Stephen A. Smith recently offered a unique take on the Lane Kiffin situation, and fellow ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum does not believe it was a valid one.
During Wednesday’s edition of “First Take,” Smith discussed the rumors that have suggested Kiffin could leave Ole Miss to become the head coach at either Florida or LSU. Smith feels strongly that Kiffin is going to accept an offer from one of the two SEC powerhouses, and he thinks geography could play a role in that.
Smith said he believes black players are more hesitant to play in Oxford, Miss., than they would be in Louisiana or Florida.
“The brothers ain’t trying to come to Oxford, Miss., for the most part, compared to Gainesville or Baton Rouge, La. Let’s just call it what it is, OK? … I’m not saying that you don’t have black players and stuff like that on the team. Of course you do,” Smith said, via Justin Tasch of the New York Post. “But I’m just talking about from a recruiting standpoint, in terms of longevity, establishing a sustained level of success for many, many years to come when you’re going up against Alabama, when you’re going up against Georgia, when you’re going up against teams like that. Ole Miss? I don’t have that kind of faith that a sustained level of excellence that’s comparable to what those two programs have done.”
Smith was insinuating that Mississippi’s history with racial issues makes Ole Miss a less desirable school than Florida or LSU. During his show later in the day, Finebaum called Smith’s assessment “wrong.”
“I realize a lot of you did not see what Stephen A. said, but he clearly made it racial,” Finebaum said. “He clearly said, in his words, ‘the brothers do not want to go to Oxford, Miss.,’ which has been proven to be completely incorrect.
“I’ve been to Oxford a million times and I think it’s terribly unfair to bring up echoes of yesteryear, the ’60s, and try to portray Oxford as that type of place today. It’s not. The south has changed. You can make your own interpretation, but to dump on Oxford while saying that Gainesville and Baton Rouge would be utopia was just baffling to me.”
Smith is no stranger to pulling the race card, and Finebaum feels it was not relevant in this situation.
Kiffin has been deliberately vague when responding to rumors linking him to LSU and Florida. Some view that as a sign that he is planning to leave Ole Miss, though it is possible he is trying to leverage the interest from SEC rivals in contract negotiations with Ole Miss.