Lane Kiffin got into coaching after losing job to David Carr at Fresno State
Lane Kiffin got into coaching just how you’d expect, according to David Carr’s recollection.
Lane Kiffin, of course, has a familiar surname in football coaching circles, as his father Monte was a long-time NFL assistant with notable success as Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator. Lane became the youngest head coach in Oakland Raiders and post AFL-NFL merger history at the time (2007), at age 31 when he has hired, but he didn’t even last two full seasons in that job.
Kiffin has become a bit of coaching nomad, with bizarre exits from his stints as head coach of the Raiders, at Tennessee (2009) and at USC (2010-2013). He landed under Nick Saban as an assistant from 2014-2016, and he’s currently in his second season as head coach at Florida Atlantic.
Kiffin played quarterback at Fresno State under Jeff Tedford, who has since come back to the school as head coach. In 1997 the Bulldogs had a freshman quarterback named David Carr, who was embarking on a college career that would make him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. So Kiffin’s practice reps were being limited, if not outright taken away, and he was not happy about it.
Carr relayed a story to Watch Stadium about how Kiffin got into coaching. And it’s just how you may imagine.
David Carr tells the story of how Lane Kiffin's coaching career began in the most @Lane_Kiffin way possible.
— Stadium (@Stadium) October 4, 2018
(@FresnoStateFB, @DCarr8) pic.twitter.com/XL9vJFFEw3
In a clear act of defiance, Kiffin decided not to dress for practice since he figured his reps were going to go to Carr anyway. Coach Tedford wasn’t having it, and told Kiffin to leave the field. A half an hour later Kiffin came back with a new title – assistant wide receivers coach.
Kiffin has loosened up a little in recent years, and he took to Twitter to reply to Carr’s story.
I wasn't in shorts David. I didnt wear a knee brace. Lol @FresnoStateFB @DCarr8 @CoachTedford https://t.co/AcJ7ncr2rz
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) October 4, 2018
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The Owls went 11-3 in Kiffin’s first year as head coach, with 10-game winning streak to cap it off. Things aren’t going quite as well this year, with a 2-3 record heading into Saturday’s game against Old Dominion, but two of those losses have come to Oklahoma and UCF. So maybe Kiffin has found a coaching home, but any success he has at FAU should bring interest from Power 5 schools.