New Blood

By John McMullen

The “Old Boys Club” just might be dead.

Sure, there will always be out of touch NFL owners afraid to roll the dice and looking to hire a retread (I’m looking at you Jerry Jones). But, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders may have pulled the league -- kicking and screaming -- into the 21st century when they hired a pair of thirtysomethings to pilot their respective franchises.

Lane Kiffin, the new head coach of the Raiders, especially interests me. I vaguely remember meeting Lane when his father Monte was the inside linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings and he was just a pup, attending Bloomington, MN Jefferson High.

Since that time, the younger Kiffin has been a shooting star in the football world. He played quarterback at Fresno State and quickly got into the coaching ranks after graduating, spending two years as an offensive assistant at Colorado State. Kiffin then got his big break when Southern California’s Pete Carroll hired him as the tight ends coach in 2001.

As the USC program and Matt Leinart took off, then offensive coordinator Norm Chow was a hot property. It looked like Chow was intent on moving to the pros and eventually landed in Tennessee. Many were stunned when Carroll didn’t flinch and try to convince Chow to stay. In fact -- to some -- it looked like the USC mentor actually pushed the highly regarded Chow out the door.

And, it was all because of Kiffin. Carroll thought so highly of Monte’s progeny that he promoted him to passing game coordinator, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at the nation’s premier football factory in 2005.

Under Kiffin, the USC offense produced a plethora of school records during the 2005 season, averaging an astonishing 49.1 points and 579 yards per game. The Trojans also became the first team in NCAA history to have a 3,000 yard passer, two 1,000 yard rushers, and a 1,000 yard receiver in Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White, and Dwayne Jarrett. Meanwhile, another wideout -- Steve Smith -- fell a tad short of surpassing 1,000 yards receiving himself.

The one thing USC didn’t do is win the National Championship and that fact was never lost on the bitter veteran Kiffin replaced in Hollywood. After an upset loss to UCLA extinguished the Trojans' latest title hopes in 2006, Chow publicly criticized Kiffin, along with Southern Cal quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian.

“I know DeWayne Walker (a UCLA coach) may be better than both of those guys,” Chow told the Orange County Register. “DeWayne Walker is a heck of a football coach, which is why I wasn't too surprised he did what he did.”

Now -- at 31 and with a boatload of critics at the ready with a never ending supply of age jokes -- Kiffin will be the youngest head coach in the NFL in 2007, surpassing the New York Jets' Eric Mangini and the Steelers' recently-hired Mike Tomlin. In fact, he will be the youngest head coach since the AFL-NFL Merger.

He will also be walking in to a situation Norv Turner and Art Shell -- two members of “The Old Boys Club” -- found untenable.

So, while Lane may still get carded when buying his Corona....

And, he still might get stuck at the kiddie table when Monte hosts Thanksgiving dinner...

And others may stare at his girlfriend when she takes him across state lines...

He’s new blood and I will take that over Turner or Shell anytime.

-You can talk about the NFL coaching carousel with John McMullen at jmcmullen1@comcast.net or jmcmullen@phanaticmag.com.


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The Phanatic