ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said the quiet part out loud about Lane Kiffin after LSU’s 22-21 loss to Texas.

And it’s something that fans in Baton Rouge can’t continue to ignore about Kiffin.

Regardless of what Kiffin has said, this was a playoff or bust year for the Tigers.

LSU gave Kiffin a seemingly limitless budget to build a super roster. And that roster, which is one of the most expensive in the sport (maybe the most expensive), has four losses with two weeks left in the regular season. The College Football Playoff is off the table for LSU.

None of this should be a surprise. Kiffin, after all, has shown everyone in college football that he’s not someone who is ever “all-in” with any of his teams. If he sees something he thinks is more desirable than his current situation, he’ll abandon his team to make himself happy.

“The bottom line is that this season for LSU and for Lane Kiffin is officially a disaster,” said Finebaum on The Matt Barrie Show. “It is a complete bust. Lane Kiffin has failed in his first year. This is the same guy that a year ago was marching toward a possible national championship when he abandoned his team.

“Lane Kiffin has now done worse than Brian Kelly has done. And Brian Kelly was fired. Lane Kiffin has a job, but how much support does he have in Baton Rouge? That’s not to suggest he’s going anywhere — he’s not. He may yet win a national championship. I was fairly confident that he could do that. But to win a national championship, you know what you actually have to do? You have to beat good teams. And at the moment, Lane Kiffin seems incapable of beating good teams. He seems incapable of winning at home as a favorite. He seems incapable of outcoaching anyone but himself.”

Winning a championship in high-level sports is hard. It requires a team that’s incredibly connected, and that all starts with the head coach.

Kiffin does a good job of coaching a team when things are going well, but he’s never shown he can keep a team together through adversity.

And that’s because he runs from adversity every chance he gets.

I get it, LSU fans. I get the allure of Kiffin. He’s got swagger, he’s an incredible offensive play-caller, and he can recruit better than almost anyone. There’s plenty to like about Kiffin.

But at the end of the day, he is who he is. He’s selfish. It’s always going to be about Kiffin before anyone else. He showed that when he quit on his Ole Miss team last season when they were a few games away from a national championship. I mean, I get that LSU is a better job than Ole Miss. I don’t fault Kiffin for wanting to make the move. But the timing wasn’t right. His current team should’ve come first — that’s what coaching is all about — and he quit on those players.

LSU fans are delusional if they think Kiffin won’t quit on them too. This is who he has always been. LSU is an incredible school with great tradition. It’s a special place. But Kiffin isn’t special. He hasn’t actually done anything to deserve a job like LSU.

Jump off the boat before it’s too late, Tigers fans. This story ends like every other Kiffin story — with a trail of destruction in his wake.