Report: Lane Kiffin accepts FAU head football coaching job
By Jack Crosby
Lane Kiffin will indeed be on the move from Alabama, as he’s officially back in the head coaching ranks
We’ve wondered throughout the past few weeks whether or not Lane Kiffin would leave his job as the offensive coordinator of Alabama, and that he will be. And of course, he will be leaving that post in Tuscaloosa to become a head coach in the collegiate ranks once again.
It’s being reported on Monday that Kiffin has accepted the offer to become the next head football coach at FAU.
Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has accepted the FAU job, sources told @ClowESPN & @McMurphyESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 12, 2016
Kiffin was also a candidate for the open positions at Houston and USF, but both programs chose to go in different directions; Houston promoted offensive coordinator Major Applewhite to their open slot and USF officially hired former Texas and Louisville head coach Charlie Strong on Sunday.
This will be Kiffin’s third venture into the college football head coaching world, and FAU fans are certainly hoping this third time really is a charm. Kiffin became the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in 2009, but that would be his only season as he abruptly left Knoxville to become the head coach of the USC Trojans. While Kiffin went 10-2 in 2011 with the Trojans, things faltered from there, leading to him being fired immediately after an embarrassing loss to Arizona State in 2013.
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Kiffin was tainted to many from there, but Nick Saban brought him on his staff at Alabama to run his offense. This experiment has worked the past three seasons, as Alabama is making their third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff with Kiffin running the offensive show, and they won the whole thing last season.
With three years being led by Nick Saban under his belt, it’s finally time to see how much Kiffin has grown during his time in Tuscaloosa with the Tide.