This is the side of Lane Kiffin few have seen.
Humble, gracious, honest.
“As you make mistakes, the number one thing you’ve got to do is learn from them,” Alabama’s new offensive coordinator said in an interview with NFL.com. “And not just make excuses for them. I’ve made more than anybody, probably. To go through what I’ve gone through and still be fortunate to be here, a coordinator with coach [Nick] Saban at Alabama, you take some time to reflect on that.”
Of course, before the interview, Kiffin met with Saban to make sure he didn’t say anything that “would end up on the ticker.”
Kiffin, fired from USC last year at midseason, acknowledged his past travails. He had embarrassing ousters at USC and as head coach of the Raiders, and was one and done at Tennessee, leaving the Volunteers for the Trojans job. It seems like — maybe — he has learned his lesson.
“Having a little time off there after getting fired at USC re-excites you to get back,” he said. “Obviously I loved being a head coach. There were a lot of great things about that. But when you step back into a role of being an assistant coach, your focus is so much back on football, on player development … where as a head coach you’re pulled in so many other directions.”