10 Most Bizarre Lane Kiffin Moments
Lane Kiffin has had no trouble landing jobs throughout his football coaching career. In fact, if I had to classify Kiffin, it would be: No. 1 professional job-getter, and No. 2 a football coach
His football coaching stints include: USC Trojans offensive coordinator (2005-06), head coach of the Oakland Raiders (2007-08), head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers (2009), head coach of the USC Trojans (2010-13), offensive coordinator at Alabama (2014-16), and head coach of Florida Atlantic (2017-present)
As you can see, Kiffin has a history of landing high-profile jobs. But he also has a number of bizarre exits from each gig so far.
That said, let’s take a look at some of the Florida Atlantic coach’s strangest moments and job exits.
1. Kiffin Fired for “Bringing Disgrace” to Raiders Organization
Lane Kiffin was hired as the Oakland Raiders head coach to much acclaim in 2007. After signing a 3-year, $6-million deal ($4m guaranteed), Kiffin became the youngest head coach in NFL history at age 31.
The late Al Davis had success with young coaches in their 30s, including Jon Gruden, Mike Shanahan, and John Madden. But this wasn’t the case with Kiffin, who was fired midway through his second season with a 5-15 overall mark.
Rumors suggest that Davis tried forcing Kiffin to resign following a 4-12 mark in his first season. The young coach refused because he didn’t want to forfeit the remaining $2 million in guaranteed contract money.
Things didn’t get any better in year 2, as Davis fired Kiffin for what he labeled “bringing disgrace” to Oakland’s organization.
2. Al Davis Uses Powerpoint Presentation to Destroy Kiffin
After firing Kiffin four weeks through the 2008 season, Davis held a press conference that lasted almost an hour to blast Kiffin and explain the firing.
In what was described as a powerpoint presentation (he used overhead slides), Davis detailed all of the lies that Kiffin made during his Raiders tenure.
The Oakland owner also called Kiffin a “professional liar” and chastised him for being “immature.”
3. Kiffin Accuses Urban Meyer of Recruiting Violation – Violates NCAA Rule Himself in the Process
It didn’t take Kiffin long to land another high-profile job after getting fired from the Raiders. But it also wasn’t long before Kiffin created more strange incidents and follies as the University of Tennessee coach.
During a booster breakfast at the Knoxville Convention Center, Kiffin accused then-Florida coach Urban Meyer of trying to steal a recruit while he was visiting Tennessee. He told the crowd of boosters:
“I’m going to turn Florida in right here in front of you. As Nu’Keese (Richardson) was here on campus, his phone keeps ringing. And so one of our coaches is sitting in the meeting with him and says, ‘Who is that?’ And he looks at the phone and says, ‘Urban Meyer.’ Just so you know, you can’t call a recruit on another campus. But I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”
Kiffin’s accusation turned out to be mistaken, and Tennessee athletic director Jeremy Foley issued an apology. He also violated an NCAA rule by mentioning a recruit by name during the breakfast.
4. Fired by USC in an Airport Terminal
Kiffin quickly bolted from Tennessee for the USC head coaching job in 2010, leaving rioting Volunteer fans in the wake. His tenure at USC started well as the team went 8-5 in his first season, and 10-2 in the second year.
But things went downhill in 2012, when, as the preseason #1-ranked team, USC finished 7-6 and outside the top 25. He then started off 3-2 in 2013, making the team just 4-7 in his last 11 games.
Following a 62-41 loss at Arizona State, athletic director Pat Haden asked Kiffin to meet with him at the Los Angeles International Airport when the team’s flight landed. Here, inside a small room, he was fired and not allowed to take the team bus back to campus.
5. Nick Saban Fires Kiffin One Week before National Championship
In an unprecedented move, Nick Saban fired Kiffin one week before the 2017 national title game. The reason why is because Kiffin had just been hired as the Florida Atlantic head coach, and Saban didn’t want him to be a distraction.
It doesn’t seem like Kiffin did anything overly wrong to get fired. But he was reportedly house hunting in Boca Rotan and made negative comments about living in Tuscaloosa. In any case, he made a very Lane Kiffin-like exit after three years as Alabama’s OC.
6. Kiffin Tells Alshon Jeffery He’ll Pump Gas if He Chooses South Carolina
Another highlight from Kiffin’s brief Tennessee tenure included telling current Chicago Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery that he’d “end up pumping gas for the rest of his life” like all of South Carolina’s other players.
Jeffery had the last laugh, though, as the Bears selected him 45th in the second round of the 2012 draft. He made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and has topped 1,000 receiving yards in two out of his five pro seasons.
7. Votes USC #1, then Lies about It
Kiffin had the shortest-ever stint as a voting member of the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
In 2012, he voted for USC as the #1 team, which isn’t so controversial given that the Trojans were the top-ranked preseason team. But then he lied about it.
“I would not vote USC No. 1, I can tell you that,” he said.
Citing the need to protect the integrity of their poll, USA Today came out and said that Kiffin voted USC #1. He resigned as a voting member after just one week.
8. Guaranteeing a Win over Florida
Maybe he was pumped about getting hired at an elite school so quickly after getting canned by the Raiders.
But whatever the case, Kiffin announced at his Tennessee introductory press conference that he’d be “singing Rocky Top all night long” after they beat Florida that season.
The Gators would win 23-13.
9. Kiffin Caught in Tinder-Gate
In February 2016, Kiffin and his wife, Layla, filed for divorce. It didn’t take Lane long to get back on the wagon.
Through an April 2016 story, Auburn student Ashley Spry believes Kiffin was communicating to her through a fake Tinder account. At one point in the account, a private number called Spry. When she answered, a woman named Kasey said she was “blocking all [Kiffin’s] sluts.”
It’s still unclear who “Kasey” was since he and Layla had been divorced for two months at the time.
10. Switching Player Jerseys Mid-Game
Trying to channel his inner Bill Belichick, Kiffin pulled off a sneaky move during USC’s win over Colorado in 2012.
He had quarterback Cody Kessler, No. 6, switch numbers with punter Kyle Negrete, No. 35, during a two-point conversion in the first half. Afterward, he had them switch back to their original numbers.
The only problem, though, is that switching numbers to trick opponents is an NCAA rules violation.
