The more I keep watching and listening to what is out there in the news the past few days as it pertains to Lane Kiffin I cannot help but wonder if USC is going to come to regret hiring him. Is Kiffin just a guy who excels at selling himself and putting up a good facade, or, is he the real deal?
There has been lot said about Kiffin having little to no loyalty and always looking out for number one. Consider that he could not make it through two seasons in Oakland and left in a storm of controversy. Prior to being let go he had made a habit of rolling certain members of the front office under the bus in front of the press. Al Davis fired him and claimed it was due to conduct detrimental to the team. He basically called him a liar and said he did not want him around any more.
It is probably safe to say that the truth lies somewhere in the middle between Kiffin and Davis. Davis does not exactly have a good track record as it pertains to his coaches of late. He ran Jon Gruden out of town despite him getting the team to the precipice of a Super Bowl appearance, he ran Bill Callahan out of town despite him getting the team to the Super Bowl, and he barely gave Mike Shanahan a chance before moving on to Art Shell. We will not even get into the bevy of coaches that have led the franchise to a record 7 straight seasons of 11 or more losses.
But Kiffin seemed to be trying to get himself fired. He was clearly in over his head and no longer wanted to be there but there was no way he was going to quit and walk away from the over $1 million the team still owed him. After being let go by Oakland he laid low for a while before the University of Tennessee came calling in November of 2008.
This seemed like a good fit for both Kiffin and the university. He gets back into coaching at a relatively high profile job and he gets his father, defensive whiz Monte Kiffin, to come run his defense while he focused on running the offense. From day one he raised a lot of eyebrows and rattled some cages at Tennessee.
He seemed intent on picking a fight with Urban Meyer and the University of Florida claiming it was going to be great singing Old Rocky Top all day after they beat Florida. He also lobbed some grenades Gainesville’s way by making vague claims about improper recruiting practices while he himself was skirting the rules in some of his recruiting practices.
Granted a lot of what Kiffin does is within the rules of the NCAA but a lot of what he does seems a bit underhanded and duplicitous. He seems to go out of his way to run down and denigrate his rivals which is what endears him to his fan base. They love the fact that he is brash and talks trash to his opponents. He is becoming the Vince McMahon of college football. He is here to be the biggest and the best and those in his path better get out of his way lest they want to get steam-rolled in the process.
The one big question though is he willing to do it by any means necessary? Is he willing to stay within the rules or is he going to continually skirt the rules and always have the NCAA looking over his shoulder at what he is doing? Keep in mind he was at Tennessee for only 14 months and managed to rack up six, albeit minor, violations. The thing is when it comes to college programs where there is smoke there is fire.
USC is facing probation over the whole Reggie Bush scandal and it remains to be seen if anything comes over the Joe McKnight situation. The NCAA has let USC get away with skirting the rules in the past when they let Dwayne Jarrett repay his half of the rent that Matt Leinart’s father paid for instead of losing his eligibility.
So with the specter of probation hanging over the program they go out and hire a coach who is known for being an ace recruiter, but, he is also known for pushing the envelope, is a bit questionable ethically, and has never really won anything. He went 7-6 and lost badly to Virginia Tech in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. His career record as a head coach in college and the NFL is 12-21 and he now has arguably the highest profile coaching job in the country.
It seems like quite an undertaking for a coach who has never shown he can win anything being the man in charge. It is one thing to be able to recruit the top talent, but, quite another to win with that talent. Ron Zook was a great recruiter at Florida but could never seem to figure out how to beat the upper crust in the SEC. So, it remains to be seen as to whether Kiffin is the next Urban Meyer or if he is the next Ron Zook.
If I were an USC fan I would have liked to see the school hire a more established, seasoned coach who has shown he can build a program and sustain it. I would have also liked to see them hire someone with a bit more loyalty than Kiffin. Will the fact that he bailed on UT after one season hurt him at USC? If Kiffin hits the ground running and manages to win 30 games and a conference championship or two his first three years there will his eyes turn back towards the NFL?
Pete Carroll managed to fight the urge for three or four years before finally giving in to the Seahawks overtures last week. But, it has also been said that Carroll’s chilly relationship with Athletic Director Mike Garrett and impending probation played a factor in him finally deciding to make the move. The fact that the ‘Hawks ponied up $30 mil and authority of personnel did not hurt either.
I doubt Kiffin is going to have that kind of will power. He impresses one as someone who has his eye on the next job before he even starts the one he just landed. The second Kiffin establishes himself at USC he is probably gone. There is nowhere else to go in the college ranks and everyone will write off his stint with Oakland as someone who was just unfortunate enough to coach for Al Davis.
I have a feeling that Kiffin may not be at USC longer than five years and he will be out of there one of two ways. Either he gets in there and wins a ton of ball games and goes back to the NFL, or, he leaves in another storm of controversy as the violations pile up and the school has no choice but to cut him loose. One way or the other the Kiffin Era at USC is liable to be one wild ride and I cannot wait until he and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh face off for the first time.
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