Kiffinism Of The Day

USC coach Lane Kiffin was asked if he planned to open up the offense against Washington State and get the ball more to Marqise Lee in space.
“Here we go,” Kiffin said. “Last year we threw it to Marqise too much. Now we don’t throw it to him enough.”
Was Kiffin referring to Matt Barkley’s comments last year?

44 thoughts on “Kiffinism Of The Day

    • If you’re referring to Kiffin and not Scott, I agree. Kiffin has no idea how to set a boundary in a polite way.

      He needs to win games, and he knows that. It’s clear the he plans to say zero of substance at his press conferences during the season. I don’t find anything wrong with that (although I won’t watch them anymore), so long as the team plays well and wins the games it should win.

      It’s unfortunate for Kiffin that persists in his ignorance as a communicator. It could be so easily solved. It is what it is.

      • “Set a boundary in a polite way”

        Have you heard of Nick Saban or Bill Belichick? Kiff can’t win unless he wins every game. Sad.

        • I think Kiffy’s 2012 record, 7 and 6, proves he can’t win most games, even when the game is winnable. Who can forget seven plays for zero yards from ND’s two yard line. The Goat deserves the criticism. Ask Al Davis.

          • I dont give a crap what his personality is. I just want him to be a good coach…he has proven that he is not (purely judging by his wins and loss record as a head coach) Why do you like him? (as a coach i mean) Defending him at every turn…are you just another mindless homer?

          • Wins and losses? Did you say FIRE LANE after 2011, when USC was 10-2? I don’t think so. And he’s 26-13 at USC under the most serious sanctions since SMU. Have some perspective.

    • I agree. Why would Kiffin be thinking about a Matt Barkley’s comment from 9 months ago? Only loser reporters with an agenda of “get the coach fired” would print that.

  1. Kiffin is Stu Azhole when it comes to comments. Wolfie…why don’t you ask the WSU coach what plays he is going to use vs. USC?

  2. I actually thought Wolfie was going to deliver a “lol” about Kiffin. Bushisms, which were actually funny, showed the dumb side of the president. I think this “Kiffinism” makes him look mature and wiser. He would have fell for the bait last year, but he owns the media and Wolfie hates it. Good for Lane.

    • This was more of a Bidenism, showing that Kiffin is losing his marbles. Nobody goes 7-6 and owns the media, Chad.

      • Then why is Wolfie obsessed with Kiff? Cause Kiff told him GTFO of practice. I think that’s ownership right there. Keep pointing at last year. Does you a lot of good. 1-0 is the 2013 record, if you are still living in 2012.

  3. STOP WITH THE PETTY NIT-PICKING OF KIFFIN.. ITS OLD AND TIRESOME! Find something else to do with your time..

  4. Thanks for the GUMBALL, wolfman!!!

    Kiff has a NUMBER of people living in his noggin at any one time!!!

    the wolfman is ALWAYS there but it appears the Ious Passer is there too???

    Could Kiff RESENT the fact Pious choked his entire career at Southern Cal but blamed Kiff for all his problems???

  5. Has anyone read Phil Jackson’s book “Eleven Rings”?

    Phil Jax would intentionally set “fires” by making remarks to the press that would draw attention. It often was a remark about the opponent and would often get in their heads because the media would always ask them, “What do you think of Phil’s comments about…”

    He thought it was the best way for his players to keep focused on their opponents rather than some drama created by the media.

    • To imply that Kiffin is anything alike Phil Jackson as a coach is just ridiculous and renders your comment as deserving ridicule.

      • Kiffin is far from perfect. He’s had ONE good season in his coaching career.

        However, can you name a time when drama surrounded the football program under his watch? Even with Scott’s attempts to create a so-called locker room “brawl” last year, wouldn’t you say that keeping the kids out of the media has been the one good thing he has done?

        Remember the Marc Tyler issues?

        • Drama? QB controversy isn’t drama? Kicking a reporter out of practice and having majority (La times, OC register etc) boycott isn’t drama? Releasing the depth chart and saying he gave it only seconds of thought on it isn’t drama? Wearing Sunglasses to cover his black eye isn’t drama? Kiffin’s antics in the last few years reads like the script from Days of our lives!

          • Self-made drama to HIMSELF. With any of those episodes, did it distract the PLAYERS? Or just give guys like Wolf something to whine about?

            Which goes back to my original point: you can actually take media pressure OFF players by creating your own distraction.

            Not to say that was Kiffin’s agenda all along. I think he seemed to have grown an ego last year after the 2011 season.

          • answer this for me…Is Kiffin a coach deserving of coaching a program of southern cal? yes or no? southern cal might be down now but is one of the most storied football program…deserves much better coach and man then Kiffin in my opinion.

          • Well, we talked about the Raider stint in another discussion right?

            He was extremely LUCKY to have landed the Raider job because it opened the doors to everything else.

            My answer is NO. But as a fan and someone who’s chatted with him several times since he was a Fresno State, I could only hope he turns his career around.

      • Now THAT was funny. =)

        Just curious, is the ratio about 10:1 when speaking of time trolling a USC board vs. posting / chatting with Bruin fans?

        Are you even on any UCLA boards? At all?

    • The difference is that Kiffin doesn’t intentionally set the fires that burn him and tarnish SC’s football program. He doesn’t have a strategic bone in his body, nor half Phil Jackson’s intelligence. He’s a decent OC who should never have become a HC.

  6. To all you Kiffin defenders….

    You can’t see that he is not a caliber of a head coach that a institution like southern cal should tolerate?

    Some of you have pointed out that he has a good personality behind closed doors. I dont give a crap what his personality is. I just think you would want a good coach for southern cal…he has proven that he is not! Judging by his wins and loss record, he is mediocre at best as a head coach (38-33)

    What is there to defend about Kiffin?

    Even judging him as a person, what is known of him isn’t that great.

    1. He is a liar (voting his team #1 but lying to everyone)

    2. He is a cheater (Deflating the football and when caught putting the blame on an equipment manger!!!)

    3. All around a-hole (Firing his father, Jersey number scandal, Tennessee job scandal, raider scandal etc…in all these situations he was labeled as a liar, cheat and an a-hole by many credible people)

    I just don’t understand this love for Kiffin.

    • I’m curious to what the “Raider scandal” was because this Raider fan just remembers him getting fired.

      Also, what do any of your points have to do with FOOTBALL on Saturdays or recruiting? Yes, he’s not as charming as Pete Carrol. But what has he done football wise?

        • That whole thing with Al Davis was just bizarre. You’re talking about his press conference with the OVERHEAD PROJECTOR for Christ’s sake! LOL.. The whole season was crap on both sides. Davis even overturned Kiffin’s firing of Rob Ryan — who he never wanted in the first place.

          Kiffin’s “lies” were later confirmed by many coaches to come out of the woodwork. Davis DID get involved on every facet of the game, especially defense.

          Keep in mind Davis is the same guy who traded away Jon Gruden after brining the Raiders back to a winning!

          Maybe they were made for each other.

          In the end, Kiffin was a bad hire by Davis who was already senile. Kiffin was very lucky that Sarkisian didn’t want the job and ended up recommending Kiffin for an interview.

          Nervous and young Kiffin reminded old Al too much of Gruden’s interview and thought he would be a perfect puppet. We all know how that ended up.

      • Agree with the counter to the Raider criticism. As a fellow Raiders fan, I’ll gladly acknowledge that Crazy Al was as much to blame for failure as Kiffin. I don’t think Kiffin would have been successful as a Raiders coach no matter what, but forcing him to draft JaMarcus over (Kiffin’s choice) Calvin Johnson and meddling in his affairs doomed him to certain failure.

        Anything Al said, I’d tend to believe the opposite. Dude was not known as the most honest dude himself – and his delusions of grandeur and brilliance are greatly chronicled by local sportswriters (read some stuff by the San Jose Mercury’s Tim Kawakami for more insight).

  7. For all the mistakes that Kiffin has made, Wolf makes it possible for me to view Coach K in a positive light because of the unnecessary, insistent, over-the-top, petty commentary he provides.

  8. I’m still angry with the NCAA over the unfair sanctions and will be through 2014. I’ll move onto Kiffin once USC can recruit a full house, and he still can’t coach the team!

  9. Kiffin is a beat writer’s dream: An overrated son of an excellent coach who rode his dad’s coattails into head coaching jobs he never should have been offered. He is obviously way over his head, unable to delegate play calling, awkward with the media, prone to being caught in lies (telling his players they weren’t ranked #1, deflate gate, having players switch jerseys at half time), and throwing tantrums when asked questions that don’t sit well with him. A very good offensive tactician who doesn’t understand strategy, and who lacks the ability to lead young men in a way that makes them want to follow. There’s just so much material to work with…

  10. Kiffin’s biggest enemy is himself… and I’m not even talking about what he says or doesn’t say to the media. No one cares about his relationship with Scooter except Wolf.

    No, Kiffin’s biggest problem is that his sphincter is too tight. He tries his hardest not to lose games. He’s like a walking, talking prevent defense. He wants to stretch the field horizontally and force the defense to play sideline to sideline, but his fear of throwing the ball downfield makes it easy for the defense to come into the box and defend the short stuff. He called only a very small handful of “stretch” plays against Hawaii and nearly all were successful on some level. The fourth down play that Marqise dropped. The touchdown to Agholor. The two deep tosses that Lee and Agholor both dropped (the Agholor pass was woefully underthrown, allowing the safety to come over and scare Agholor). Even though three of those plays resulted in failure due to drops, the plays worked. Receivers were open. Ironically, one of very few times he decided to take a chance, Graf flailed at the defensive end and allowed him inside position and an easy route to Kessler.

    Kiffin needs to grow a pair and throw the ball vertically, no matter who his quarterback is. If he does, this SC team, with the defense playing aggressively and stout under Clancy’s control, can win some big games this year. If he does not, it’s hasta la vista Lane!

Comments are closed.