Lane Kiffin’s career as a head coach has has been, to put it nicely, unsuccessful. To put it not-so-nicely, it’s been a complete trainwreck.
After making a name for himself as offensive coordinator at USC, Kiffin was hired to coach the Oakland Raiders. He lasted a season and a quarter before being fired with a 5-15 record. He then landed a job at Tennessee, where his team went 7-6 before he bolted back to Southern Cal, this time to serve as head coach. There he took over a team that had won nine games in eight straight seasons and led them to a middling 28-15 record over three and a half seasons (though NCAA sanctions didn’t help).
All of which is to say, Kiffin’s hiring at Florida Atlantic, reported Monday morning, is no guarantee to work out.
But those past failures as a head coach are exactly the reason it makes sense for Kiffin to sacrifice his cushy, high-paid job as Alabama’s offensive coordinator (or a comparable position at another big-time school, like LSU) to risk his reputation at a mid-major. Everyone knows Kiffin is a good coordinator. What he wants to finally prove is that he’s also a good coach.
But Kiffin’s quest to silence the doubters sure is going to cost him at the bank. Because although his job title will be bigger at FAU than it was at Alabama, his paycheck certainly won’t be.
https://twitter.com/CorkGaines/status/808346513491578881
Lane Kiffin made $1.4 million this year as Alabama OC. Last two FAU coaches combined made $900,000 per year
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) December 12, 2016
Now, the terms of Kiffin’s deal aren’t out yet, and FAU has committed to raising its coaches’ salaries, but the school would have to double what it pays its head coach to get Kiffin even close to what he made this year.
But for Kiffin, it’s easy to see why the risk is worthwhile. Despite having been around for what seems like decades, he’s only 41 years old, with plenty of time to re-establish himself as a top college coach. And before he can helm a top program, he needs to show he can handle a bottom one.
There’s a widespread perception that Kiffin is a brilliant coordinator who can’t quite handle running his own team, and he’s willing to slash his own salary to prove that narrative wrong.
UPDATE: Kiffin is indeed taking a hefty pay cut.
Lane Kiffin’s Alabama salary was $1.4 million. His FAU salary will average in the $1 million range a year sources told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 12, 2016
