Kiffin puts together a well-experienced staff

Lane Kiffin snagged the starring role as USC football’s top guy. But don’t snub his supporting cast of assistant coaches.

They aren’t a bunch of no-name, B-list scrubs who wandered over from the service industry.

The addition of Ed Orgeron and Monte Kiffin, both from the University of Tennessee, both with NFL experience, creates a possible “Dream Team” staff so good that it’s been said, jokingly of course, that just about anyone could coach the Trojans.

“My job must be really easy then,” Lane Kiffin said, smiling. “They can do it all for me.”

The staff, which Kiffin predicted would be “the best staff in America,” isn’t close to complete. Kiffin said that will take time, and he wouldn’t comment about whether he might be able to coax UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow or any other target over to USC.

The return of Orgeron, who coached the defensive line at USC from 1998 to 2004, is an instant boost. He constructed a best-in-the-nation USC defensive front in 2003 that featured Kenechi Udeze, Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson -- known as “Wild Bunch II,” a sequel, it was said, to a great Trojans defense from an earlier era.

Monte Kiffin is no slouch, either. He was considered the architect of the Tampa-2 defense, which helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the 2003 Super Bowl.

Both assistants are tenacious recruiters.

Orgeron, 48, who is known for finding, as he described them, “diamonds in the rough,” spearheaded three top-five recruiting classes in his previous three years at USC, from 2002 to 2004. And he was immediately back at it again Tuesday night, soon after USC announced it had hired Lane Kiffin as head coach, watching film and “getting our recruiting class together.”

Exactly how he was going about that quickly caused controversy. There were several reports of Orgeron trying to coax Tennessee recruits over to USC. He didn’t deny it, saying he made the calls to “clear up any questions they had.”

But he also clearly made the point that what was most important to the Trojans was their own backyard.

“We have to capture Southern California -- that’s the key,” he said.

During his first tour with the Trojans, Orgeron and head coach Pete Carroll divided Los Angeles in two and made it a contest to see who could visit more high schools and talk to more coaches and players.

“Ed Orgeron could sell bacon to a vegan if it were wrapped with a cardinal-and-gold bow,” The Sporting News wrote in 2004 in naming him national recruiter of the year.

“You ought to see him run recruiting,” Monte Kiffin said. “He and Lane, it’s unbelievable.”

Orgeron, a burly, refrigerator-sized Cajun, has been described by former players as “crazy”, “frightening” and “hell-bent on perfection.” He’s also been known to rip off his shirt and challenge players, a well-noted event when he met his players at Mississippi after becoming head coach in 2005.

Monte Kiffin, 69, has been credited for being Carroll’s mentor -- he gave Carroll his first coordinator’s job at North Carolina State in 1980.

“We talk all the time,” Monte Kiffin said.

Before joining his son at Tennessee, Monte Kiffin spent 13 years coaching the Buccaneers’ defense.

“Coach Monte Kiffin is the defensive mastermind in football,” USC linebacker Chris Galippo said. “He’s helped develop some of the most unique, exquisite . . . schemes that are everywhere in football. He’s coached in Super Bowls. He’s coached Hall of Fame players. It’s a privilege to be 20 years old and have the opportunity to learn from him.”

USC quarterback Matt Barkley said he was pleased with the staff but left little doubt he thought there was one key piece missing.

“It’s huge, and if we can top it off with a certain someone, that would be even better,” he said.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com