Morning Buzz: The USC Coaching Tree Remains Active

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kiffin-fauLane Kiffin held his first press conference at Florida Atlantic this morning.

“(I’m) very grateful to coach Saban. My phone wasn’t ringing a lot after I was let go by USC,” Kiffin said.

The demise of Jeff Fisher with the Rams also reminds me how USC pursued him for the head-coaching job in 1997, to no avail. And in 2010, Pat Haden identified Fisher as his preferred candidate if he needed to replace Kiffin.

Meanwhile, Rams interim coach John Fassel is the son of Jim Fassel, who spent a season on the USC roster in 1969.

45 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: The USC Coaching Tree Remains Active”

  2. Florida Atlantic has only been a Division l program for 12 years, so if Lane Kiffin gets them going, it will be a miracle. Kiffin’s nothing but a coattail rider of successful programs, and coaches . He will be looking for somebody else’s wave to ride in three years .

    • Yep. Dad or Haden are not around to help him with his career. he will either sink or swim.

      • Ironically, both Haden and Monte hurt the Kiffer’s career.

        Monte couldn’t coach college defense effectively, regardless of his big-time pro rep. Not a fit in college. Big failure.

        And the Kiffer’s biggest mistake he ever made was abruptly leaving TENN for soon-to-be probation saddled USC. He had a great situation at TENN but wanted to be on the west coast (wife did too) and stepped in it big-time because at USC your program has to be top dog, at least in the west, and the Kiffer wasn’t ready. Too selfish. Too much ego.

        But the dude is very smart and focused, recruits like a motha, and he’s marching back to the big job he really wants.

        Also, Haden certainly didn’t help the Kiffer when he fired him abruptly on the tarmac.

        The Kiffer’s staff will be very interesting to watch come together. He’s got to build back trust among the coaching world, as a HC, not a coordinator. I predict success for the Kiffer, He can’t afford to fail again and that’s a great internal backstop to help you change IMHO.

        • Monte hurt USC greatly in my opinion. That defense was so soft like a wet paper bag. USC scored a good number of points and couldn’t win because that defense.

    • All has to do is win more than the 3 games they won this year and he’ll be a success story.

  3. Meanwhile… stats of the day:

    1. USC averaged more than 200 yards rushing for the first time since 2005.
    2. USC gave up 11 sacks in 2016, the lowest total since 2011.
    3. Sam Darnold’s QBR of 87.0 is the highest for a Trojan quarterback ever.
    4. Matt Boermeester improved USC’s touchback percentage from 12.64 to 51.95 percent.
    5. USC’s defense ranked 27th in FEI defense and 13th in defensive S&P+, rising from 35th and 42nd in both measures last year.

  4. I think Kiffin will do well; he knows football; has learned a valuable lesson . He will not repeat the errors of the past,because he learned them the hard way,failure.Most successful people rose from failures to success.

    • I wish I could agree, but Kiffen has such serious personality flaws he will never be a long lasting head coach. Funny thing is he has an ego that won’t quit. He could have stayed at AL or gone to LSU and made more money than at FAU.

      • you guys read the wolfman psychology reports too much…remember PC would never make it in nfl nor beat harbaugh…hatred colors ones discernment…Kiffin is same as all humans,can learn and not repeat problems if he chooses, and he will not repeat them.If he wants to be a head coach ,he will be that,not a position coach and he just learned,maybe you will learn something too???

  5. So if I follow this logic, the son of an ex-player should be a good head coach? I wonder what Jason Simpson is up to these days.

  7. I think Kiffin did do some things at SC that he didn’t get enough credit for. He had a decent plan in how to deal with the almost crippling sanctions. He went up to Oregon and beat them in Autzen when the Ducks were flying high and smashing everyone. He recruited fairly well given the circumstances. I will give SW credit for pointing out that LK was not a leader of young men but who better to learn how to lead impressionable young players than Nick Saban (only Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer and a few others can match). Who knows what he might’ve done if he’d had a full sleight of schollies.
    I still wish him luck and success at FAU.

    • Wasn’t it Kennedy Pola who punched Kiffin in the eye just hours before the Sun Bowl ? During the game, the Kiff was wearing that hat and sun glasses to hide the black eye that so many other fans wanted to give him but were never able to get that close to him.

  8. Speaking of coaching trees, I think before it is all said and done, Ken Norton Jr will get a chance somewhere. He reminds of Coach O a little bit. The coach suing the NazziAA will also get a chance.

  9. Like him or not, is not the point for you & me. It is whether Lynn Swann likes him that matters. I am betting Swann likes coaches with NFL experience and has USC connections which Jeff Fisher certainly has. Clay Helton, especially if he leads the team to a victory in the Rose Bowl, will be left alone for another year or two. But if Fisher is still available at the time Helton falters, you know Swann will make contact with him and or Jack Del Rio.

    • Lynn Swann has a big ego, and Fisher’s ego is even bigger. Swann doesn’t like someone else acting like top dog in his department. Don’t forget that Fisher and the Tennessee Titans sued Kiffin and USC in 2010 when the Trojans hired away that joke, Kennedy Pola from the Titans.

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