Why Lane Kiffin Is America's Next Great College Football Coach

It happened again. Yes, Lane Kiffin somehow got another high-profile college football coaching job sans a lofty résumé.

It left fans, sportswriters, and everyone else in the college football world scratching their heads in shock and amazement.

We all wondered just what it is about this man that could be so appealing. From the picture that is painted in the media, we see a smarmy, weaseling, young know-it-all who has no hesitation in creating a spectacle for himself, his team, and his school.

Whether that spectacle has an ounce of integrity to it doesn’t seem to matter, either.

What many fail to realize, though, is that it is those spectacles that will make Lane Kiffin a great college football coach.

It’s those spectacles that are the reason why he keeps obtaining these “Dream Jobs.” Kiffin knows that’s what pays off, and the top schools know it as well.

It’s fearlessness. It’s brash at a time when brash is needed. It’s in your face during a generation when in your face is what sells.

The top young football players in America buy into all this, and Kiffin knows it. Don’t think for a second that he doesn’t recognize exactly what he is doing with each and every calculated stunt.

Lane Kiffin understands the game. He understands the magnitude of recruiting in the college football landscape at this point in time.

In college, speed kills. You look at the schools bringing in the best athletes on a year-in and year-out basis, and you will see where the power lies.

You’ll see why Alabama bent over backwards to do anything they could to get Nick Saban. You see why coaches at the big schools, like Urban Meyer and Mack Brown, are making millions a year. Sure, they coach for schools with the most resources, but the ability to sell the program to recruits is a vital skill to possess.

The only difference between those coaches and Kiffin is that they practice a little more subtle approach when selling their programs.

Well, those coaches didn’t learn under the tutelage of Pete Carroll.

Carroll knew that in college football there really is no such thing as bad publicity. He knew that to make a program like USC successful, you had to make it the bad guy that everyone was coming after.

As a young man coming out of high school, are you going to want to align yourself with the bully or the bullied? The big bad mean kid on the block or the also-rans? The choice is usually clear.

Is Kiffin going to have USC at the same level Carroll had it for the last decade? It remains to be seen, but from what we’ve seen already, I wouldn’t doubt he’s capable.

Because whatever you want to say about Lane Kiffin, you can never fault him for lack of effort. That would be unfair.

To bring in the type of players that he brings in takes hard work. Everybody in America is after these young men, and he is outworking them and outselling them at every turn. His youth, energy, and knowledge all benefit him.

There are a lot of things I don’t like about what Lane Kiffin is doing, but I also realize for the most part it’s what is needed now.

This is where we're at in college football. It is the point we’ve come to. The publicity machine is going to keep on rolling whether we like it and accept it or not.

I’d be cautious in saying that based on last year it’s evident that USC has fallen from grace. Be careful. I don’t expect them to win the national championship this year, but getting a coach like Lane Kiffin could simply signal hitting the reboot button for this program. Give it some time to start back up and get flowing again.

Kiffin knows the culture of USC, and he should take everything he’s learned so far and thrive there.

He could have been great at Tennessee, or he could have been a failure—we'll never know. Judging from the type of kids he was bringing in and the stir he was causing within the conference, I would lean towards the former.

A lot of people were a little quick to say that schools like Florida and Alabama were going to destroy him this past year, but that didn’t quite take place. Maybe, just maybe, he’s a little smarter than a lot will give him credit for.

Maybe it is that intelligence that has something to do with why he keeps getting all these jobs that cause many to get so up in arms about.

No, he did not deserve the Raider job, but don’t fault Lane Kiffin for being offered an NFL head coaching job with none of the proper experience required to handle it. That is blame you can put squarely on Al Davis for being an unwise decision maker.

Any college football offensive coordinator would take an NFL head coaching job in a heartbeat if it were offered to them. That’s the pinnacle for a coach.

You rarely see it happen, though, because most NFL front office personnel are smart enough to realize that the men aren’t qualified for the position.

Kiffin could just be the master seller in these interviews—a telemarketer to the 100th power. That could be the reason he keeps “tricking” all these people into giving him these jobs. Or possibly it’s because he has a plan and a grand scheme in place and people should start taking notice.

Those who don’t like Lane Kiffin are never going to like him because they know what he’s about. They see what he represents, and they don’t care for his personality. There were many who didn’t care for Pete Carroll as well, and he did okay for himself.

So you can say all the negative things you’d like about Coach Kiffin, whether they be just or unjust. You can say he’s never proven anything. You can whine about his actions. As long as you keep talking about him and USC is all that matters.

That’s why this summer when you turn on ESPN, you’ll probably see the college football analysts mocking the latest Kiffin antics.

Lane Kiffin will be watching as well, bright-eyed and gleaming, because ESPN is giving publicity to his team that most schools would kill for.

The recruits will be watching as well and taking notice of what could be college football’s dominant coach of the future.