Opinion: Lane Kiffin isn't 'a clown,' and he's proving as much for Ole Miss football

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon is calling Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin “a clown” and “an embarrassment.”
Kiffin is responding to Wilbon's blistering criticism.
Yes, it’s officially No. 1 Alabama (4-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (3-0, 0-0), and the game itself is a tantalizing matchup with College Football Playoff implications.
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But coaches are the top personalities of college sports, unlike the professional ranks, where athletes rule the roost. Perhaps, the balance of power will shift somewhat in the aftermath of college athletes being able to profit off their name, image and likeness, but at least for now, coaches reign.
Few college football coaches move the needle more than Nick Saban and Kiffin.
Speaking of moving the needle, let’s get into the matter of whether Kiffin is a clown.
Wilbon, this week on ESPN’s “Pardon The Interruption,” eviscerated Kiffin while predicting an Alabama victory. Kiffin responded to Wilbon’s criticisms via Twitter and again on Wednesday when I asked Kiffin about Wilbon’s comments.
“I feel everybody has a right to whatever. You can’t control what people do,” Kiffin said. “I worry more when the person’s actually met you and knows you and says those things versus someone who has never met you and doesn’t know you at all. To say those things, it’s pretty over-the-top compared to what most professional media say. But he got attention. I think that’s the name of the game.”
Wilbon is paid to give sports opinions – and he’s good at it – on a television show that entertains sports fans. Kiffin works in the public eye, and I’m sure he's been called worse. Back-and-forth exchanges like this grab eyeballs for the sport, and Kiffin can laugh all the way to the bank with his $4.5 million salary.
I don’t think a television personality calling a coach a clown is off limits, but I don’t think the clown shoe fits, in this case.
Kiffin isn’t a clown. He has made immature decisions, and Kiffin admits to being selfish and ego driven earlier in his career. Today, I think he’s one of the top coaches in college football’s premier conference, and he's what Ole Miss needed when it hired him in December 2019.
Ole Miss’ rapid ascent under its second-year coach speaks to that.
Don’t be fooled by Kiffin’s playful Twitter persona that grabs attention. There’s more to this coach than tweets. He’s a top offensive mind and a brilliant play-caller. He helped develop Matt Corral into arguably the best quarterback in college football.
Wilbon should air his opinion. That’s his job. But I think he missed the mark while operating on an outdated image of Kiffin.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the Paste BN Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.