Candidate Tier #3

Category: Young, Risky, and Sexy

Who Is He?

Lane Kiffin is the current OC of Alabama, former head coach at USC, former head coach at Tennesse, former head coach of the Oakland Raiders and former husband to smoke show Layla Kiffin. He’s also the son of legendary defensive coach Monte Kiffin.

Lane is just 41 years old and has that resume already, plus he makes a reported $1.4 million as the OC of defending national champion Alabama. How much of a luxury must it be for Saban to have Kiffin focused solely on offensive game planning?

Whatever you think of Lane Kiffin, the guy can coach offense and he can recruit. The thing he hasn’t been able to do consistently is win as a head coach.

Why would he be successful at Purdue?

I think he’d be able to recruit because he actually always was decent at this. But now he can also wear his ‘bama championship rings when he’s in the living room. He’s also still a young guy and can devise a fun, inventive offense. Honestly, he checks a lot of the boxes for what Purdue should be looking for. The downside is he probably will require a shit-ton of money.

Why could he flop at Purdue?

He’s flopped in a number of places so take your pick. Maybe he’ll be too cocky, although you’d think that might have been beaten out of him by now. Or maybe he’ll cheat when recruiting proves to be challenging to West Lafayette. Or maybe he still just won’t be a good head coach.

Would he come to Purdue?

I kind of doubt it. Kiffin will be a head coach again and the current thinking is that he’ll be a candidate at Fresno State, his alma mater. If he wants to hold out for a Power 5 job, one would think there will be more attractive options than Purdue. Sure, maybe not this offseason, but why not then just continue making your $1.4M winning national titles at Alabama?