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If they’re throwing money around, the Ducks should take a look at a top offensive coach who knows what Oregon and Nike can do together
The best story I wrote this year came together at the last minute because of a 5 a.m. call from Lane Kiffin two weeks before signing day. It went to the fourth ring and I apologized because a Mississippi area code at that hour can be a bit confusing when unexpected.
Kiffin called because I sent Mississippi’s media director an email a week earlier seeing if Lane, for whatever reason, wanted to reminisce about a recruiting battle he lost a decade earlier, when Oregon snagged De’Anthony Thomas from USC in the final days before signing day. It was a recruiting win so big for Oregon that even 10 years later Thomas’ signing paid dividends for the Ducks.
“He brought the inner city to Oregon,” Kayvon Thibodeaux, the No. 1 player from California in 2019, told me for the story, “and really shed a light on Oregon to the inner city.”
But Kiffin was on the other end of that. Thomas was a massive loss for USC’s first-year head coach, one that first clouded the waters of a tenure that lasted only three seasons.
I had Don Pellum for the story, the main character and Thomas’ lead recruiter from Oregon. I had Thibodeaux and Greg Biggins, who covered the theatrics of the commitment when it happened. Throw in a few recycled quotes from Chip Kelly and that’s a pretty solid story.
Reaching out to Mississippi was a Hail Mary. A bonus. A, Wouldn’t it be funny if he actually said yes?
He didn’t say yes. He just called.
Surely, Kiffin had better things to be doing. He went 5-5 in his first year back in the SEC, leading Mississippi to a win in the Outback Bowl. Shoring up his 2021 recruiting class would be pivotal in positioning the program to compete in the uber-competitive conference. Yet for some reason he was up for 15 minutes on how the allure of Oregon still baffled him all these years later.
“If there was a list of kids, the last one to worry about would have been him,” Kiffin recalled. “But that’s a neat place and he took an official visit there and they hammered him with the Nike and uniforms and all of that stuff.
“We actually created the De’Anthony Thomas rule after that year. Some guys don’t like to let committed guys take (recruiting) trips. We do it, but we don’t let commits take trips that last weekend before signing day. Because he goes dead after that weekend. He went up there, and then it was dead.”
Kiffin is on his way to the Sugar Bowl after leading Mississippi to its first 10-win season in program history. The university responded accordingly, signing the coach to a contract extension last week that will pay the former Alabama and USC offensive coordinator $7.5 million annually through 2025. The contract is capped at four years, per Mississippi law, and has the school well positioned for when the most competitive conference in the country adds Texas and Oklahoma in coming years. It will be difficult for the school to regularly contend for national championships in a stacked division with Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M, but at worst Kiffin’s teams should be competitive.
Somehow, despite everything you know about Kiffin, he’s only 46 years old. Seriously, the guy who coached the Reggie Bush offense at USC, that was hired and fired by Al Davis with the Raiders, left on the tarmac by the Trojans, resurrected his reputation with Nick Saban at Alabama and tore through Conference USA with Florida Atlantic, that guy is only 46.
He coached elite offenses in the 2000s. He coached elite offenses in the 2010s. Mississippi ranks fourth in total offense (506.7 yards per game) in 2021.
Kiffin is an elite football mind. He’s 46.
Despite a resume with some loud failures — his three years as head coach at USC, his two years in the NFL and one year at Tennessee — he’s 76-41 as a college coach. Mario Cristobal is 62-60. He’s also 53 and Oregon was reportedly ready to offer him a 10-year, $85 million extension to keep him in Eugene. If that’s the money that’s in play here, then Kiffin, despite his own new contract, should be at the top of Oregon’s list.
I think Justin Wilcox would be fine and I don’t hate the Chip Kelly reunion talk nearly as much as some of you do. Oregon’s learned twice now in four years that having a local connection carries value. Don’t discount it.
But Kiffin’s track record since his second run at USC is vastly better than both of those guys. He’s a better recruiter and the thought of what he could do with an already talented Oregon roster is appealing.
As Cristobal said of Oregon Tuesday in Miami: “There’s three top 10 classes right there on the roster and they’re all puppies. Their best football is in front of them.”
Kiffin is more expensive. He’s less buttoned up. He can actually be a bit of a Twitter troll. But he also knows first-hand the appeal of Oregon and has a personality more open to branding than those running the job before him. Don’t discount that, either, as USC loads up with Lincoln Riley.
Again, Kiffin has a good job. He has a new contract. His team is playing in a New Year’s Six game.
But sometimes it’s worth reaching out, just to see if you get a call.
— Tyson Alger
