R
Rainer Sabin |
Clay Helton has a story to tell about Lane Kiffin. It has nothing to do with the Alabama offensive coordinator's checkered past, his social media activity or his connection to urban legends that float in cyberspace. It has everything to do with football.
Helton was watching the Crimson Tide's 2014 demolition of Florida on television. On its first offensive play, Alabama lines up in an empty set. Kenyan Drake, the running back, positions himself outside the hashmarks and Gators linebacker Antonio Morrison trails him.
"Which automatically indicates man coverage," said Helton, USC's head coach.
Helton hears a shrieking sound, and he immediately recognizes that it is coming from Kiffin.
"That's his patented whistle, when he sees something in play," Helton explained.
As Helton tells it, Kiffin just signaled to Drake to adjust his route to an old-fashioned "sluggo," or slant-and-go. Seconds later, Drake blows by Morrison, running wide open and underneath a well-placed pass from Blake Sims. He then zips untouched to the end zone for an 87-yard touchdown.
The cameras pan to Kiffin, who struts nonchalantly down the sideline with swagger.
"He is very talented at what he does," Helton said.
Those who have worked around Kiffin — like Helton, his former quarterbacks coach at USC — say he is a football savant. But for the longest time Kiffin's talents were overshadowed by all of the baggage he accrued at head coaching stops with the Oakland Raiders, the Tennessee Volunteers and the USC Trojans.
Controversy smothered him, Internet rumors followed him and his foot-in-mouth disease ravaged him. By the time Kiffin was fired by USC at a Los Angeles airport in September 2013, his reputation was in tatters. He was seen as the spoiled brat of college football who received his comeuppance. No longer would he be allowed to fall upwards. He was going down.
And many figured he'd stay there.
"The phone wasn't ringing," Kiffin recalled last December. "It was humbling."
Kiffin needed to be saved — from himself most of all. Alabama coach Nick Saban was the one who came to the rescue. In January 2014, he hired Kiffin to be his offensive coordinator. Many thought it was an odd marriage considering Saban maintained a no-nonsense attitude and Kiffin was known for having a flippant, casual demeanor. But it's worked.
They won a national championship together last season, and Kiffin's image has been rehabilitated because he's no longer in control of it. Under Saban's iron fist, Kiffin has been mostly muzzled. On the rare occasions he's allowed to speak, like last month, he spouts the company line.
Asked about Alabama playing the Trojans this Saturday in Arlington, Texas, Kiffin dropped some Sabanese with this anodyne response: "I really have not thought a lot about it. It really doesn't matter. That's down the road. The process is today and what's going on and how we can get better today."
These days, Kiffin's more-interesting playcalls do the talking — showing a side of him that was largely unappreciated when he was inviting distractions at other stops.
As time has passed, people have grown to respect Kiffin for what he's always been: A brilliant offensive mind. Three years after he was kicked to the curb by the Trojans, Kiffin is garnering positive pub.
"He did a great job for us with our offense, and he's doing a great job for those guys," said former Trojans coach Pete Carroll, who had Kiffin on his staff for six years. "Nick has been winning for a long time. You see [Kiffin] open up their style and adapt their style, and the only reason Nick would do that is because it's good football. So, he kind of puts his stamp of approval on it and then Lane gets to coach. And it's worked out great for both guys."
Indeed it has. Kiffin has built an up-tempo machine despite having inexperienced quarterbacks man its controls. Sims set a school record for passing yards in 2014. Jake Coker led the nation in completion percentage over the final 10 games of last season.
"It's more now about matchups and personnel and that's kind of what college football has become," said former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, who is now an ABC/ESPN analyst. "[Kiffin] does a really good job of game planning and using formations and motions. And that makes it easier on the quarterback."
As Kiffin has modernized Alabama's offense with shotgun and pistol-heavy looks, the game plans have stayed true to the Crimson Tide's philosophical roots. The power running game with its ground-and-pound style? It still exists. Derrick Henry set a single-season SEC record for rushing yards on way to winning the Heisman Trophy. In the SEC title game, he carried the ball a whopping 44 times.
"I think he does a great job of diagnosing the strengths of each individual and then taking his best player on and putting him on your worst and finding ways to get that guy the ball," Helton said. "And he's not stubborn, saying, 'Hey this is what we're going to do and this is the system.' He changes and diagnoses and then helps his players get the most out of their strengths... I'm not surprised that he is one of the top offensive coordinators in the country."
These days, fewer and fewer people are. Kiffin has refurbished his reputation, earning recognition for what he does on the field instead of what he says away from it. When Kiffin was recently asked about his personal approach to social media, he tried to make one point clear.
"I'd rather just be doing ball," he said.
During the last two seasons at Alabama he has benefited by wrapping his identity around his job. The stories about Kiffin are no longer as sensational. But they're still pretty good. And better yet, they're about football.
Continue reading...
Helton was watching the Crimson Tide's 2014 demolition of Florida on television. On its first offensive play, Alabama lines up in an empty set. Kenyan Drake, the running back, positions himself outside the hashmarks and Gators linebacker Antonio Morrison trails him.
"Which automatically indicates man coverage," said Helton, USC's head coach.
Helton hears a shrieking sound, and he immediately recognizes that it is coming from Kiffin.
"That's his patented whistle, when he sees something in play," Helton explained.
As Helton tells it, Kiffin just signaled to Drake to adjust his route to an old-fashioned "sluggo," or slant-and-go. Seconds later, Drake blows by Morrison, running wide open and underneath a well-placed pass from Blake Sims. He then zips untouched to the end zone for an 87-yard touchdown.
The cameras pan to Kiffin, who struts nonchalantly down the sideline with swagger.
"He is very talented at what he does," Helton said.
Those who have worked around Kiffin — like Helton, his former quarterbacks coach at USC — say he is a football savant. But for the longest time Kiffin's talents were overshadowed by all of the baggage he accrued at head coaching stops with the Oakland Raiders, the Tennessee Volunteers and the USC Trojans.
Controversy smothered him, Internet rumors followed him and his foot-in-mouth disease ravaged him. By the time Kiffin was fired by USC at a Los Angeles airport in September 2013, his reputation was in tatters. He was seen as the spoiled brat of college football who received his comeuppance. No longer would he be allowed to fall upwards. He was going down.
And many figured he'd stay there.
"The phone wasn't ringing," Kiffin recalled last December. "It was humbling."
Kiffin needed to be saved — from himself most of all. Alabama coach Nick Saban was the one who came to the rescue. In January 2014, he hired Kiffin to be his offensive coordinator. Many thought it was an odd marriage considering Saban maintained a no-nonsense attitude and Kiffin was known for having a flippant, casual demeanor. But it's worked.
They won a national championship together last season, and Kiffin's image has been rehabilitated because he's no longer in control of it. Under Saban's iron fist, Kiffin has been mostly muzzled. On the rare occasions he's allowed to speak, like last month, he spouts the company line.
Asked about Alabama playing the Trojans this Saturday in Arlington, Texas, Kiffin dropped some Sabanese with this anodyne response: "I really have not thought a lot about it. It really doesn't matter. That's down the road. The process is today and what's going on and how we can get better today."
These days, Kiffin's more-interesting playcalls do the talking — showing a side of him that was largely unappreciated when he was inviting distractions at other stops.
As time has passed, people have grown to respect Kiffin for what he's always been: A brilliant offensive mind. Three years after he was kicked to the curb by the Trojans, Kiffin is garnering positive pub.
"He did a great job for us with our offense, and he's doing a great job for those guys," said former Trojans coach Pete Carroll, who had Kiffin on his staff for six years. "Nick has been winning for a long time. You see [Kiffin] open up their style and adapt their style, and the only reason Nick would do that is because it's good football. So, he kind of puts his stamp of approval on it and then Lane gets to coach. And it's worked out great for both guys."
Indeed it has. Kiffin has built an up-tempo machine despite having inexperienced quarterbacks man its controls. Sims set a school record for passing yards in 2014. Jake Coker led the nation in completion percentage over the final 10 games of last season.
"It's more now about matchups and personnel and that's kind of what college football has become," said former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, who is now an ABC/ESPN analyst. "[Kiffin] does a really good job of game planning and using formations and motions. And that makes it easier on the quarterback."
As Kiffin has modernized Alabama's offense with shotgun and pistol-heavy looks, the game plans have stayed true to the Crimson Tide's philosophical roots. The power running game with its ground-and-pound style? It still exists. Derrick Henry set a single-season SEC record for rushing yards on way to winning the Heisman Trophy. In the SEC title game, he carried the ball a whopping 44 times.
"I think he does a great job of diagnosing the strengths of each individual and then taking his best player on and putting him on your worst and finding ways to get that guy the ball," Helton said. "And he's not stubborn, saying, 'Hey this is what we're going to do and this is the system.' He changes and diagnoses and then helps his players get the most out of their strengths... I'm not surprised that he is one of the top offensive coordinators in the country."
These days, fewer and fewer people are. Kiffin has refurbished his reputation, earning recognition for what he does on the field instead of what he says away from it. When Kiffin was recently asked about his personal approach to social media, he tried to make one point clear.
"I'd rather just be doing ball," he said.
During the last two seasons at Alabama he has benefited by wrapping his identity around his job. The stories about Kiffin are no longer as sensational. But they're still pretty good. And better yet, they're about football.
Continue reading...
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