Question: Lane Kiffin is overrated as a coach

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1st Team
Dec 8, 2006
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Dothan, Alabama, United States
I realize that this may be stating the obvious, so why is this guy considered one of the top coaches??? His best record was last year at 8-5. I don't get it.

Raiders 4-12
Raiders 1-3

Tennessee 7-6
USC 8-5
 

teamplayer

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Jul 31, 2001
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I always assumed it was because he brought his wife to the interviews. Actually, I think he just lives off of his dad's name and the hope that Monty will tag along with little Kiffipoo. I agree that he is overrated as a coach and has no morals; still, he laughs all the way to the bank everyday. What does that say about our society?
 

jthomas666

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I don't think anyone considers him a top coach. He's considered a good QB coach, but that's about it. He fell into the Raiders HC job and bombed; Al Davis' tenuous grip on reality resulted in people concluding that Kiffin wasn't the problem...which is how Kiffin even got considered for the Tenn. job. Similarly, he got the USC job only because no one else would touch it.

The little putz has taken the concept of failing up and raised it to an art form.
 

ccc2259

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Oct 29, 2010
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I realize that this may be stating the obvious, so why is this guy considered one of the top coaches??? His best record was last year at 8-5. I don't get it.
Until this thread, I always assumed Kiffin had a good W-L record that I just wasn't aware of......I researched your stats, and they are dead on accurate.....so, I'm with you.....how the heck does this clown get not 1, but 3 head coaching opportunities?
 

jps1983

Hall of Fame
Aug 30, 2006
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Until this thread, I always assumed Kiffin had a good W-L record that I just wasn't aware of......I researched your stats, and they are dead on accurate.....so, I'm with you.....how the heck does this clown get not 1, but 3 head coaching opportunities?
Nepotism.
 

Alasippi

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Aug 31, 2007
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I'll give him credit for one thing and I'm not being facetious because it's a God given gift that he was lucky to be born with.

The guy obviously is blessed with a personna that makes people believe he's a winner.

I mean he convinced Al Davis that he could coach the Oakland Raiders at the grand old age of what??.....30ish??

He convinced Tennessee that he could revive the UT program after being thrown out at Oakland following a miserable record and being called a "LIAR" by Al Davis..

Then, after a totally substandard year at Tennessee he somehow convinces USC that he's the guy for their job.

He goes out there and loses five games and all is ok.

Wish I could do that with my advertising accounts, but, for some inexplicable reason(NOT), they expect results.

Even when I display my boyish charm :)

sip
 

bamanut_aj

Hall of Fame
Jul 31, 2000
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I'll give him a pass on the Oakland gig; that's just set up to lose for anyone.

He surrounded himself with the right coaches (in terms of winning, not character) at ut. He recruited well (albeit, he recruited thugs). Had he stayed at ut, he would have had them winning games with great athletes, BUT, the Fulmer Cup would have been renamed the Kiffin Cup. He may not be the best coach, but I think we'll see he surrounds himself with the right coaching staff....and keeps programs under the NCAA microscope wherever he goes.
 

WMack4Bama

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That

I don't think anyone considers him a top coach. He's considered a good QB coach, but that's about it. He fell into the Raiders HC job and bombed; Al Davis' tenuous grip on reality resulted in people concluding that Kiffin wasn't the problem...which is how Kiffin even got considered for the Tenn. job. Similarly, he got the USC job only because no one else would touch it.

The little putz has taken the concept of failing up and raised it to an art form.
 

Redwood Forrest

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This is one of those little things that make me wonder. His little sidekick, Coach O., has the rep of being one of the nations best recruiters. Huh? Look at his recruit rank at Ole Miss. I did. It was not so hot. Yet, he still is considered one or the nations best. It must be a Southern California thing.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
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Kiffin is a salesman. We might judge him by our perspectives, but UT fans absolutely loved him when he was there. USC fans love him now that he's there.
He sells fans and kids on the programs he's at; he knows what appeals to them. He might not know the rule book or basic ethical standards, but he knows how to sell.
And, if you know how to sell, you will almost always have a job.
And, yeah, I don't know if he's really rated all that highly right now. But, yeah, he's still probably overrated.
 

ccc2259

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Kiffin is a salesman. We might judge him by our perspectives, but UT fans absolutely loved him when he was there. USC fans love him now that he's there. He sells fans and kids on the programs he's at; he knows what appeals to them. He might not know the rule book or basic ethical standards, but he knows how to sell.
You've zeroed in on it. My father used to call that "....having the gift of gab...." and whenever he used that phrase, it always meant there was a lot of "volume" but not a lot of "integrity".
 

graydogg85

1st Team
Feb 7, 2006
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Kiffin is a salesman. We might judge him by our perspectives, but UT fans absolutely loved him when he was there. USC fans love him now that he's there.
He sells fans and kids on the programs he's at; he knows what appeals to them. He might not know the rule book or basic ethical standards, but he knows how to sell.
And, if you know how to sell, you will almost always have a job.
And, yeah, I don't know if he's really rated all that highly right now. But, yeah, he's still probably overrated.
You've hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head.

He's perceived as young, energetic and popular with college-aged kids. Couple that with an excellent sales pitch in the interview room, and you've got another solid example of the Peter Principle.

The only merits I can assign Lane Kiffin based on my observations are that he worked under Pete Carroll, who I consider one of the better college coaches in the modern era, and that he's familiar enough with the Southern California recruiting hot-bed that he should be a pretty decent recruiter. As a tactician he's sub-par. IMO, his qualifications do not warrant any head coaching gig at the college or pro level. I even think a mid-major head coaching job would be a stretch for him. I think the guy's ceiling is probably as a recruiting coordinator/position coach.

I think USC hired him mostly because he's familiar with the area and the school (and he'll be pretty easy to fire once the sanctions have expired). As for Tennessee, I think Mike Hamilton is just a doofus who easily bought Kiffin's spill. Al Davis' decision to hire Kiffin is the most puzzling as he was essentially a glorified position coach at the time with zero head coaching experience at any level. But Al Davis is not known to be the most stable person.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Mar 31, 2000
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It's Kind Of Like

I'll give him credit for one thing and I'm not being facetious because it's a God given gift that he was lucky to be born with.

The guy obviously is blessed with a personna that makes people believe he's a winner.

I mean he convinced Al Davis that he could coach the Oakland Raiders at the grand old age of what??.....30ish??

He convinced Tennessee that he could revive the UT program after being thrown out at Oakland following a miserable record and being called a "LIAR" by Al Davis..

Then, after a totally substandard year at Tennessee he somehow convinces USC that he's the guy for their job.

He goes out there and loses five games and all is ok.

Wish I could do that with my advertising accounts, but, for some inexplicable reason(NOT), they expect results.

Even when I display my boyish charm :)

sip
The funny thing is that we're all familiar with "The Train Wreck Known As Les Miles." Yet I'm willing to bet if you asked people who is the better coach - Kiffin or Miles - 80% of them would say Kiffin. And they'd point to a lot of Miles's crazy stuff that, uh, actually WORKED as proof he's a mediocrity.

But Sip is right. Kiffin is - to me - the Obama of coaching (note: I'm speaking in terms of how quick he got to the top of the latter, not issue positions). Did absolutely nothing and got hired for a major gig. Didn't do all that well while there and may want the same type of gig.

Btw - does Kiffin remind everyone with his land on his feet luck of Rick Neuheisel? Here's a guy who is a mediocrity everywhere he goes and yet people throw rose petals to get him to come take their money for four years. Look at Neuheisel's record:

He inherited an 11-1 Fiesta Bowl champ at Colorado that ended the year #3.
Colorado Record: 33-14 (but note he started 20-4, meaning his own recruits got him 13-10 before he left).

He took over a Washington Huskies team that was 6-6 while suffer the after effects of a probation.
Washington Record: 33-16 (but note again that with Lambright's recruits he had an 11-1 Rose Bowl year; deduct that one "gimme" year and he was 22-15).

At UCLA, he's 15-22. Note the similarity of those numbers? After his second year each place (where he has a team stacked with the other guys's recruits), Neuheisel's record is: 43-42. A .500 coach who has somehow gotten THREE MAJOR JOBS at the collegiate level. This guy makes Houston Nutt look accomplished (and deduct all those 4-0 Arkansas records against cupcakes and Nutt is a .500 coach as well).

Yeeks.
 

GMacFan

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Oct 3, 2009
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Re: It's Kind Of Like

The comparison with Obama is spot on, right down to the young attractive wife that somehow makes him more appealing.

But as it's been stated, Kiffin does recruit well, and surrounds himself with a good coaching staff, which is half the battle, if not more. So I'll give him credit for that. Coaches are salesmen; they have to sell their program to the best players and coaches. Yes, coaching them up is part of it, but in all honesty you look for the players who are already ready to go, who have the right instincts and learn quickly; I'd say 90% of a players performance has nothing to do with any "coaching" they get in college, of course schemes and plays are an entirely different matter. Kiffin is one of the best saleman in college football, so like him or not he's probably not going anywhere. And he's not a bad psychological motivator either.