Lane Kiffin ultimately wants to be a head coach again at the collegiate level, but would he consider jumping to the pros first if the right opportunity doesn’t present itself?
Kiffin has a pretty good gig as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, a program that is always fully stocked with top talent and is virtually guaranteed to compete for a national title every season. But Albert Breer of The MMQB has heard from several NFL sources that Kiffin can expect to receive some phone calls from pro teams.
“I think he’d instantly upgrade an NFL offense, he’s arguably one of the best offensive minds in the game,” one NFL scout told Breer. “He’s able to adapt in terms of personnel. The offense this year is completely different in style and play-calling than it was last year with [Derrick] Henry.”
Alabama rode Henry to Nick Saban’s fifth national championship last year. Henry has since moved on, and Kiffin has helped Alabama remain at the top of the rankings with true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts running a version of the spread offense. The transition Kiffin has made with both personnel and his system has not gone unnoticed.
Kiffin’s time as head coach of the Oakland Raiders was ultimately a failure, but he has never been an offensive coordinator at the NFL level. There’s a chance he could spend a season as OC under his buddy Ed Orgeron at LSU, and we have also heard of at least one program that is interested in Kiffin as a head coach. If none of that appeals to him, it sounds like NFL doors are open.
H/T NFL.com
