TL;DR
- Lane Kiffin is rumored for Florida and LSU coaching jobs, but may stay with Ole Miss.
- Al Davis fired Kiffin from the Raiders, calling him a "con man" and "professional liar."
- Kiffin's Raiders tenure ended with a 5-15 record and friction with owner Al Davis.
- Davis hired Kiffin after Steve Sarkisian declined the Raiders' coaching offer.
Lane Kiffin's name is once again in the news, with one of college football's most distinctive figures now at the heart of coaching changes.
The Rebels' head coach, holding a 54-19 record across the past six seasons in Oxford, has been rumored for both the Florida and LSU coaching positions, alongside the possibility of declining those offers to stay with Ole Miss. Kiffin's career has seen a pattern of tumultuous departures, notably his exit from The Oakland Raiders in 2008.
That September, Kiffin was fired by Raiders owner Al Davis, who held an unforgettable press conference about the firing. During it, Davis referred to Kiffin as a "con man" as well as a professional liar.
Let's take a look back at the fallout between Kiffin and Davis.
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Al Davis on Lane Kiffin
Shortly after news of Kiffin's firing became public, Davis held a press conference that featured an overhead projector. The projector was used to show a letter he had written to Kiffin during the season.
During the presser, which lasted nearly an hour, Davis went scorched earth on Kiffin, even calling him a "professional liar." Here are some of the most notable things from it, via ESPN:
"I reached a point where I felt that the whole staff were fractionalized, that the best thing to do to get this thing back was to make a change," Davis said during the lengthy news conference. "It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy."
At one point, Davis read a letter that he sent to his former coach that detailed mistakes Kiffin made on and off the field. The owner said he finally fired the coach for cause because he "disgraced" the organization, citing a variety of issues, including conflicts over personnel moves and outright lies to the media, according to Davis.
"I don't think it was any one thing," Davis said. "It was a cumulative thing. I think the pattern just disturbed me."
The full press conference, approximately 45 minutes in length, is available on YouTube and is quite an impressive spectacle:
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Lane Kiffin's move to the NFL was driven by what factors?
In the early 2000s, Kiffin was recognized as one of college football's promising young coaches. He became part of Pete Carroll's team in 2001 and rapidly advanced. Under Carroll's leadership, the Trojans were a dominant force in college football.
In 2002, USC concluded its season with an 11-2 record, securing a victory in the Orange Bowl. This was followed by two consecutive national championships in 2003-2004. Kiffin advanced to passing game coordinator in 2004, mentoring Heisman recipients Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, and was recognized as a prominent offensive strategist in collegiate football.
"In meetings, Lane was kind of the scientific genius, like mastermind behind the scenes, and [Steve Sarkisian] 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 who kind of crafted it all. He's the genius, the offensive genius, and Sark was so gifted at communicating and relating to guys.
Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, originally sought to bring in Steve Sarkisian, Kiffin's colleague at USC, but Sark reportedly declined the offer. Consequently, Davis hired Kiffin. At 31, Kiffin became the youngest head coach appointed by Oakland in the franchise's history.
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Lane Kiffin NFL record
Kiffin's tenure in Oakland concluded with a 5-15 overall record across his 20 games as head coach. Following Kiffin's dismissal in 2008, the Raiders posted a 4-8 record under interim head coach Tom Cable.
Lane Kiffin's dismissal from The Raiders stemmed from a series of issues, including his team's poor performance and a strained relationship with the organization's management.
From the outset of Kiffin's time in Oakland, friction between him and Davis was almost immediate. Before the 2007 NFL Draft, Kiffin reportedly begged Davis to draft wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Davis, however, chose quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and the ex-LSU signal-caller is now considered one of the NFL's most significant disappointments.
Russell even ended up holding out for his rookie contract, and didn't play in Oakland until that December. Under center, Kiffin turned to quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown, who combined for 16 interceptions that season. The Raiders won just four games that season, finishing 4-12, which was the second-worst record in the league that year.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that Davis allegedly requested Kiffin's resignation following his inaugural season with The Raiders in Oakland. Kiffin reportedly declined this request, and the Raiders subsequently refuted claims that they had asked their head coach to step down.
The Raiders' 2008 campaign began even more poorly. Oakland started with a 1-3 record through the initial four weeks, suffering defeats against the Broncos, Bills, and Chargers. By mid-September, reports indicated Davis was dissatisfied with Kiffin and planned to dismiss him soon. On September 30, 2008, Mortensen announced that Davis had terminated Kiffin via telephone.
Davis terminated Kiffin's employment for cause, a decision subsequently affirmed by an NFL arbitrator. Consequently, the team was not obligated to pay him his remaining salary. He had previously entered into a three-year contract valued at $6 million with the team in 2007.