Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic
Lane Kiffin’s career trajectory has been going backward. He was USC’s offense coordinator before becoming head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2007. He was only 31 years old and was the youngest head coach in the modern history of the NFL.
He was a wunderkind. Or at least he appeared to be one, for a bit.
Kiffin was fired in 2008 on bad terms and went back to college football as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. He lasted only one season at Rocky Top before abruptly leaving to be the head coach at USC, a controversial move.
In four seasons with the Trojans, Kiffin did not live up to expectations. He did go 10-2 in 2011, but he went 7-6 in 2012 with a loss in the Sun Bowl to Georgia Tech and was fired after five games in 2013, leaving the Trojans with a 3-2 record.
Kiffin certainly rehabbed his image by winning a championship as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama. But once again, he left the Crimson Tide in a bit of a controversial fashion. Now that he finds himself with FAU, he’s perilously close to having a career that has been all hype with very little substance — at least as a head coach.
Of course, Kiffin could prove his doubters wrong with Florida Atlantic, but he has an uphill battle ahead of him.