Former USC QB: Kiffin looked 'wholly disinterested' as head coach
There are wide ranging opinions of new Florida Atlantic head coach Lane Kiffin and how his career has panned out.
From hot-shot assistant, to NFL head coach, to major college coach, to fired at an airport; Kiffin garners plenty attention.
Now, after three years of rehabilitating his image as Nick Saban's offensive coordinator at Alabama, Kiffin will get his fourth head coaching opportunity, this time in the Conference USA.
During his time at Tennessee and USC, two quarterbacks had unsurprisingly different opinions of their former head coach
“There was nothing unique about what he did,” former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain said to Matthew DeFranks of the Sun Sentinel. “It just seemed to us, there was no effort for it. It was almost as if he was wholly disinterested in being the head coach. You can tell he enjoys the play-calling. He enjoys working with the offense and making that run. He was very good at it. As for the whole thing, it seemed that maybe it just wasn’t really where he wanted to be.”
That perception of Kiffin is the complete opposite of Jonathan Crompton's. The former Tennessee QB went from middling college quarterback to NFL draft pick after one season with Kiffin as his head coach.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Crompton said. “He knows how to relate to young kids, to get them motivated. He knows how to relate to get freshman to be able to play, get them ready early. And he can adjust on the run, especially in-game, very, very well.
“I loved him. He was the old cliché of a players' coach. Truly, truly was, though. I’m assuming he still is. His work ethic game-planning was second to none.”
Even though Mustain felt Kiffin was disinterested in being a head coach, he feels the labels associated with his former coach are not 100 percent accurate.
“I think a lot of people think of him as this buffoon figure,” Mustain said. “I’ve heard it 10 times: ‘He’s spoiled. He’s riding on his dad’s coattails.’ I can understand why that stands, but I think a lot of people don’t understand that Lane Kiffin is honestly a very intelligent, very capable football coach.
“Honestly, I hope that Lane can rebuild it. In terms of his head coaching reputation, I hope he can iron it out. I hope he can come up with something that works and do a better job. I don’t know. It’ll be interesting.”
Kiffin will start his tenure as head coach of the Owls on Sept. 2 against Navy at home.