ESPN’s celebration of PTI’s 20th anniversary began on Tuesday. While the network was busy celebrating the show’s success, the show was busy carrying on business as usual. That means Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon were commenting on the biggest names and stories in sports. With Alabama set to welcome Ole Miss to Tuscaloosa for a top 15 match up this week, that is where the duo’s college football focus rested.
Wilbon didn’t just say that he expected Alabama to win the game. He unleashed a brutal rant on Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. He called Kiffin “a clown,” said he “has been an embarrassment everywhere he goes,” and characterized him as nothing more than “a cute little story for guys like us who have to talk about sports every day”.
If this were 2013, it would be hard to argue with Michael Wilbon. That was the year USC athletic director pulled Lane Kiffin off the team bus, fired him and left him on the tarmac after giving up 62 points in a loss to Arizona State. Remember, that came after Al Davis claimed Kiffin “conned” him and fired Kiffin as Raiders head coach for cause. After that, Kiffin bolted Tennessee after one season to take the USC job.
Plenty has changed in the last eight years though. Lane Kiffin may still not behave like a traditional football coach, but he rehabilitated his image and won a national championship as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator and put together a resume at Florida Atlantic good enough to get him back to the SEC.
Kiffin is known to interact with his fans and detractors on Twitter, so when one of his followers sent Wilbon’ criticisms his way, the Ole Miss coach responded.
No response yet from Michael Wilbon, but this doesn’t seem to be a shots fired situation. It will be interesting to see if he bites back at Kiffin at all on Wednesday’s edition of Pardon The Interruption.
