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From Sports
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The rise and fall -- and rise again -- of Lane Kiffin
Monday, January 20, 2014
By: Drew McLain
There are few people in mankind's history where failure makes them more successful. Michael Jordan, Dick Chaney, Walt Disney, Sarah Palin, Winston Churchill. None of these are quite like Lane Kiffin. (Okay, maybe Sarah Palin) Kiffin -- who was born into coaching royalty -- is the son of Monte Kiffin, a long time defensive coordinator in the NFL most notable for the time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One would conclude that he would subsequently be an elite coach unless, of course, you're a poor decision maker and complete idiot.
It all started in a far away land known as Oakland, California, where Kiffin landed his first head coaching job with the Raiders. Team owner Al Davis hired Kiffin on January 23, 2007, making him the youngest head coach in franchise history and the youngest head coach in the NFL at the time. On January 25, 2008, Raiders owner Al Davis, who was not known for being patient with his coaches (or being a reasonable human being in general) tried to force Kiffin to resign after his first season ended with a 4–12 record. Kiffin responded by saying he would not sign the letter of resignation which would cause him to forfeit his $2 million salary for the remaining guaranteed year of his contract.
On September 30, 2008, Davis fired Kiffin over the telephone. At the press conference announcing the firing, Davis called Kiffin "a flat-out liar" and said he was guilty of "bringing disgrace to the organization". The Raiders said the move was made for cause, meaning they would terminate his contract immediately without paying the $2.6 million that was left on it for 2008. Kiffin later added that he was not proud to be associated with Davis's accusations and was actually more embarrassed for Davis than himself. At the time it seemed as if poor Lane was just another victim to Al Davis' progressing dementia. Little did anyone know, it meant so much more.
A short two months after being fired in Oakland, the University of Tennessee introduced Kiffin as the 21st head football coach of the Volunteers to replace Phillip Fulmer. This seemed uncharacteristic for a school like Tennessee but it was the beginning of Lane's trend of "failing up". His first order of business was to talk trash before accomplishing anything at all. On February 5, 2009 during a Tennessee booster breakfast in Knoxville, Kiffin accused then Florida head coach Urban Meyer, of violating NCAA recruiting rules.
"I'm going to turn Florida in right here in front of you," Kiffin told the crowd. "As Nu'Keese [Richardson] was here on campus, his phone keeps ringing. And so one of our coaches is sitting in the meeting with him and says, 'Who is that?' And he looks at the phone and says, 'Urban Meyer.' Just so you know, you can't call a recruit on another campus. But I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him."
While Honorary Sheriff Kiffin accused Meyer of violating NCAA rules, he incidentally violated an SEC rule that prevents coaches from mentioning a recruit by name. Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive issued a public reprimand to Kiffin. Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley demanding a public apology from Kiffin. The next day Kiffin issues a public apology for making the comment.
"In my enthusiasm for our recruiting class, I made some statements that were meant solely to excite those at the breakfast. If I offended anyone at the University of Florida, including Mr. Foley and Urban Meyer, I sincerely apologize. That was not my intention."
A complete embarrassment to Kiffin and the University of Tennessee, the Vol Nation swept it under the rug and moved on. You live and you learn; you make a boo-boo on the recruiting trail and you don't screw up again.
Not this guy.
Soon after issuing the apology, Lane told recruit Alshon Jeffery that if Jeffery chose the South Carolina Gamecocks, he would "end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina." Jeffery went on to sign with the University of South Carolina Gamecocks and became the second round, 45th pick overall in the 2012 NFL Draft being signed by the Chicago Bears, and selected to the 2014 NFL Pro Bowl. Kiffin denied making the statement. The only problem was the incident was corroborated by Alshon Jeffery's coach Walter Wilson and others who were listening to Kiffin's remarks on speakerphone.
The recruiting circus didn't stop there. On Dec. 11, a photo surfaced showing Lacey Earps and Dahra Johnson, two members of "Orange Pride", a group of Tennessee students who are often referred to as hostesses, posing with UT commitments Brandon Willis and Corey Miller of Byrnes High School at a football game in Duncan, S.C. Everything would have been within the rules if these ladies had gone to the high-school games on their own. Chances are, that wasn't the case. This triggered an investigation by the NCAA that lasted well into late 2010.
But, wait. It gets better. In August of 2009 Lane Kiffin was behind the wheel of his Lexus, leased by Lexus of Knoxville. The coach said he fell asleep and crashed the car. Kiffin told athletic director Mike Hamilton that he had been at the football complex for a late meeting that night and said that he was heading home when he got into the accident. He then stated that he had walked home from the scene of the wreck. Tennessee officials said the time between Kiffin's last being seen in the offices and the crash were unaccounted for.
Statements from the Knox County Sheriff's Office said there were no reports of any accident filed by Kiffin in 2009. Mark Boling, a former body shop worker at Lexus of Knoxville, filed a lawsuit against the Knoxville dealership, claiming he was fired and defamed for uncovering evidence in an insurance fraud cover-up benefiting Kiffin. In the 19-page complaint, Boling states that Kiffin, who did not have a valid Tennessee driver's license or liability insurance, crashed the vehicle on Aug. 12, 2009, in a ditch and hit a fence. Andy White, dealership general manager, went to the scene "in an effort to protect Lane Kiffin from being observed by law enforcement officials at the scene of the collision," and paid property damages, according to the suit.
By the way, this all happened within 14 months.
After the short lived, action packed "vacation" to Knoxville, Lane packed his bags and went back to Cali. On January 12, 2010, Kiffin headed to USC to become the Trojans head coach after Pete Carroll's departure from USC to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. A prolonged four-year investigation into whether former USC running back Reggie Bush and his family had accepted financial benefits and housing from two sports agents in San Diego while he was a student athlete at USC was wrapped up by that June, and the NCAA imposed sanctions against the Trojan football program for a "lack of institutional control." Sanctions included a two-year bowl ban, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years, and the vacation of all wins in which Bush participated as an "ineligible" player. One of those forfeited wins included the 2005 Orange Bowl, in which the Trojans won the BCS National Championship. Kiffin was offensive coordinator and recruiter during the time.
In 2012, Kiffin for the first time became a voting member of the USA Today Coaches' Poll, but he resigned after he cast a single vote. After being informed that Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez had voted the Trojans as the top team, Kiffin stated "I would not vote USC No. 1, I can tell you that much." However, USA Today, citing the need to "protect the poll's integrity", revealed that Kiffin had voted his team for the top spot. Kiffin once again apologized, saying that his comments were from the perspective of an opposing coach voting for USC -- whatever that means. During the 2012 season, Kiffin became the first coach since 1964 to take the pre-season #1 ranked team to unranked by the end of the season.
In Kiffin's last season, the Trojans lost their first two conference games of the 2013 season against Washington State and Arizona State, making Kiffin's record 4-7 in his last eleven games. On September 28, 2013, just hours after the 62 to 41 loss to Arizona State, USC Athletics Director Pat Haden fired Kiffin. He was called off the team bus that was preparing to head to campus from the airport and taken to a small room inside the terminal where Haden told Kiffin he was being dismissed. Haden supposedly met with USC president Max Nikias in the 3rd quarter and they decided Kiffin should be terminated.
At this point, everyone in America simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief knowing that we would probably never hear from Lane Kiffin ever again. That is, until December. In typical Saban fashion, Ole Nicky ruins something good for everyone else. We had almost rid college football of Lane Kiffin when Nick Saban ushered him to Tuscaloosa for eight days to review the Crimson Tide's offense. This plan obviously backfired. That was painfully obvious when, following this visit, Alabama takes a Chris Brown style beating that only Rihanna could endure. We all make mistakes. Even the all might Nick Saban. You live and you learn. Right? On January 10, 2014, after Michigan hired Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Kiffin interviewed for the vacant coordinator job. Kiffin was offered and accepted the job as offensive coordinator at Alabama.
Why would Nick Saban make such a bone-headed move? Why would someone, so hell bent on winning and a legacy, take on this sort of baggage at the end of his career? Why force all eyes from the NCAA offices to be on your program, waiting for a violation? We don't have the answers to these questions and quite possibly never will. One thing is for sure though. There are 13 other teams in the SEC that are happy to have Kiffin back.
Roll Tide Lane, Roll tide.
Andrew McLain andrew@wdng.net @AndrewWDNG
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Keywords: Lane Kiffin,University of Alabama
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