USC football: Cody Kessler reaches out to Lane Kiffin

USC quarterback Cody Kessler confirmed that he texted former coach Lane Kiffin the day after emotional postgame remarks in praise of interim coach Ed Orgeron were portrayed by some as a slam of Kiffin.

“I didn’t mean it that way at all,” Kessler said Tuesday after practice.

After USC’s victory over Arizona on Thursday, Kessler said “I couldn’t ask for a better head coach right now,” and that players “would go to war” for Orgeron.

Kiffin, during an appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” show Saturday, praised Kessler and said, “by the time I woke up the next day, I had a text from Cody and from his mom and from his dad. … I would expect nothing less from those kids to support the next coach and the next one after that.”

Kessler said he told Kiffin that he was thankful for everything Kiffin did for him. He said Kiffin responded by saying he knew that and that he appreciated the text.

“I was excited after the game, and I was trying to give Coach O his props,” Kessler said.

“At the same time, Coach Kiffin did the same thing for us and he meant a lot to me too.”

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