When Nick Saban announced Lane Kiffin as his new offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide, the reaction was met with much trepidation and skepticism as to why such a move would be made for a such a controversial coach.
The reports first surfaced when Kiffin was spotted in Tuscaloosa during bowl preparation for the Sugar Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners. While both Saban and Kiffin downplayed the visit as nothing more than a second set of eyes from Kiffin to gauge his team’s offensive strategy, Alabama fans were not necessarily buying this notion being they had already grown tired of Doug Nussmeier‘s playcalling.
Kiffin, who made his name as the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans for two seasons (05-06) was looked at as a boy genius blessed with a gift for utilizing playmakers to their best abilities within his offenses. Along with Steve Sarkisian, the two set records at USC in 2005 by combining the strengths of Reggie Bush and LenDale White that created an offensive explosion unseen in the Pac-10 — and the NCAA. Many believed that team and offense was the best in history and save for a Vince Young performance of the century, Kiffin would have helped lead the Trojans to another BCS Championship title.
However, since his first days at USC, things did not necessarily go as smoothly for Kiffin. He was hired in 2007 by the late Al Davis to lead the Oakland Raiders back to prominence. He was fired in his second year after he and Davis no longer saw eye-to-eye on how to best operate the team. He then landed in Knoxville to take over a Tennessee program left in shambles searching for new blood and a new direction.
The excitement behind Kiffin’s hiring in Tennessee was warranted as a 33-year-old coach, he breathed new life into a once storied program and immediately made the Volunteers relevant. His 7-6 record was seen as a sign of good things to come and recruits were beginning to notice Kiffin and his brash bravado. He even got the attention of Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil’ Wayne who referenced Kiffin in one of his raps songs. Things appeared on the upswing for Kiffin and the Vols until USC coach Pete Carroll decided to take his talents back to the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. With Kiffin’s star on the rise, it only made sense to bring his style and flare back to southern California.
Unfortunately, things didn’t last long for Kiffin as what appeared to be a match made in heaven ended ugly as he was fired after five games during the 2013 season.
Enter Alabama.
The decision to hire Kiffin made sense from an offensive standpoint. Kiffin is a prostyle guru and as previously mentioned, does well with utilizing playmakers while operating a balanced offensive attack. Many point to the job he did with quarterback Blake Sims last year as he managed to take a player who many believed would never start at quarterback for Alabama, and turned him into a record-setting icon. He did this by effectively overdosing on designed plays for Amari Cooper which catapulted the Tide into the playoffs and Cooper into the record books as well.
The issues with Kiffin, however, have always had less to do with the X’s and O’s and more so with his character and personality, which subsequently seemed to have rubbed people the wrong way in every stop he’s been to this point.
So why did Saban decide to bring him on knowing his past? Did Saban believe he could cure the incurable? Was the pressure of finding a quality play-caller enough to ignore the obvious red flags that come with hiring a person of Kiffin’s stature? No one but Saban can answer this, but in three games so far into this season, fans are already growing weary of Kiffin, and there are rumors that other factors could lead to a change much sooner than later.
With a long season still to go, there is plenty of time for Kiffin to turn things around and instill faith in the fan base that he indeed is the man to help bring stability to the offense. If he can do this, there is no reason for a change at this point — despite whatever is going on in Kiffin’s personal life that would cause an early exodus — and the Tide can possibly roll to another SEC title and playoff appearance.
But starting this week, Kiffin is officially on the clock, and his seat is warming quickly.
Brandon Williams is an Editor and Columnist for Touchdown Alabama. You can follow him on Twitter, @BWilliamsTDAL, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google
