the two teams meet this weekend.
“The answer’s Alabama because of Lane Kiffin,” Wilbon said, via Glenn Guilbeau of OutKick. “Lane Kiffin’s a clown. Lane Kiffin has been an embarrassment at multiple stops. I mean nobody’s going to run out there and say, ‘Yeah, I want Lane Kiffin right here on the logo representing me.’ The answer’s Alabama, Tony.”
Kiffin took notice of Wilbon’s comments and sent a couple tweets about them. He also invited Wilbon to Ole Miss so they could meet in person.
When asked about Wilbon’s comments Wednesday, Kiffin said Wilbon had a right to say what he wanted, but that Kiffin found the comments “over the top.”
“Professional media usually don’t go that far, especially when you’ve never met them and they don’t know you at all,” Kiffin said. “It is what it is. I mean it’s not like the guy had earth-shattering news that Alabama is going to beat us. I mean, he should go to Vegas with that earth-shattering prediction.”
Kiffin has been calm in the leadup to the Alabama game and has even had some fun with it in recent weeks. The Ole Miss coach’s past conduct will always be fair game for critics. At this point, though, Kiffin’s responses just make Wilbon look more ornery in comparison.
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