The Back Alley Archives

In six seasons as a head coach in the NFL (with the Raiders) and college (Tennessee, USC), Kiffin has one signature win -- last year's 38-35 victory at Oregon after the Ducks missed a potential tying 37-yard field goal on the game's final play -- and a handful of bad losses. Kiffin is 0-3 against Stanford, the most inexcusable defeat coming this year. The Trojans also lost to an Arizona State team last season that fired its coach and earlier this season fell to an Arizona squad that UCLA beat 66-10 on Saturday.


Kiffin's star quarterback, Matt Barkley, doesn't appear to be improving, and his draft stock is falling according to NFL executives. The defense that Kiffin's father, Monte, runs (he's the defensive coordinator and reportedly gets paid $1.5 million per year) is historically awful. And the team that Lane himself voted No. 1 in the preseason is now ranked 21st.


Along the way, the immature and embarrassing antics that defined Kiffin's tenure at Tennessee have returned. Already this season he's admitted lying about his coaches' poll vote, pulled off a duplicitous number change to trick lowly Colorado and banned a local beat writer for accurate reporting.

...

For all his star studded recruiting classes and creative ways he's handled USC's scholarship restrictions, Kiffin lacks the coaching acumen to match his recruiting prowess. No coach interviewed said that the Trojans lacked talent. But many pointed to the lack of discipline, as USC's 9.44 penalties per game lead the nation by a landslide, even after committing just three against Oregon. (UCLA is next with 8.89). Multiple coaches pointed to two other weaknesses of Kiffin -- poor game management and the appearance that Kiffin goes for style over substance. USC poorly managed the clock in its loss to Stanford last season and couldn't hold a 15-point lead deep into the third quarter against Arizona. Kiffin was also criticized for not spiking the ball on a last-ditch drive at the end of the Arizona game, a 39-36 loss.


"Don't get me wrong, he's a bright, young guy," one coach said of Kiffin. "He really is, but he doesn't have the patience, I don't think, or the maturity to understand that if you win 7-6 that's just as well as winning 70-6, and your guy doesn't have to break every record in America. He's out of the Heisman business. Go about your business winning games."



...

At Lane Kiffin's two previous coaching stops, the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Volunteers, he baffled everyone by somehow landing better jobs despite not accomplishing much. With a team in shambles, his father looking overmatched and his quarterback failing to live up to expectations, it's unlikely that Kiffin will fail upwards again.

Kiffin's Mercedes stayed parked outside the USC locker room until long after the game on Saturday night. He'll need more than a sleek getaway car to escape the mess in Troy.