The Josh Innes Show - The Kiffin Hate Is Wild

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

I love all these stories about how Lane Kiffin is a POS. Most of these media dopes have never lived this life and have no idea what this dude is dealing with. I feel like I have at least a little insight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So the Lane Kiffin drama continues. I find the whole thing fascinating, although I think it's eventually going to run out of steam. But I think it's all going to come to a head pretty soon here, right? Like, this isn't going to last forever, and Ole Miss is tired of waiting. And there's so much drama on the Internet, and you read dummy fan bases that are shitting on Baton Rouge. And Baton Rouge people who are shitting on the number of people that attend Ole Miss games. And people are dick swinging over attendance figures. Like, eventually, this thing's going to have to boil over.

and eventually it's going to have to end, right? He's going to have to make a decision. It was on Pat McAfee yesterday, actually, which, again, take that for what it is. But he was on Pat McAfee, was Lane Kiffin. I think this is one thing that's very important when you talk about the McAfee show and the people who are on it, the athletes and everybody, they go to the show because it is a safe space, right? Like, that's obvious. First of all, let me play a couple commercials and we'll continue this.

it is a safe space for athletes because Pat McAfee is not going to ask anything of substance. He might find a way to ask a couple of things that almost seem substantive or substantive, but otherwise he's not going to. That's just not who Pat McAfee is. He is not in the business of putting people in position to incriminate themselves or say something that they'll regret saying. Now, some guys will just say things like Aaron Rogers says things, right? So when Aaron Rogers says things, he doesn't care, he's on there and he's going to say whatever he wants to say because he's Aaron Rogers. Laying Kiffin's on there saying all this different stuff about focusing on the now and you think about the good old days when you're in them and all that kind of stuff. He's playing this whole thing up as well.

But there was nothing that was going to come out of him being on Pat McAfee yesterday. That's why when I heard he was on there and like, did you guys hear that Pat McAfee had Lane Kiffin? I guarantee he didn't say anything. And he didn't say anything because that's not what Pat McAfee. is in the business to do. And I'm fine with that because that's who McAfee is. So I have no issue with guys who come on there. It's kind of like when there was this controversial thing that McAfee would have people on and they would pay for their guests. Like, literally, that is the way it works on every sports radio station in the country when you have regular

marquee guests. There are no regular guests that come on a sports radio show for no pay. Like, do you think Bill Belichick appeared on WEEI in Boston because he just wanted to be on the radio? No, he was paid to do it. It was. in his contract. Do you think that Tom Brady did it? No, he was getting paid to do that. None of these guys do these things because they want to do them. They do them because they're paid. So when Mac, if he would get criticized for that, they'd say, did you hear that he's paying for guests? It just shows you how little the people that write about this shit actually know about the business. Because I've been in it for over 20 years. I've seen it. A lot of our regular guests

were paid guests. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. But that's just how the industry works. but it's not because they're paid guess that's why they're not going to get any sort of run and why you're not going to get the truth out of them or anything interesting. You're not going to get anything interesting out of these guys because that's not what Pat McAfee is there to do. That's never been his M.O.

He's never been the gotcha guy. He is buddy, buddy, chummy with all of these players. This dude does not want... If you notice, none of the actual players seem to ever have anything bad to say about Pat McAfee. Because if you really dig down deep in it, McAfee never really says anything scathing about actual players.

Might make fun of some guys. They might bust balls on something. They may bust balls on a particular story or whatever. Pat McAfee is not someone who's going to sit around and criticize players. He's not going to do it. So you were never going to get anything. McAfee loves getting these people unks and helps drive up the numbers and it's huge. Like getting Lane Kiffin on the air during this whole thing is huge.

But the reason why Lane Kiffin took Pat McAfee and is not on a bunch of other stuff is because Pat McAfee is safer. This might sound ridiculous. Pat McAfee is safer than even guys that you might think are kind of ho-hum dudes. Like Pat McAfee is safer than going on ESPN. He's safer than going on with Paul Feinbaum. He's safer than going on with anybody in any other local markets or national or anything like that because Pat McAfee is going to protect those dudes. And what Pat McAfee has done is he made that decision long ago that he's not going to be the guy that's there to unearth deep shit about people or put them in bad spots. He's going to get them on and get the buzz from having them on.

And I don't fault him for that. I don't hate him for that. But Kiffin said absolutely nothing yesterday, just like he continues to say absolutely nothing. And he continues to tweet stuff that's kind of vague and cryptic. And he talks about things like, hey, you know, you got to embrace that, you know, you're in the good old days when you're in them and all this kind of stuff. But I read this story and I found it interesting.

The headline reads, Wetzel, where you're going to be a good old days. We're about to find out if Al Davis was right about Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin will always regret it if he quits on his Ole Miss team. He'll always have remorse if he decides to go take another job, Florida or LSU, right on the verge of leading a likely 11-1 Rebels team into the college football playoff. He'll never live down the fact he turned his back on a locker room ready to fight with him for a national title, all for the perceived greener grass of Gainesville or Baton Rouge. What kind of coach would do that?

this has nothing to do with what job offers more advantages or money or proximity to talent it has nothing to do with the long term timing is everything in life sometimes for the positive sometimes for the not that's how it works adults deal with it kiffin may be free to walk from the rebels but everyone else is free to judge him if he does i'll stop there again these are people who truly have no idea what it's like to be in this situation none of us do there's not a human listening to this podcast or any other radio show that's listening to these people to who's been in this type of situation. And this is a unique spot. So I'm never going to rip this guy for this. Like, yes, in theory, he could stay at that gig. What if this isn't his dream gig? What if this isn't the end of the road for him?

What if this is not where he wants to live? Like, I understand why you're critical. Like, I understand that people view this and think it's gross or whatever. I can respect that and whatever. But as someone, and again, much lesser degree. But look, I had an opportunity to stay. stay at I heart, and I tell you guys this story all the time. I had the opportunity to stay at I heart, and I had got offered a nice contract. When I got to Nashville, I was out of work for, how long

was I out of work for? From 2019 to 2021. So I was out of work for about two years. Now, there was the Rona, and strangely enough, the Rona helped me, and that was great. So all that, I was out for about two years. We were doing the podcast, all that other kind of stuff. I was able to survive. The Rona actually helped me survive very strange. I burned through all of my fucking money. I was broke. It is what it is. It was broke.

Still am broke. It is what it is, right? So I get the call to go to Nashville. Nashville paid me one, if I do the math on this, just for the base pay that I was getting, one fifth or sixth of what I was making at 790, which is still the biggest paycheck I ever got, was at 790. It paid me less than half of what I was being paid in Philadelphia. Philadelphia. It paid me, let's see, my highest salary that I actually had it, it was a little less than the highest base salary I ever had at 610. But mind you, 610 when I left was about to

offer me deals that were going to get into six figures. Okay, cool. So this deal was not a ton of money, but I had to take it because I needed a job, right? So I take the job two-year deal in Nashville. After two years, I'm about to sign a deal, although I've hem hawed a little bit on the deal because I was just curious about what else was out there, but nothing was coming up. And then my agent would do some stuff with the contract that didn't really matter, but like it kind of delayed the whole process. And then I get the St. Louis email, the message on Facebook about St. Louis. And that gets the ball rolling. And within like three days, I go from having a new contract with IHeart, which was going to pay me. The base was going to be doing the math.

It's going to be like a 30% race. It was going to be two years. One was going to be 30. And then the next year, I think, was going to be like a 35 or 40% raise. It was nice. And with the whole package I was going to get for doing this, with the other stations I was on, probably would have opened the door for other stations as well. Like, this was going to truly open the door to make me potentially one of the bigger fish in eye heart, maybe was going to put me in position to be a dude that would get bigger shows, all that stuff. But the St. Louis thing came around. And I can understand, if you would have said, Josh, like, why wouldn't you just sign the I heart deal. You're successful here. You've got ratings bonuses in Nashville. You've

got a good deal that they just offer you. Nashville's a good place to live. You're a southern guy anyway, and you're kind of like at the epicenter of charming southern world. You're the only rock station in town, so you're going to be successful. You like your boss. Why would you do it? It's because there is an allure about certain things, and you always wonder what's out there. And I truly believe that's what Lane Kiffin is. And I say that as someone like me. I have that. I have that. this job right now, and I wonder what else is out there. Someone reached out to me about another job the other day, and I sit there and I think about it, and I'm like, what if? You know, like, that's just how it is. You know, like, I think some people are just programmed that way. Some people, it's always

what else is out there. Some people cannot be happy in the moment. Some people are always wondering if there's something bigger and better. And maybe Baton Rouge is Lane Kiffin's bigger and better? In reality, is LSU a bigger and better job than Ole Miss? I mean, slightly, probably, but the guy's got a team that's going to be in the college football playoff at Ole Miss. It is clearly possible. He could do it at Florida. He could do it at LSU.

But the only difference, there's certain recruiting differences and everything else between Baton Rouge or LSU and Oxford and Ole Miss. But into the day, if you're in Ole Miss, like, you can win. There's tons of money there. They spend money for NIL. Like, it is possible. Like, will Ole Miss ever be a blue blood? Maybe not.

Maybe it won't be. You know, maybe there are limitations. You know, I was listening to a show the other day. It's called The Chris Vernon Show. It's in Memphis, and I love it. It's a great show. And they're talking about the difference in Ole Miss and some of these other bigger LSU's, Ohio States. And the one dude on the show is like, I don't understand how you mean to tell me that

Ole Miss can't be these places, to which the host of the show brought up an amazing point. Like, Ole Miss has all these guys, yet they couldn't run the ball a couple years. years ago because they lost Quinn Sean Judkins to Ohio State who had Trayvion Henderson and Quinshaw Judkins. You couldn't afford to pay him and he left. That's kind of the difference between

an Ole Miss and an Ohio State and LSU true blue bloods, right? There is clearly a difference. But I think Lane could win and make a whole lot of money at Ole Miss and be a hero forever. I could have and should have. Again, it's easy to say now. But I look back on it now

and I say, Josh, you could have should have, should have, would have stayed at Iheart, you made a mistake. And this, and like, mind you, the money, the base pay that I took versus the base pay I was going to get in Nashville was, you know, there was a big difference, like a 35% difference. Like it was a huge difference base pay wise between what I was going to get in St. Louis and what I was going to get in Nashville. All told my package in Nashville would have paid me about the same and I still had more opportunities for endorsements.

And again, there's no state income tax. There were a bunch of factors. But I got caught up in it, man. And I've told you this before. I got caught up in it. I was like, this seems like a dream situation. It feels like there's more resources there. I like the company.

There were so many things. And that's why you throw away this opportunity. And the hard part is, like, there's no good way to do it with the way contracts and everything works. Like the way these contracts that I've had work out, it's one of these situations where, like, they have the first right to negotiate with you for six months. so they assume they're going to get you locked up and then you can't go anywhere else but you'd like to know

what else is out there so you have to wait until basically the deal is up to even have a chance to go anywhere else so it's tough let me continue this Kiffin's story here if he does that judgment won't be positive Kiffin 50 knows drama and setbacks USC fired him blah blah blah

Al Davis dumped him from the Oakland Raiders and declared he had been conned into hiring him in the first place Kiffin also knows he is a rebuilt his reputation especially of late in Oxford, a better coach, a better father, a better person. When not discussing football, he talks about how balanced, sober, and happy his life has become.

Okay, so there's just a bunch of details about this, blah, blah, blah. Can you give me, like, where this links back to Al Davis? That's what I like here. In different circumstances, he could go, maybe even should go. Not in these circumstances, not at this time, not with his team this good, at a school this supportive, and a season this magical. certainly not without causing everyone to wonder if Al Davis was right all along. Well, again, what all did Al Davis say?

You wrote this whole story that's just filled with a bunch of facts about what Ole Miss is doing. Is that it? Like, is this the whole crux of this story? Is that Al Davis felt that he was conned by the coach? So is that what this whole argument is that he conned them? Like, that's not a con. Like, it is so wrong to say that about someone. I can't believe I'm sitting here defending Lane Kiffen to this extent,

but a bunch of shithead writers and media people want to sit here and tell you that a guy's a fucking con artist because an opportunity came about. He did not know this opportunity would be there. He did not know that LSU was going to fire Brian Kelly and that LSU is in fact a better job than Ole Miss. He did not know that that job was going to open up. So to sit here and call somebody a con artist to say that someone's full of shit. And maybe he is, but to say that he's all full of shit and his image isn't rehabilitated and he's really just a giant piece of shit is so lazy. It is so lazy to do that.

And it comes from people who have no concept of what it's like to be in a moment like that. And neither do I, but I have been in something kind of like that before. And at a very smaller scale, again, very small scale. But it's somebody seeking you out when you've already got a really good situation and you didn't know that that situation. It's very similar. I would have no idea that Casey 95, a legendary radio station that my dad dreamed of working for would open up. But it did. At the very moment, I had just gotten a new deal to sign an eye heart.

I would have never known that. So I do not believe that Lane Kiffin is a piece of shit if he leaves that school. Whether he goes to LSU, whether he goes to Florida, whether he stays. The idea that Lane Kiffin is some sort of piece of shit because of this is so ridiculous. it is absurd to but you got people it turns out he's just a con artist is he when he took that job

at Ole Miss I don't care that they're 11 and 1 and I don't care they might go to the playoff you don't know what people's dreams are you don't know what people's goals are you don't know what people aspire to be so to sit there and say that this guy's a con artist and a piece of shit because this job

which was that he doesn't know going into this year that Florida is going to be open and that LSU is going to be open. Two very good jobs, LSU being a better job. He does not know that. He's also got people in his ear like Nick Saban who are telling him, dude, go to LSU, you can win there because Nick Saban did, because Les Miles did, because Ed O. did.

Like, you don't know that. So, like, to sit there and basically say that he's a con artist and we'll see if everybody's right about Lane Kiffin or if he's really just a piece of shit and he's not really rehabilitated, like, yeah, I get that he's a weird dude and I get that he does weird shit. But like the idea that he's a piece of garbage if he leaves this place, guess what? Half of those dudes that re-recruits that say they love Ole Miss will leave next year to go to the transfer portal. And not one of these media people will call any of those players a piece of shit. Not one. Oh, because how dare we call some 20-year-old kid a piece of shit, right?

But they can be pieces of shit. They lie to these schools. They're full of shit. They've got handlers who are full of shit. Oh, but Lane Kiffin's the piece of shit. But when he signs, When LSU, so you mean to tell me, so this guy, how about this? So in this quarterback, Bryce Underwood is committed to LSU for as long as he's committed to LSU. Then out of the blue, he's like, no, turns out I'm just going to go to Michigan because they gave me more money. He's not a piece of shit? Oh, well, Josh, he's a high school kid in the college. No, he's a millionaire.

If he were an NBA player that were in the league today at 18, 19 years old making millions of dollars, you wouldn't say, oh, he's just a fucking kid. But because he happens to play a college, he's a kid. Fuck that. These are pro athletes now. So I'm not telling you It's a great look for Lane Kiffin And I'm not telling you that it doesn't suck for those guys But they're all hired guns anyway

Can we stop this whole thing about Oh what about all of his players and blah blah blah Most of those guys are hired guns They're there because it thought They gave him a better chance to win They're not there because they give a shit about Ole Miss This is all transactional We talk about this all the time

It is transactional That is what college sports is everybody's out there how does it benefit them how does it benefit me me me me it's transactional it's prostitution that's all it is so cut the shit lose me with this bullshit about lane kiven all these sanctimonious lane kiven's a piece of shit stories written by these piece of shit writers that if somebody called them up and gave them a better offer to go somewhere else they'd probably take it too again you have no idea what it's like in that situation until you're coaching Ole Miss, probably didn't expect to be as good as you are, but you're right there in the middle

of it. Keep in mind, their quarterback is a junior college dude. You have no idea what's going to happen. Then it happens. Oh, by the way, Florida fires Billy and Abier. Oh, by the way, LSU fires Brian Kelly. You don't know that was going to happen. It's ridiculous. Anyway, more to come.