Lane Kiffin Statement On Kennedy Polamalu

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“As we continue to evaluate all facets of our program, including the organization of our staff, we made the decision to go in a different direction at this coaching position. Kennedy Polamalu is a good coach, a good person and a good Trojan. We wish him and his family the best.”

– USC coach Lane Kiffin

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Doverz/1423558008 Ben Doverz

    It should have read ” This person dared to question me, how dare he question the all knowing Lane F’ing Kiffin ! Off with his head !!!!!!! “

  • lifetime Bruin Fan

    I Agree, Coach Polamalu coached at UCLA back in the nineties, I hope UCLA can sigh him.

  • Chris

    This comment was posted on the OC Register site, keep it real..by Marcelo Teson just passing it along:
    Just so we have some objective facts here, here is how the running game ranked the three seasons KP was in charge of it:

    2010 – 25 (472 rushing yard attempts).
    2011 – 52 (392 rushing yard attempts).
    2012 – 72 (392 rushing yard attempts).

    So even if you don’t like the timing of it, you can’t argue that the correlation here is pretty stark. You can’t get worse and worse every year and not expect some sort of accountability, no matter how nice you are, no matter what your pedigree is.

    Kiffin is responsible for making the team better, he’s under the highest pressure to do just that, so you have to believe that every move he’s making, especially the ones that are going to be clearly unpopular like this one, is because that’s what he thinks will make the team better. We have a new DC coming in who wants to revamp the defense, perhaps this is part of LK’s plan to revamp the offense.

    As another commenter on another blog put it, every new coach, every new experiment or initiative requires some trial and error. Kiffin is definitely on trial, let’s hope for fewer errors.

    • Trojanpete

      Those objective facts lack lots of context, like o-line play, play calling, personnel, etc. Can you really watch last year’s team and say the running game was THE reason why we sucked? Was it KP’s fault that our team had zero energy? That we weren’t physical? That we constantly missed assignments? That we couldn’t manage the clock? That we were all too predictable on offense? That we couldn’t make halftime adjustments to save our lives? KP was not an “error”.

      The problem is this Chris–yes there are problems with the team and I think some are being addressed on the defensive side of the ball. If Clancy wants to get rid of Marvin Sanders, so be it. We need something new there as Monte’s Tampa 2 scheme wasn’t working. But on the offensive side of the ball, who’s in charge? It’s Lane! KP didn’t call a single play last year. He’s not responsible for not utilizing the talent we have outside of Marqise Lee. He’s not responsible for developing the ultra conservative and predictable game plan on offense. The real problem here is Lane Kiffin. I hope he can correct his mistakes and realize how wrong he’s been but to fire Kennedy Polamalu makes zero sense. He was a RB coach with the title of OC. If they can hire somebody better, then great. But as of right now, firing him more than a month after the season ended makes no sense.

      • Golden Trojan

        KP was the OC and Running backs coach, the running game and the Offense as a whole was his responsibility. If he couldn’t work under Kiffin’s staff structure then he has to go. I believe KP was calling plays at the Sun Bowl, that work out well. Kiffin has an opportunity to upgrade the staff let’s hope he can.

        • Trojanpete

          If you really think KP was responsible for the offense because he had the title of “OC,” then I have a bridge to sell to you. It is still unclear as to who called the plays at the Sun Bowl. But the playcalling throughout the season was suspect at best.

        • http://www.facebook.com/tom.oday.524 Tom Oday

          BS!!! What Coach P’s biggest screw-up was…he didn’t cut the line to LK’s head-phones, and hide his play chart.

        • marvgoux1

          How could the offense be his responsibility when Lane called the plays? We are all loyal Trojans but we aren’t blind!

  • Gilligan

    Haden please fire Kiffin and start the rebuilding process. I hate to say it but UCLA is better than USC as the moment. I can’t believe Kiffin has brought so much misery to our football program.

    On a side note, I would not be surprised if Jeremy Bates returned as the new OC. Ironic that after he left, the Seahawks started playing better football.

    • marvgoux1

      What a revolting development!

  • betomas

    I still think that firing Pola will backfire on Kiff in the long run and in various ways.

    • RememberTheFreedomBowl

      Kiff and Long Run may no longer belong in the same sentence

      • Independent_George

        Try this sentence:

        Lane Kiffin, who does not seem to the USC football’s head coach in the long run . . .

        • betomas

          Good one.

    • TrojanFan

      Please explain?

  • http://twitter.com/b_191bmiller B.Miller

    This just doesn’t make sense.. Most coaches have a plan.. but i am not too confident that Kiffin does.. I think he might just be making harsh changes at this point..