Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is the offensive coordinator for the University of Southern California Trojans football team.

Kiffin calls plays with co-offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Websites and message boards focused on the USC football team often refer to offensive coordinator tandem as "Sarkiffian" or "Sarkiffin".

Even though USC has had a productive year, message board know-it-alls have called for Kiffin to be fired. The Offensive Line was taken apart by UCLA this past weekend (December 2, 2006) and most armchair quarterbacks for the USC Trojans claim Kiffin is to blame.

Kiffin is a 1994 graduate of Bloomington Jefferson High School in Minnesota and a 1998 graduate of Fresno State University. He played quarterback for the Bulldogs and immediately moved into coaching there after graduating.

In 2005, Lane Kiffin was promoted to co-offensive coordinator of the USC Trojans (along with Steve Sarkisian) after previous coordinator Norm Chow left to become the offensive coordinator of the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

Since his promotion to offensive coordinator of the talent-stocked Trojans, Lane Kiffin has been a bit of a lightning rod for criticism. Most notably challenged by legions of fans and pundits was his presumed decision to keep Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush on the sidelines on a critical 4th and 2 play late in the 2006 Rose Bowl BCS Championship game against the Texas Longhorns. The play was ultimately unsuccessful as running back Lendale White was stopped short of a first down conversion. The play became a main talking point as many who saw the game felt it was a critical play that led to the Trojan's first loss of the 2005-2006 season. Since then his playcalling and game management have come under further scrutiny, culminating in a 7 point offensive output against rival UCLA. A loss that kept USC from advancing to their third straight BCS Championship game.

The Kiffin era, so far, has been known for a decline in standards for the USC offense. In 2005, the veteran, Heisman winning quarterback, Matt Leinart seemed to mask Kiffin's inexperience. But, with Leinart's graduation, John David Booty, a redshirt junior with no starting experience became USC's starting quarterback. In 2006, the Trojans have struggled in several games and Kiffin's playcalling has often been blamed. Many fans point to the surplus of elite talent on USC's offense as a clear indication that the problem was with not with the players, but rather the coach calling the plays (which many fans argue is perhaps the most predictable of the elite college football teams). But, Carroll seems to believe in Kiffin -- he always points out his few successes and downplays his obvious failures. For example, after the disaster in the Rose Bowl against UCLA, Carroll suggested that the offensive playcalling was fine. The Trojans scored 7 points on offense, their lowest in almost six years. It helps that Carroll and Kiffin's Dad are best friends.

His father, Monte Kiffin, is the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and architect of the famed "Tampa 2" defense.

• Official USC Bio