Kiffin Named Head Coach
January 22, 2007
Lane Kiffin will be formally introduced as Head Coach of The Oakland Raiders during a press conference on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. at the Raiders' facility in Alameda.
With his appointment today by Raiders owner Al Davis, Kiffin becomes the 16th head coach in franchise history and the youngest head coach in the NFL. The 31-year old Kiffin is also the youngest Head Coach in Raider history. Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach John Madden was 32 when he was elevated to the head post by Davis in 1969.
Most recently, Kiffin presided over the vaunted offensive attack at the University of Southern California that a featured long, medium and short-range passing game coupled with a power running attack. His tutoring helped the Trojans capture back-to-back National College Football Championships in 2003 and 2004.
Kiffin's play-calling, structure and offensive design helped the Trojan produce two Heisman Trophy winners-Reggie Bush in 2005 and Matt Leinart in 2004.
Kiffin, the son of longtime pro and college coach Monte Kiffin, just completed his sixth year at the University of Southern California. He joined the Trojan staff in 2001 handling the tight ends and he coached wide receivers from 2002-03. In 2004, he took on the responsibility of passing game coordinator as well as coaching wide receivers. In 2005, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in addition to continuing as the wide receivers coach.
Under Kiffin's offensive leadership in 2006, the Trojans finished first in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency, averaging 264 yards per game, produced two 1,000-yard receivers (Dwayne Jarrett-1,105, Steve Smith-1,083) and a 3,000-yard passer (John David Booty-3,347).
In 2005, Kiffin was named one of the nation's Top 25 recruiters and served as offensive coordinator of an offensive that ranked in the top six nationally in every offensive category, including tops in total offense (579.8 yards per game) and second in scoring offense (49.1), and set Pac-10 records for total offense yardage, first downs, points scored, touchdowns and PATs. The Trojans, who scored 50 points a school-record seven times, won games by an average of 26.2 points.
Kiffin's play-calling and offensive design enabled Bush to capture the 2005 Heisman and the Trojans to become the first school to have a 3,000-yard passer (Matt Leinart-3,815), a pair of 1,000-yard runners (Bush-1,777, LenDale White-1,319) and a 1,000-yard receiver (DwayneJarrett-1,274) in a season.
In 2004, Kiffin coached on a staff that led Southern California to its second straight National Championship. He was in charge of a passing attack that helped Leinart win the Heisman Trophy with 3,322 yards passing and 33 touchdowns.
He also mentored the Trojan wide receivers including Mike Williams, a consensus All-American first teamer and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award in 2003, who set Southern California career (30) and season (16) touchdown reception records. Kiffin also coached Keary Colbert, who set the Southern California career reception record (207) and was a NFL second round pick and Jarrett, who was named Freshman All-American first team.
In 2002, Kiffin coached the Southern California wide receivers that included Williams, who was Freshman All-American first team and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and Colbert both of whom became Southern California's first pair of 1,000-yard receivers. He also coached Kareem Kelly, who became the Trojan career reception leader and was a sixth round NFL draft pick.
With Kiffin on the coaching staff, Southern California played in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl, 2003 Orange Bowl, 2004 Rose Bowl, 2005 Orange Bowl (BCS Championship Game) and 2006 Rose Bowl (BCS Championship Game) and the 2007 Rose Bowl.
Kiffin was the defensive quality control coach for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars in 2000 (he worked with the secondary). He began his coaching career at Fresno State, his alma mater, where for two seasons (1997-98) he worked with the quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs. He then was an assistant at Colorado State in 1999, working with the offensive line. The Rams played in the Liberty Bowl that season.
Kiffin was a quarterback at Fresno State for three seasons (1994-96), where he was coached by current University of California Head Coach Jeff Tedford. He earned his bachelor's degree in leisure service management from Fresno State in 1998. He prepped at Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson High, where he played football, basketball and baseball.
He was born May 9, 1975. His wife's name is Layla. They have two daughters, Landry, 2 and Pressley, 3 months. His father, Monte, is the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The elder Kiffin, a longtime NFL and collegiate assistant coach served as North Carolina State's head coach in the early 1980s. His brother, Chris, was a defensive lineman at Colorado State (2001-04).
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