USC head coach Lane Kiffin is on the hot seat. Coming off a 7-6 season in 2012, the Trojans lost their home opener to Washington State on Saturday. The same Kiffin who once said he is just as interested in putting on a show as he is winning watched his team put up an embarrassing seven points in a 10-7 loss.
Late in the fourth quarter, fans began chanting “Fire Kiffin!” The chant was perfectly audible for those who were watching on television, so you know there is no way Kiffin could have tuned it out. He was asked about the heckling after the game.
“You can’t worry about that,” Kiffin said, via AL.com. “It is what it is. I think I heard those before the game started in warmups, actually. I’m getting used to it.”
Another reporter then asked Kiffin if he believes his job is in jeopardy after losing to Washington.
“I don’t know all of that stuff,” he said. “I’m not even thinking that way. I know we’re 1-1 right now and we’ve got to go back and get ready for next week. When you don’t play well, of course it falls on the head coach. That’s part of the job. We obviously weren’t prepared well enough on offense.”
On Monday, ESPN’s Ted Miller speculated that St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher would be a candidate to replace Kiffin at USC if he is eventually fired. Fisher won a national championship as a wide receiver with USC in 1978, but it is far too early to anticipate his departure from the Rams after one week of the NFL season.
Fisher or no Fisher, Kiffin is likely a dead man walking. USC’s schedule is loaded with difficult opponents like Stanford and UCLA, so a home game against Washington was a must-win. In the long run, that loss will probably end up being one of many that costs Kiffin his job.
