LSU Tigers

Will Lane Kiffin's controversial past cost him a major head coaching job?

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:20 p.m. ET

foxsports

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Few people have churned through identities like Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. He's been a prodigy (USC coordinator), a paragon of petulance (Oakland Raiders), a cocky upstart (Tennessee) and an arrogant flop (USC). When Nick Saban decided to hire Kiffin as Alabama's offensive coordinator a few months after his infamous airport firing in Los Angeles, it marked a one of the more stunning transactions in the past decade. How could a coach who prides himself on being devoid of drama hire a coach who appeared to major in it?

Three years into the Kiffin experiment at Alabama, and it would be foolish to categorize it as anything other than an unqualified success. Along with two playoff appearances and the 2015 national title, Kiffin has evolved Alabama's offense to a point where it's virtually unrecognizable.

We'll find out in the next few weeks if Alabama's offensive transformation equates to a reputational overhaul for Kiffin.

With Alabama favored to go 15–0 and win back-to-back national titles, Kiffin is poised to capture another head coaching job after stints with the Raiders, Tennessee and USC that were as underwhelming as they were controversial. Three years of high production and fewer viral headlines have put Kiffin among the head of the class of coaches who've helped themselves the most this season. With a slew of high profile jobs expected to open or already open—LSU, Texas and Oregon among them—there are few obvious candidates beyond Houston coach Tom Herman, this season's mid-major darling. (See the list below of 10 coaches who've helped themselves the most this season).

Kiffin graduated from Fresno State, which has a vacancy, and that would appear to be a logical landing spot. But could another playoff run force a Power 5 athletic director to give him a long look? Kiffin's ability to build and call an offense has been on full display at Alabama. He's transformed three unproven quarterbacks—Blake Sims, Jake Coker and Jalen Hurts—in consecutive seasons. He's also nudged Alabama from stodgily pro-style to a modern offense that now imposes on teams with the same concepts Alabama has struggled with for years—spread, tempo and no-huddle.

Sims returned to Alabama last week after a phone call from Saban, who asked him to help Alabama replicate Texas A&M QB Trevor Knight in practice. In a phone interview on Monday, Sims said he's overwhelmed at how the offense has developed in the two seasons since he left. He notes the increase in quarterback runs, few huddles and the entire team looking to the sideline for signals. "Watching how the offense has developed amazes me," Sims said. "I think it shows how talented Coach Kiffin is."

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin was just as impressed. He noted one intriguing wrinkle after No. 1 Alabama thumped the No. 6 Aggies, 33–14, on Saturday night. He said that on some read-option plays in the first half, the Tide line left a defensive tackle unblocked. It's an unusual nuance, as Alabama felt like A&M ends Daeshon Hall and Myles Garrett were too dynamic to leave unblocked. "We saw some plays early that we hadn't seen," Sumlin said. "Instead of reading the end they were reading the three-technique."

Kiffin, 41, has forged his latest reputational incarnation—offensive innovator. Hurts is far from a finished product, as the true freshman will be viewed as the biggest question on an Alabama team that's otherwise Saban-sound. But Hurts has also played light years ahead of most true freshmen, another credit to Kiffin. He's second in the SEC in completion percentage (63.1%) and fourth in quarterback rating (140.1). "I thought Lane has done a nice job utilizing his skill set," Sumlin said, "with some of the quarterback run things he's done."

Offensive acumen, of course, has never been the issue with Kiffin. Throughout his tumultuous head-coaching career in the NFL in Oakland (2007–08) and later at Tennessee (2009) and USC (2010–13), Kiffin was a paradox. He proved elite at some of the most complicated things in college football like playcalling and recruiting. But Kiffin's shortcomings came with the things that should come easier—dealing with people, handling the media and lacking the self-awareness and maturity to realize his smallest actions can turn into the national headlines.

Remember him banning walk-throughs at the Coliseum? The mysterious deflated footballs by an alleged rogue manager that ended with a $25,000 fine? The duplicitous jersey switch to gain an advantage against hapless Colorado? Then there's his Tennessee stint, where Kiffin's staff gained plenty of attention—including from NCAA investigators—for their aggressive nature. When Alabama played at Tennessee on Oct. 15, a plane flew overhead with Kiffin the target of an inappropriate message. It was a reminder of no matter how much success Kiffin has, he's going to have difficulty outracing his past.

Kiffin must repair his reputation for making easy things hard, which is why an easy decision based on his football knowledge will be hard for an athletic director and school president.

The market is shaping up to allow Kiffin to make a leap back to Power Five job. His on-field coaching chops have been on display for three years. We'll find out in the next few weeks if the ghosts of Kiffin's past controversies will continue to haunt him.