Kiffin claims USC opener not about him

Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin discusses the upcoming season during the Crimson Tide's media day on Sunday in Tuscaloosa. Alabama opens Sept. 3 against USC, the program with which Kiffin spent part of 10 seasons as either an assistant or the head coach.
Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin discusses the upcoming season during the Crimson Tide's media day on Sunday in Tuscaloosa. Alabama opens Sept. 3 against USC, the program with which Kiffin spent part of 10 seasons as either an assistant or the head coach.

When Lane Kiffin was hired as Alabama's offensive coordinator on Jan. 10, 2014, there was an intriguing future foe on the schedule should Kiffin still be with the Crimson Tide.

That game is rapidly approaching.

Alabama opens this season against the University of Southern California. Kiffin spent six seasons as an assistant to Pete Carroll at USC and eventually headed the program for more than three years until getting fired midway through the 2013 season.

Kiffin's first two seasons calling plays for Nick Saban have resulted in two Southeastern Conference championships and one national title, which the Tide earned last season with a 45-40 outlasting of Clemson.

"I know this sounds strange, but I really haven't thought a lot about it, and you would think that I have," Kiffin said Sunday during a news conference. "It really doesn't matter. That is down the road, and the process is today and how we can get better today. We're not preparing for them or game-planning for them. We're just trying to figure out our own depth chart.

"The week we get into it, I'm sure there will be some different feelings and emotions."

Alabama and USC play Sept. 3 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, where the Crimson Tide beat Wisconsin 35-17 in last season's opener and dismantled Michigan State 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl that served as a national semifinal in the College Football Playoff.

Kiffin, a former Fresno State quarterback and the son of longtime NFL defensive guru Monte Kiffin, molded his own coaching career as a USC offensive assistant from 2001 to '06. The Trojans reeled off a 65-12 record during that stretch and won two national championships, one of which was later vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

After becoming a head coach for the first time with the NFL's Oakland Raiders - he went 5-15 and was fired early in the 2008 season - Kiffin returned to college coaching at Tennessee, where he went 7-6 in 2009 and bolted after one season when USC came calling.

Kiffin returned to a program getting ravaged by NCAA sanctions but went 8-5 in 2010 and 10-2 in 2011, when the Trojans finished No. 6 in the Associated Press poll despite being ineligible for a bowl. USC began the 2012 season ranked No. 1 by the AP with Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley at quarterback, but the Trojans struggled to a 7-6 mark that included a 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl.

The Trojans were 3-2 in 2013 when Kiffin was called off the team bus at Los Angeles International Airport and fired by athletic director Pat Haden following a 62-41 drubbing at Arizona State. His turbulent ride as USC head coach ended with a 28-15 record.

"It won't be about me, just like it wasn't about me when we went up to Tennessee (in 2014)," Kiffin said. "It's not about Coach (Saban) when we go to LSU. It's about our players playing really well, and all we can do is put our players in the best position to win."

Kiffin has the task of picking another new starting quarterback. He arrived after AJ McCarron's three years as starter and helped develop fifth-year senior starters Blake Sims and Jake Coker each of the past two seasons.

Alabama's quarterback competition this time around includes redshirt junior Cooper Bateman, redshirt sophomore David Cornwell, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett and freshman Jalen Hurts. The Crimson Tide also have their least experienced tailback tandem - sophomores Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris - of the Saban era.

So Kiffin actually has plenty to concern himself with before facing his former team, as well as more opportunities to grow in what no longer seems like such an unlikely pairing with Saban.

"There is so much to learn here," Kiffin said. "When I first got here, I was like a graduate assistant taking notes at the staff meetings. It's kind of like a player who comes in as a freshman but doesn't understand until he's a sophomore or a junior why things are done the way they are. I kind of feel that way now, because I'm continuing to grow.

"If you're just around here for one year, you wouldn't get to experience all the different things."

Saban's response

A day after Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he would "absolutely" allow graduate transfers to go to other SEC schools, Saban remained adamant they shouldn't due to rules established by the NCAA and the conference office. Former Tide defensive back Maurice Smith, who wants to transfer to Georgia, claims his personal belongings were trashed after informing Saban in June of his transfer intentions and that he was denied access to athletic facilities.

Saban was not asked about Smith's claims specifically but was asked what happens to players who have informed him that they're leaving.

"A player can continue to work out here, but he doesn't work out as a part of our team if he's choosing to leave our team," Saban said. "That's pretty much the way we've tried to manage it. We've never had an issue with it that I can recall, and that's how we'll continue to do it. We don't take an adversarial position."

Tide tidbits

Alabama's quarterback rotation Sunday had Bateman first, Barnett second and Hurts third, while Cornwell continues to be limited by a foot injury. The first-team offensive line had Cam Robinson at left tackle, Lester Cotton at left guard, Ross Pierschbacher at center, Bradley Bozeman at right guard and freshman Jonah Williams at right tackle. Kiffin on being active on social media: "I don't really run my Twitter or social media. Coach Saban runs it."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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