Well, SC has a new coach

And I don’t like it at all.

Lane Kiffin seems to be the new SC coach and Norm Chow is supposedly coming back, as well. The Tennessee fans are not happy. He was there for one year in his “dream job.” Bullshit.

Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin has been named the next head coach at Southern California, athletic director Mike Garrett announced on Tuesday.

Kiffin replaces Pete Carroll, who jumped to the NFL as coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

“We are really excited to welcome Lane Kiffin back to USC,” Garrett said in a statement. “I was able to watch him closely when he was an assistant with us and what I saw was a bright, creative young coach who I thought would make an excellent head coach here if the opportunity ever arose. I’m confident he and his staff will keep USC football performing at the high level that we expect.”

The hiring was first reported by ESPN.com.

Kiffin, the former Oakland Raiders coach, led the Volunteers for only one season.

Kiffin has been on the move of late. He was 7-6 in his one season at Tennessee and 5-15 in one-plus seasons with the Raiders before being fired in September 2008.

Garrett seems to be assembling his own staff.

In another part of the blockbuster staff changes, a deal is being finalized for longtime offensive coordinator Norm Chow to return to the Trojans in the same capacity, sources close to the school told ESPN’s Shelley Smith.

It looks like Ed Orgeron, who left SC to coach MIssissippi, is also said to be coming back.
Kiffin will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron to Southern California with him.

What I see is the Carroll assistants assembling to take over again. What happened ? It looks to me that there is a story about why Carroll left and why these coaches all left while he was the head coach. Kiffin is not without some controversy.

Kiffin then became Al Davis’ unusual choice to take over the Raiders as a 31-year-old coach with almost no NFL experience. He made it through just 20 games before an ugly public firing in which Davis called Kiffin a liar who brought “disgrace” on the Raiders.

Kiffin was the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season, but he also brought an unwelcome spotlight on the Vols with several minor NCAA violations.

He returns to USC with the school facing a yearslong NCAA investigation over events during his tenure as an assistant, including Reggie Bush’s final years at the school.

It still looks to me that Garrett is running things and Kiffin may not have much control. There is a story about Carroll leaving that I don’t know yet.

UPDATE: Norm Chow is not leaving UCLA. So much for that rumor.

One Response to “Well, SC has a new coach”

  1. Manning is the only reason I like the Colts so I want them to win.