Sports Illustrated

Lane Kiffin has coached nearly all of his adult life. In January of ’07, the late Al Davis made NFL history when he hired the 31-year-old Kiffin as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Since that day, Kiffin has proven himself to be a brilliant football mind — however, he lacks the qualities necessary to lead a football team.

Offensive coordinator

Lane Kiffin’s offensive prowess is undeniable. As such, Kiffin should swallow his pride and stick to being an offensive coordinator. During his first stint at USC in the early 2000’s, Kiffin split offensive coordinator duties with Steve Sarkisian (who would later become Alabama’s OC after Kiffin accepted the head coaching position at Florida Atlantic). The Trojans offense was prolific under the guidance of Sarkisian and Kiffin, averaging 49.1 points per game and 579 yards per game.

Kiffin did an impressive job of managing the talent that he had at Alabama. During his three seasons in Tuscaloosa, the Tide never averaged less than 35 points per game, despite the fact that Kiffin had three different starting quarterbacks in those three seasons. In 2014, Kiffin was able to tailor his offense to a smaller dual threat quarterback in Blake Sims — a former running back. In 2015, Kiffin helped lead Alabama to a National Championship with a more traditional quarterback in Jake Coker. In Kiffin’s final season in Tuscaloosa, the Tide averaged 38 points per game with true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts running the show. Each of Kiffin’s three seasons with Alabama displayed his ability to adapt his offense to fit the talent on the roster.

Head Coach

Lane Kiffin’s success as an offensive coordinator naturally put him in the position to become a head coach. That being said, there is more to being a head coach than just understanding the X’s and O’s of football. Kiffin struggled to manage an entire team during his previous coaching stops. Going a combined 28–15 over his five seasons as a head coach, Kiffin was underwhelming compared to his success as a coordinator. While not an abysmal record, 10 of Kiffin’s 28 wins came in the 2011 season at Southern California. Aside from Kiffin’s one successful season at USC, he is a mediocre 18–13 as a head coach.

Lane has just one 10+ win season in his career as a head coach. Being a head coach is a juggling act — one must be able to speak with the media on a regular basis, constantly recruit new players, and deal with boosters and administration. This all happens while preparing a team to win each week. Lane Kiffin has yet to prove himself capable of handling the workload and pressures of being a head football coach.

I do not hold the 2009 season at Tennessee against Lane Kiffin. The Vols went 7–6, which isn’t vastly disappointing. However, Kiffin walked into a subpar roster talent-wise. All in all, I’d say Kiffin performed well in the 2009 season in Rocky Top. In fact, the Volunteers nearly upset Alabama. Kiffin’s abrupt exit for USC the following offseason should not have been as big of an issue as it was. Tennessee was never a destination job for Kiffin. Coaches move on to bigger and better job frequently — take Tom Herman for example, who had success at Houston for two seasons and left for the University of Texas as soon as the job was open.

Personal issues

Now, some of Lane Kiffin’s antics while at Tennessee were plain childish. Kiffin publicly accused Urban Meyer, the head coach at the University of Florida at the time, of committing a recruiting violation. Eventually it was determined that Kiffin’s accusations were false and he later apologized to Meyer.

Recently, Lane Kiffin proved to be too much to handle even for Nick Saban. Kiffin and Saban’s relationship ended in what can only be described as bizarre fashion. Before the 2016 College Football Playoff began, Kiffin accepted the job as FAU’s new head coach. At first, Saban was willing to allow Kiffin to finish out the rest of the year as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. It wasn’t until a week before Alabama’s National Championship match-up with Clemson that Kiffin was relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator. The real reasoning behind it? There is one thing we do know: Saban’s decision to part ways with Kiffin very well may have cost him another national title.

Kiffin has an odd history of rubbing people the wrong way. Storied Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis once described Kiffin as a “flat-out liar.” Davis also stated, “I think he conned me like he conned all you people”. Nick Saban and the late Al Davis are highly respected in their professions, and would not fire coaches on such short notice without good reason.

Kiffin’s future

Lane Kiffin worked his way back into a head coaching position with FAU. No one can debate the job that Kiffin did as offensive coordinator at Alabama. Kiffin may even find success at FAU and grant himself another shot as a Power Five head coach. Regardless, the truth is that Lane Kiffin will not ever be an elite head coach.

Not all elite head coaches are great play callers. But, all of them do have one thing in common — they motivate their team to win. Kiffin has yet to prove an ability to consistently win as a head coach. He will, however, always have a spot available for him as an offensive coordinator. If Kiffin is ever going to take the next step up the coaching ladder, the time to prove himself is now.