Nowit's official.
Lane Kiffin, the former head coach at Tennessee and USC,will be the next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the school Friday afternoon. ESPN first reported the story that AL.com confirmed.
We are excited to have Lane join our staff, Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement. He is an outstanding and creative offensive coach who has great experience both at the college and NFL level. He has a very good understanding of the game and I have always been impressed with what I saw in the games he called."
ESPN reported the deal is for three years, the standard contract length for Alabama coordinators.
Kiffin was in Tuscaloosa evaluating the Alabama offense before the Sugar Bowl. Several players said they never personally spoke with Kiffin while he was in town while he met with coaches.Nussmeier for the offensive coordinator job at Michigan on Wednesday night."We feel humbled and honored to be a part of the Crimson Tide family, Kiffin said in the UA release. I ve always had the utmost respect for what Coach Saban has done with his programs. Having the unique opportunity to be here last month, I was able to meet some of the great players and the great people in the organization, and I m very excited to start working with them."Kiffin, who's represented by Nick Saban's agent Jimmy Sexton, has been out of work since USC fired him this September when the Trojans failed to meet expectations. He went 28-15 at USC while coaching through NCAA sanctions left over from the Pete Carroll era. Taking his turn in front of the cameras at the 2009 SEC Media Days kickoff event, Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Lane Kiffin discusses any regrets in anything he's done in his first season as head coach at the University of Tennessee, his spring meeting with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, Before USC, Kiffin spent one controversial season at Tennessee in 2009. That Vol team went 7-6 with a 12-10 loss at Alabama remembered best for Terrence Cody's last second blocked field goal."We ve seen the passion and support of the Alabama fans firsthand," Kiffin said in Friday's release. "And when that s combined with the storied history and tradition of the program, this is a very special place to coach. Under Kiffin, the Tennessee offense upped its scoring average 12 points to 29.3 a game. Total offense bumped from 268.3 yards a game in 2008 to 383.5 in 2009.The Tide travels to Tennessee on Oct. 25 this fall.Before coming to Knoxville, Kiffin was the Oakland Raiders head coach before being fired midway through his second season in 2008.Kiffin last served as an offensive coordinator while at USC from 2005-06.Want to welcome coach lane to the tide will do very well for us this coming up here
Blake Sims (@_bsims6)Excited already to see what this next year has in store!
Austin Shepherd (@AShep79) AL.com reporter Kevin Scarbinsky contributed to this report. AL.com coverage | 2013 Alabama Andrew Gribble stories, opinion, news Thank you for subscribing. You should receive your first newsletter within 24 hours. To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please .