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- Lane Kiffin coaching timeline
- Why did USC fire Lane Kiffin?
- Why did the Raiders fire Lane Kiffin?
- Lane Kiffin college record
- Lane Kiffin NFL record
Love him or hate him, Lane Kiffin remains one of the most polarizing figures in college football. He’s led the Rebels since 2020 and is known for his animated sideline demeanor, relentless trolling of rivals, and the nickname “Transfer Portal King.” He’s also the son of legendary NFL and college coach Monte Kiffin.
Kiffin has made several notable stops in his coaching career, including Ole Miss, USC, the Oakland Raiders, and a handful of others across both college and the NFL.
Here’s a look back at Kiffin’s coaching journey — where it began, his most memorable stops, and how he got here.
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While most of Lane Kiffin’s career has been spent in college football, he’s also had experience in the NFL. He began his coaching journey at Fresno State in 1997-98, where he had previously played quarterback, mostly as a backup. From there, he spent a season at Colorado State as a graduate assistant in 1999 before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars as a defensive quality control coach in 2000.
Kiffin then spent several years at USC from 2001-06 under head coach Pete Carroll. He became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2007-08 before returning to the college ranks to lead Tennessee in 2009. Kiffin later returned to USC as head coach from 2010-13, before being fired midway through the 2013 season.
He joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama from 2014-16 as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator, then took over as head coach at Florida Atlantic from 2017-19. In 2020, Kiffin was hired by Ole Miss, where he’s remained ever since.
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Lane Kiffin coaching timeline
Kiffin played quarterback for Fresno State in the mid-1990s, from 1994-96 under head coach Jeff Tedford. But Kiffin didn't see the field much, playing alongside future No. 1 overall draft pick David Carr.
1997-1998: Fresno State
In an interview with Stadium in 2018, Carr revealed that Kiffin's coaching career started towards the end of his football career. Frustrated with the lack of reps he was getting in practice, Kiffin decided to become a coach instead:
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
“And then I started taking reps from him in practice, and his last day as a Bulldog player was when he came out — we were supposed to be in full pads, and he came out in shorts and a t-shirt,” Carr recalls. “And Jeff Tedford says, ‘Lane, what are you doing?’ And he says, ‘Well, I figured I could come out here in shorts and a t-shirt because you’re just gonna give all my reps to Dave.’ And he [Tedford] sends him in, ‘Get off the field,’ so he leaves practice, disappears. I’m like, ‘OK, Lane quit,’ right?
“Well, Monte Kiffin is Lane’s dad. Monte’s a coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — defensive coordinator at the time. Monte’s not having this, right? Thirty minutes go by, Lane comes back out without his helmet, still in shorts and a t-shirt, and he is now the wide receiver assistant coach. That’s how his coaching career began.”
Kiffin maintains he was told to leave the field because he wouldn’t wear a knee brace, which Tedford requires of all his quarterbacks in practice. But the transition from player to graduate assistant was a natural fit for Kiffin, according to his former head coach.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you just start as a (graduate assistant) right now?’ because you knew he was going to coach,” Jeff Tedford said in 2010. “So he did. He spent long hours. Even as a student, he spent long hours in my office with me at night watching tape. He would always give suggestions.”
While Kiffin was on staff, Fresno State finished 6-6 in 1997 and 5-6 in 1998.
1999: Colorado State
He joined Colorado State as a GA in 1999. Coaching under then-head coach Sonny Lubick, the Rams finished 8-4 with Holiday Bowl berth.
2000: Jacksonville Jaguars
Kiffin coached one season for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2000, under Tom Coughlin. Serving as a defensive quality control coach, the Jags went 7-9. The defense finished ranked 16th in the league in points allowed per game.
2001-2006: USC
In 2001, Kiffin joined Pete Carroll's inaugural staff in USC, starting out as a tight ends coach. Following a 6-6 finish that season, the Trojans went on the dominate college football landscape with Carroll at the helm. USC finished 11-2 with a win in the Orange Bowl in 2002, followed by a pair of back-to-back national titles in 2003-2004.
Kiffin was promoted to wide receivers coach in 2002-03 before being added as the passing game coordinator in 2004, He was the Trojans' offensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, although USC's 2005 national title was later vacated by the NCAA after the Reggie Bush scandal. He was later joined by now-Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was the quarterbacks coach from 2005-06.
"In meetings, Lane was kind of the scientific genius, like mastermind behind the scenes, and Sark was the CEO and president ... very eloquent speaker," a former USC player told ESPN in 2015. "We would have these offensive plans that we'd install on Tuesday, and Sark's up there presenting it, and he did such a good job. He's such a gifted communicator, and Lane doesn't say a word. But Lane was the one that kind of crafted it all. He's the genius, the offensive genius, and Sark was so gifted at communicating and relating to guys.
Kiffin coached the likes of running backs Bush and LenDale White and Heisman-winner Matt Leinart and John David Booty at quarterback.
2007-2008: Oakland Raiders
At the end of the 2006 NFL season, the Oakland Raiders were searching for their fourth head coach in five seasons, having gone 15-49 from 2003-2006. Although longtime owner Al Davis initially wanted to hire Nick Saban as the next head coach, Saban turned the job down. Davis then hired his officemate, Lane Kiffin, instead.
At just 31 years old, he was the youngest head coach in Raiders history. But almost immediately, Kiffin's tenure was filled with tension between Kiffin and Davis. Ahead of the 2007 NFL Draft, Kiffn apparently begged Davis to select receiver Calvin Johnson. Davis picked quarterback JaMarcus Russell instead, largely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL history. The Raiders finished 4-12 in Kiffin's first season.
Following Las Vegas’ 1-2 start in 2009, Davis fired Kiffin over the phone. While it was reported that Davis asked Kiffin to resign after his first season, the Raiders’ owner denied it. In a fiery press conference following the firing, Davis called Kiffin a “professional liar” and made several other claims. We’ll dive into his Raiders tenure and firing a bit later.
2009: Tennessee Volunteers
After a brief stint in the NFL, Kiffin returned to college football to replace longtime Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer had brought decades of success to Knoxville, including a national title in 1998.
At his introductory press conference, Kiffin said he looked forward to singing “Rocky Top” after defeating rival Florida that season. He also publicly accused then-Florida head coach Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation that February, which turned out to be false. The SEC reprimanded Kiffin, and he later apologized to Meyer.
The Vols finished 7-6 that season, including wins over SEC East rivals Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky. But just one season later, reports emerged in January 2010 that Kiffin was set to accept the USC job, replacing his former boss, Pete Carroll.
The news sparked chaos on Tennessee’s campus, with hundreds of students chanting “F–k you Kiffin” and a mattress reportedly set on fire.
2010-2013: USC
Kiffin has since called USC his “dream job,” officially being hired on Jan. 12, 2010. But before his first season in Los Angeles even began, USC was hit with sanctions from the NCAA stemming from the Reggie Bush improper benefits investigation. Kiffin’s program received a two-year bowl ban and 30 scholarship reductions.
Kiffin described the sanctions as “as close to the death penalty” as you can get. Despite the penalties, USC went 8-5 in 2010 and improved to 10-2 in 2011. The Trojans struggled in 2012, finishing 7-6, their worst season under Kiffin. In 2013, following a 43-22 road loss to Arizona State, Trojans AD Pat Hayden fired Kiffin. USC was 3-2 at the time, and the firing famously took place on the tarmac at LAX around 3 a.m. local time.
2014-2016: Alabama
Seemingly in coaching exile, Kiffin found a landing spot at Alabama under head coach Nick Saban. Saban's 2013 team had just finished 11-2, capped off with an embarrassing loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
Saban, whose Alabama tenure had been defined by his dominant defenses paired with a pro-style passing and heavy rushing attack, was looking to change his team's identity. College football was evolving towards running more up-tempo, read-option offenses, and Saban had to evolve. To help him do just that, he hired Kiffin as his offensive coordinator.
The move turned out to be one of the best coaching decisions of Saban's career. Under Kiffin, Alabama won a national title in 2015, while helping Derrick Henry win the Heisman Trophy that season. He coached the likes of Tide quarterbacks Blake Sims, Jake Coker and Jalen Hurts. He left the team during its 2016 national title run to accept the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic.
2017-2019: Florida Atlantic
Kiffin was only with the Owls for three seasons, but he helped the program achieve massive success. He went 11-3 during his 2017 and 2019 seasons, capped off by Boca Raton Bowl victories. His 2018 season finished 5-7. The two 11-win seasons were the first all-time in school history.
2020-Present: Ole Miss
Kiffin has been at Ole Miss for five seasons and is already the third-winningest head coach in Rebels history. After a 5-5 finish during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he’s guided the team to three double-digit win seasons in 2021, 2023, and 2024. He’s also won back-to-back bowl games the past two seasons, in the Peach and Gator Bowls.
In 2025, Kiffin’s Ole Miss squad aims to reach the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history.
Why did USC fire Lane Kiffin?
Despite leading the Trojans to a 10-2 finish in 2011, Kiffin’s results fell short of the high expectations in Los Angeles. His predecessor, Pete Carroll, had recorded six double-digit win seasons over nine years.
While on the tarmac, Kiffin reminded then-AD Pat Hayden about the limitations imposed by the NCAA penalties. But the decision, presumably driven by top boosters, had already been made.
Via a ESPN's 2023 oral history of his firingy:
I even said to him, "OK, what's the use of changing now? Even if you want to fire me, let me just finish with these players and coach the rest of the year." Actually, I think I had him turned to not firing me because I'm reminding him we don't have 30 scholarship players. He walks out. And he's like, "Yeah, I get it, maybe we jumped the gun on this." So he walks out and makes a call, and he comes back in and says, "No, I can't take this back."
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Why did the Raiders fire Lane Kiffin?
Aside from finishing with a losing record, the relationship between Kiffin and the Raiders' owner, appeared untenable. After firing Kiffin, Davis held a bizarre press conference, complete with visual aids. Via a 2008 ESPN story:
"I wanted to make it work, to be real honest," Davis said. "It's my belief that I would work and it could work. I wanted to make it work. Maybe I didn't want to admit that I'd made a mistake. And to be quite frank with you, I'm firing him for cause right now. I'm not firing him for anything else other than cause."
Dressed in Raiders silver and black, his face weathered by years of standing on football sidelines, Davis sat at a podium reading from notes illuminated by a large desk lamp. He seemed angry at times, blaming Kiffin for most of the Raiders' woes, though he also blamed himself for hiring him in the first place.
"I think he conned me like he conned all you people," Davis said.
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Lane Kiffin college record
Kiffin has compiled an impressive 112-52 overall record in college, including a 5-4 record in bowl games.
Lane Kiffin NFL record
Over his short stint with the Raiders, which didn't even last two full seasons, Kiffin has a 5-15 record in the NFL.