USCâs Lane Kiffin says rest of the Pac-10 is rooting for him this week
Sat down with USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday. Told him it was time to stop being boring, and maybe give everyone a little of the Kiffin we heard about before he arrived, and tell us what he really thinks of Rick Neuheisel.
âSo you want me to be like our team, which has taken the lead into the second half of 11 of 12 games and then blow it all in the end,â says the Boy Scout as we know him here.
He begins to praise Neuheisel, ignoring Page 2âs interruptions and protests, while concluding, âThey need to give him more time.â
I remind him if he were talking about Floridaâs Urban Meyer, he wouldnât be so nice, and he says, âBut weâre not.â
Interpret that as you like.
âNorm Chow will be available,â I suggest. âAny interest in hiring him?â
âWeâd be very lucky to have Norm on our staff, but we have no openings,â he says in a voice that could put a room of newborns to sleep.
I tell him Iâm worried, spotting John Robinson on campus and wondering if USC, which takes defeat to Notre Dame very hard, is already making a change in head coaches.
Heâs asked if he has checked his answering machine lately, and he admits Mike Garrettâs name crosses his mind, but somehow he keeps his mouth shut.
Finally, the right button is pushed when heâs asked how devastating it might be to his reputation if Neuheisel wins and he doesnât Saturday.
âIâve been called by two Pac-10 coaches,â he says with a smirk. âI wonât tell you their names, but they called me to say, âPlease donât let him win this game.â â
I guess âSark,â former USC assistant Steve Sarkisian, who is now the head coach at Washington.
âI wonât mention names,â Kiffin repeats, âbut if you called all the other seven coaches [in the Pac-10] they would probably say the same thing.â
Yowza, I knew he could do it. Now maybe everyone here will better appreciate the laugh that Tennessee basketball Coach Bruce Pearl was going for Monday.
Pearl has been suspended for eight games for violating NCAA rules, but he spoke to the Knoxville Quarterback Club.
âIâve made mistakes, I clearly did,â Pearl tells the group. âBut what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook.
âI miss Lane Kiffin.â
The Knoxville News reports âthe room erupted with laughterâ at the mention of the former Tennessee football coach.
âBruce is really smart,â Kiffin says. âI can understand why he wouldnât want to talk about not being able to coach and violations, so he mentions Lane Kiffin. And everyone claps.â
Thatâs the guy they know down there, but up here mention Kiffinâs name and itâs hard to say what reaction his name might elicit. We still donât really know him.
I maintain heâs a hidden gem â smart, colorful and engaging but purposely muted to give Athletic Director Pat Haden, who didnât hire him, a chance to warm up to him.
How good a coach is he? His offense scores two touchdowns in the last two games, and Kiffin says, âAnd one of those came on a two-yard drive and we needed four plays to score.â
Heâs like that more often than not, bitingly critical of his own work, but also quick with the quip.
âWho gets the $5 fine Dillon Baxter paid?â I ask.
âCharity,â Kiffin says. âThe charity of his choice.â
And what would that be?
âGas-free golf carts,â Kiffin says.
If he could, he would always go for the funny line, but he understands heâs still in the process of distancing himself from the old Kiffin, the one so maligned and maybe misjudged elsewhere.
âI continue to be boring here,â he says, âfollowing the theme of our offense the last two weeks.â
Heâs asked if Matt Barkley will play against UCLA, and says he will â surprisingly an immediate, direct answer, while adding, âNotice, I didnât say, like I normally do, âI hope heâll play.â â
I see he later adjusts his remarks to other reporters (mischievously). Whatever it takes to keep the Bruins guessing.
As it is, the Trojans are 7-5, âand this season has definitely been a failure,â he says. âTo have the winning streak stopped against Notre Dame, thatâs the most disappointing thing of all.
âOne of the NCAA sanctions now is going to be our games last only 58 minutes because we donât have enough players on scholarship to finish a game off. If they kept the stat, we would lead the nation in points given up in the final two minutes. Itâs ridiculous.â
He might be more critical than any columnist in town. But he promises, when the season is over, âWeâre going to work 25 hours a day to make sure this doesnât happen again.â
When itâs suggested 25 hours a day might be an NCAA violation, he laughs. He does that a lot, although when doing most of his radio and TV interviews he comes across like someone who has just fired his father.
Thatâs a story for another day, this week dedicated to UCLA, the Bruins pulling off the 13-9 shocker a few years back to cost USC a shot at the national title.
âSark called those plays,â Kiffin says. âI think my wife was in labor, I wasnât there â just didnât tell anyone.â
Heâs kidding, of course and knows it canât go that way this time. Or he will be letting down his fellow Pac-10 coaches.
SETTING ASIDE GM Ned Collettiâs affinity for signing fat players, the Kansas City Royals sign players like journeyman Juan Uribe, not the Dodgers. The Royals try to make it appear as if they have done something grand by adding someone who came up big during the postseason. The Royals have no choice but to fake out their fans.
The Dodgers should be better than that.
t.j.simers@latimes.com
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