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Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator at Alabama, speaks as the Dex imaging Annual L'Arche Football Preview is held Thursday, May 29, 2014, at the Mitchell Center on the University of South Alabama campus in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Brantley/mbrantley@al.com)

HOOVER, Alabama -- Only one of Alabama's assistant coaches' names started popping up on Twitter when the news of the Crimson Tide's season-opening date with USC broke early Wednesday.

It was Lane Kiffin, of course.

The Kiffin connection is as obvious it gets, but it started to make us and many others wonder if it will even exist when Alabama and USC kick off more than two years from now at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Some things to consider:

After seven years as a head coach at three different spots, this is Kiffin's first coordinator job since 2006, when he worked under Pete Carroll at USC. He's 39 and many anticipate him to be a head coach again.

"I feel like he'll be very successful there and he'll revitalize his career," former USC safety Dion Bailey said in February at the NFL Combine. "He'll be on his way to be a head coach somewhere some day."

Kiffin is signed to a three-year contract. That's been the standard length for Alabama's coordinators throughout the Saban era. He's set to make $714,000 in 2016 after two seasons at $680,000. Based on the history of these sorts of contracts -- which are seemingly redrawn on an annual basis -- he'll likely be making much more if he's still at Alabama in 2016.

It's the last thing that will hold him back if he's looking to resume his head coaching career.

Kiffin is the fourth offensive coordinator of the Nick Saban era. Jim McElwain held the longest stint, as he ran the offense from 2008-11 before leaving to become the head coach at Colorado State. A three-year stint for Kiffin would be right around the average.

There are certainly many more variables to consider, but we'll leave it up to you to lay them out in the comments section after casting your vote.