Lane Kiffin has had a whirlwind of a coaching career to bring him to being the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels.
After thriving as a young assistant for USC, the Oakland Raiders made Kiffin the youngest head coach in NFL history when they hired him in 2007 at age 31.
In January of 2008, ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen reported that Raiders Owner Al Davis, who was not known for being patient with his coaches, tried to force Kiffin to resign after his first season ended with a 4–12 record.
A source allegedly close to Lane Kiffin told Mortensen that Kiffin would not resign, and would not sign the letter of resignation that would cause him to forfeit his $2 million salary for the remaining guaranteed year of his contract. However, the Raiders denied the story, while Kiffin refused to comment.
On September 15, 2008, NBC Sports reported Davis was unhappy with Kiffin, and intended to fire him as soon as the following Monday or Tuesday. On September 30, 2008, Davis fired Kiffin over the telephone.[19] At the televised news conference announcing the firing, Davis called Kiffin “a flat-out liar” and said he was guilty of “bringing disgrace to the organization”.
The Raiders said the move was made for cause, meaning they would terminate his contract immediately without paying the $2.6 million that was left on it for 2008. Kiffin later added in an interview with ESPN that he was not proud to be associated with Davis’s accusations and was actually more embarrassed for Davis than himself. The Raiders subsequently released a letter Davis sent to Kiffin on September 12 that warned him that he was on the verge of being fired for “conduct detrimental to the Raiders,” including repeated instances of making excuses and outright lies.
Lane Kiffin’s post-firing press conference was canceled. Kiffin filed a grievance against the Raiders, claiming that he was fired without cause, but on November 15, 2010, an arbitrator ruled that Davis did indeed have cause to fire Kiffin. Kiffin’s short tenure as the Raiders’ head coach ended with a 5–15 record.
Despite all of the drama surrounding this exit from the Raiders, Kiffin was named the 21st head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers on Dec. 1 2008 when Phillip Fulmer was fired.
This was Kiffin’s first introduction to the SEC.
Kiffin led the Vols to a 7–6 record in 2009, an improvement from their 5–7 record in 2008. Highlights included wins over South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. However, the season was marred by losses to UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss, as well as a 23-point blow-out loss to Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
After one season as coach, Kiffin left the Vols during the 2010 recruiting season to accept the head coaching job at the University of Southern California after Pete Carroll left for the Seattle Seahawks.
Lane Kiffin lead the Trojans to success, finishing (8-5) his fist year and (10-2) in 2011.
The Trojans entered 2012 ranked No. 1 in the USA Coaches Poll which led to questions about the poll’s integrity considering Kiffin was a voting member. After starting the following season with a (4-7) record, Kiffin was fired.
It appeared as if his head coaching career was over, but Nick Saban brought him on as the Alabama OC in 2013 and finished that season as a finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given to the top assistant coach in the nation.
Lane Kiffin Doesn’t Hold Back When Asked About Nick Saban
Kiffin likely would never have gotten another head coaching opportunity if it weren’t for Saban bringing him on as the Tide’s OC.
His success under Saban led him to get hired as the Florida Atlantic head coach where he won 11 games in his first season, the most in program history. He followed his first year of success up with another 10-win season.
Lane Kiffin signed a massive deal with Ole Miss in 2021 to become the team’s next head coach. The 4-year contract was worth $21 million in base pay through 2024, with $4.5 million paid out in 2021 and over $5 million in each of the remaining three seasons. The Rebels finished (10-2) in 2021 and took a step back in 2022 with an (8-5) regular season.
Last season, Kiffin and Ole Miss were back at the top of the collegiate rankings finishing with an (11-2) campaign and trip to the Peach Bowl.
When asked if he was relieved that Saban would be in the studio as an ESPN analyst instead of on the opposing sideline in 2024, Kiffin took a rare moment to get extremely serious.
“No, I really appreciate Coach Saban,”Lane Kiffin said. “… His career is amazing. I’m blessed with the opportunity that he gave me. I wouldn’t be here today without him. He took a chance on me and really opened up a lot of doors. I was able to meet a lot of amazing people, players, coaches throughout those three years. I’m really grateful for him.”
