LANE KIFFIN: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SERIOUSLY. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
Lane Kiffin is like a bad penny or horse manure. He turns up everywhere. EVERYWHERE! And he’s only 41.
After a nondescript playing career as a backup quarterback at Fresno State, he began learning how to really fool ’em as a 21-year-old Student Assistant Coach at his alma mater, giving up his senior season of eligibility.
And from there…well, how much time do you have?
One of two sons of Monte Kiffin, widely regarded in gridiron annals as perhaps the best defensive coordinator in the sport’s modern history, the two share a last name, a peripatetic nature and that is about all.
To begin, Monte Kiffin was and is well-respected. He is known as the architect of the “Tampa Cover 2” defense adopted and embraced by football cognoscenti across the landscape; his concepts are among the most influential in today’s college and professional games.
He has been an NFL assistant coach for 26 seasons including 13 as the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with whom he won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.
During his Tampa Bay tenure, his defensive units finished in the top ten in points allowed and yards allowed no fewer than ten times, an NFL record. The key tenets of his defensive philosophy are and have been the employment of speed and quickness over size and strength; a bend-but-don’t-break mentality; the ability to launch multiple defenses from one look; and a laser-like focus on forcing turnovers.
Monte Kiffin’s story, despite his general affinity for accepting new coaching jobs abnormally often — he has had eighteen coaching stints in his storied career and only one head coaching appointment (North Carolina State 1980-’82) interestingly — is largely a success story.
Son Lane’s?
Sorry.
It may be that Lane Kiffin is a shyster, a shill, a fraud and one of the greatest fakers ever. A Frank Abagnale-like con man.
He has parlayed his lineage along with his schtick into million dollar contracts left and right and right and left. It’s shocking really.
Is it whom he knows solely? Probably not. But exactly what he knows must be most aptly described as open to question.
I mean, c’mon.
He surely knows how to alienate, an ability and talent he has honed to such a fine edge over the years that his skill in this arena is virtually unparallelled.
In a hand-delivered letter from his boss at the time, the late great Al Davis, the Raiders’ unconventional, mildly eccentric but supremely astute owner lambasted Kiffin with several searing admonishments and promised that if Kiffin continued to violate terms of his contract he would be swiftly kicked to the curb for cause.
The September 12, 2008 masterpiece began this way:
“Dear Lane:
Over the past months, you have made a number of public statements that were highly critical of, and designed to embarrass and discredit, this organization, its players and its coaches…Such statements constitute conduct detrimental to the Raiders and I will no longer stand silently by while you continue to hurt this organization…I realized when I hired you that you were young and inexperienced and that there would be a learning process for you. Your mistakes on player personnel and coaches were overlooked based on our patience with you. But I never dreamt that you would be untruthful in statements to the press as well as on so many other issues. Your actions are those of a coach looking to makes (sic) excuses for not winning, rather than a coach focused on winning…”
Then in an effort to reveal Kiffin’s proclivity to skirt ethical codes and behavior, Davis continues.
“I know that you wanted to bring your father in to run the defense and that Monte told me that he wanted to come here even though he was under contract to Tampa. However I did not want to tamper with another team. In any event that was over seven months ago. Do not now also run from the defense and your responsibilities…”
After the fact Davis admitted that he had been duped and was accountable.
“I think he conned me like he conned all you people…I reached a point where I felt that the whole staff were fractionalized, that the best thing to do to get this thing back was to make a change. It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy.”
Kiffin’s record as the Oakland Raiders head coach was 5–15 over one-and-a-half seasons.
Lane Kiffin’s laundry list of coaching jobs is eye-catching in that he has never remained in one place for more than 4 or 5 seasons and accomplished this feat only once and with a different positional responsibility nearly each year. After a season or two the welcome mat invariably turns into the fire exit.
To wit:
1997–1998 — -Fresno State (Assistant);
1999 — -Colorado State (Graduate Assistant);
2000 — -Jacksonville Jaguars NFL (OQC);
2001 — -USC (TE);
2002–2004 — -USC (WR);
2005–2006 — -USC (PGC/OC);
2007–2008 — -Oakland Raiders NFL (HC);
2009 — -Tennessee (HC);
2010–2013 — -USC (HC);
2014–2016 — -Alabama (OC/QB);
2017-present — -Florida Atlantic (HC)
It is nothing short of remarkable that someone who burns bridges with such reckless aplomb continues to land on his feet. And he’s simply not that good.
To go with his 5–15 mark as the Raiders head coach Kiffin was 35–21 as the top man at Tennessee and USC with loaded rosters largely inherited, and 0–2 in Bowl games.
It is curious that he left his OC duties under Nick Saban on January 2, 2017 a week prior to Alabama’s National Championship date with eventual titleist Clemson in one of the most dramatic and memorable college games in history.
Kiffin made a feeble stab at humor in his effort to set the record straight making some remarks following Friday’s (Jan. 20) Florida Atlantic ceremonial groundbreaking for the Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence.
Essentially Kiffin was promoting himself at the expense of many others, hanging several people out to dry in so doing.
Recounting his interview with FAU brass before being hired on December 13th., he cited part of the conversation he had with University President John Kelly formerly employed at Clemson, which included references made to FAU Athletic Director Pat Chun who had worked previously at Ohio State.
“…I was really excited about this job so I begged them to hire me because [of] the area. I knew the great players around here. I knew that we could hire a great staff and win a lot of championships here. Nobody knows this story, including our athletic director, he doesn’t know it either. The president said, after the interview, ‘We’re very impressed with you. We want to hire you. But I have to have a conversation with you and no one else can know this conversation.*** The conversation is this. I know Clemson’s really, really good, especially on offense, but here’s the problem. The playoffs are already set…Alabama’s going to go beat Washington. I know we’re [Clemson] going to beat Ohio State because our athletic director is from there so we know they’re no good. Here’s the deal. After you guys beat Washington and we [Clemson] crush Ohio State…in order for me to give you this job, you cannot coach the national championship game. I have to make sure that Clemson wins the game.’
That was very difficult. That shows you how much I believe in this place. My president is happy. Nick Saban is not.”
Wow. WOW. WOW. WOW!!!
Tell me.
Should this 41-year-old coaching vagabond, this duplicitous, deceitful, conniving and self-serving human(?) who leaves countless in his wake, be anybody’s role model or mentor?
QUESTION:
*** If the President requested that the conversation remain private and confidential, then why would Kiffin choose to divulge the content of it under any circumstance?
ANSWER:
You know why.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in January 2017.]
ADDENDUM: On December 9, 2019 Lane Kiffin left Florida Atlantic after 3 seasons to officially become the Head Coach at Ole Miss, signing a four-year $16.2 million contract, paying him $3.9 million in 2020 with an incremental increase of $100,000/yr. thereafter.
