Alabama Football: Lane Kiffin should stay put for now
Lane Kiffin has a pretty nice gig in Tuscaloosa, and he probably ought to stay right where he is.
Take one look at the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, and you could figure out he’s pretty young by head coaching standards. He’s only 41, but he’s surpassed the many men who have done the job a whole lot longer. Take a look at his coaching resume. You’ll find out the Tennessee Volunteers and the USC Trojans are two of his former employers. He even served as head coach of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises, the Oakland Raiders.
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Unfortunately for Kiffin, each stint as a head coach led to a negative result. He went 5-15 in the NFL, and he was the victim of Al Davis’ attempts to assassinate his character. He was fired after serving as head coach of the Trojans from 2010 until 2013. That followed him leaving Knoxville, where he managed a 12-13 record. Though he left the Vols on his own terms, he was again the victim of some negative attacks on his character. Many viewed his departure as an act of betrayal.
In Tuscaloosa, he’s flourished in the role of offensive coordinator. What he’s done is made Alabama’s perennially dominant program even more dangerous and efficient on the offensive side of the ball. His success again has made him a hot topic and a name that seems to keep coming up in head coaching vacancies.
Rumors have associated him with everything from the once-vacant Houston Cougars head coaching job (just filled by Major Applewhite) to jobs with the Oregon Ducks and the offensive coordinator job with the LSU Tigers. It doesn’t seem like there’d be a reason to make a lateral move to Baton Rouge. Why leave an already comfortable position with the Tide to set up shop with one of their rivals and have to come up with a plan to beat Alabama every year? Stranger things have happened though. Who knows what these guys are thinking?
Truthfully, Kiffin may not be a head coach. We’ve seen that movie before, and on three separate occasions, it hasn’t gone well. Houston decided to pass on him in favor of Applewhite, Tom Herman’s offensive coordinator while with the Cougars. Applewhite also served as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2007.
Now, Kiffin’s name has been thrown into the hat for the FAU job. Someone will give Kiffin a shot if he’s interested, but using the eyeball test, it seems like he’s one heck of an offensive coordinator who just isn’t head coaching material. Nothing’s wrong with that. Truthfully, if he stayed in Tuscaloosa, who would blame him? Sure being a head coach is a wonderful job to have, but let’s be honest, FAU isn’t Alabama and never will be.