Wichtig » on the ensuing possession for a 36-30 win over Alba

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Lane Kiffin knows the rap as well as he knows the holes in most of the defenses hes faced over the years.It goes something like this: son of an NFL coaching legend. Born on third base with head-coaching opportunities falling at his feet before a lot of people have their student loans paid off. Maddeningly immature. Maddeningly brilliant. Not real interested in doing things the conventional way. Brimming with the kind of in-your-face confidence that can be both obnoxious and genius.I know what the narrative is out there, [but] its not that Ive tried to be that guy who stirs things up, Kiffin told ESPN.com earlier this year. I guess it just comes naturally.So does being one of the brightest offensive minds in the game. One SEC athletic director calls Kiffin a football savant and one of those coaches who just always seems to be a step ahead any time hes calling plays or planning for an opponent.Theres a reason he had all those opportunities at such a young age, said the athletic director, wishing to remain anonymous. I dont think anybody has ever questioned his Xs and Os ability, his ability to recruit or his ability to coach.My question would be: Could I trust him? I could live with all the other stuff, but does he have the right character to lead a program? I think hes probably matured, but I couldnt say for sure. I would guess there are a lot of other ADs out there, guys who would like to hire him, wrestling with that same question.Its a question that has dogged Kiffin ever since he was fired on the LAX tarmac by then-USC athletic director Pat Haden five games into the 2013 season. After all, Kiffin was the Oakland Raiders head coach at 31, Tennessees head coach at 33 and USCs head coach at 34. He lasted less than a combined six seasons at the three stops, though he left Tennessee after just one season to take the USC job, where he inherited severe NCAA sanctions.Now, after three seasons of helping Nick Saban add to his championship hardware at Alabama -- and going back to school, so to speak, under one of college footballs all-time great coaches -- the shades-wearing, Bitmoji-tweeting Kiffin gets another shot at running his own shop. Hes agreed to become Florida Atlantics next head coach, sources told ESPN.com. Kiffin was also a finalist for the Houston head-coaching job, but the Cougars stayed in-house and hired offensive coordinator Major Applewhite last week.Its true that schools werent beating down Kiffins door with head-coaching opportunities, and had it not been for the Conference USA Owls, he probably would have been shut out for a third straight year. In a lot of ways, he was stuck in head-coaching purgatory. Most football people were sure of his ability to recruit, develop players and get a team ready for games. But just as many administrators and presidents werent so sure about his ability to wear all of the hats it takes to manage a program. Saban believes Kiffin is ready and answered absolutely when asked after Alabamas SEC championship rout of Florida if Kiffin was equipped to take that step -- again. Earlier this year, Saban echoed to ESPN.com what others had already suggested, that maybe too much came too soon for Kiffin, whos now 41.The thing youve got to remember about Lane is that his first head-coaching job came before a lot of guys get their first coordinator job, Saban said. I think back to some of the mistakes I made as a younger head coach. Experience is the greatest teacher, and sometimes we all need to be knocked down a little bit before we get it right.The whole Kiffin-Saban pairing is still hard for many to digest. On the surface, theyre about as much alike as the wishbone offense and the spread. But Saban was secure enough and wise enough to bring Kiffin in to help fine-tune the Crimson Tides offense. And Kiffin was brazen enough to challenge Saban -- and even fight with him on occasion -- to steer the offense in a direction nobody would have dreamed of five years ago.Alabama is spreading teams out, using tempo (the same tempo Saban once railed against) and running the quarterback, all while still pounding people when needed and generating the kind of balance on offense all teams crave. During Kiffins three seasons in Tuscaloosa, the Tide have won three straight SEC championships with three starting quarterbacks and three first-time starters, including true freshman Jalen Hurts this season.Lane has made them much more difficult to defend, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. Theyve always been able to line up and beat you because theyre just better. But you watch them now, and theyre doing things and youre getting looks that you never got from them in the past. You didnt have to worry about them going empty backfield and trying to get a tailback running a [pass route] on a linebacker or them trying to get their quarterback on the edge in a run-pass option.Youve got a lot of worries now defensively when you face Alabama.Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason was previously the defensive coordinator at Stanford and matched wits against Kiffin when he was the USC head coach. The thing Mason always admired about Kiffin was that he had all of the creativity in his repertoire but that he never got away from his core belief of running the football and being physical.I love what Lane does offensively. He was always the hardest guy for me to defend in the Pac-12 because he made you defend everything, Mason said. He can make one personnel set look like something else. Hes always going to know how to use his tight ends, always going to have a dominant No. 1 at receiver and a flurry of running backs he uses in different ways.What everybodys doing in this conference now, Lane was doing six years ago. Its not new football.Kiffin jokes it was worth some of the ass-chewings he absorbed from Saban to open up the Alabama offense and try some new things. To be fair, Saban was all for adapting on offense as the college game has continued to evolve, but Kiffin has a way of pushing the envelope.Lance Barnett, the father of former Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett, said the tug-of-war between Kiffin and Saban made for some interesting theater.It was a little bit of oil and water there with Nick and Lane, but kudos to them both for making it work, said Barnett, whose son plans to transfer to Arizona State. Lanes a free-flowing kind of guy and loves to push peoples buttons, and Blake said Lane was great at pushing Nicks buttons. He said it was almost comical at times, but theyve been good for each other. You see Lanes influence on the offense because theyre not running any of the plays Blake studied for the last year and a half. Lane has taken Jalens strengths and built around them, and thats what good coaches do.But over and above everything else, Blake was most impressed with Lanes feel for the game. His ability to assess what was happening on the field and change the offense on the fly and create favorable matchups was phenomenal.Kiffin hasnt just pushed Sabans buttons during his time in Tuscaloosa. He has a penchant for pushing everybodys buttons, to the point that many of his colleagues on the Alabama staff never expected him to make it very long with Saban.One coach who worked alongside Kiffin on the Alabama staff said the offensive coordinator almost seemed to revel in being a rebel, but that was also a big part of his success.Some people couldnt stand him, but hes smart, and I mean real smart, the coach said. One of the reasons he is such a good playcaller is that he has no fear of consequences, in football and in life.Success has come very easy for him, but so has failure.Kiffin is the first to admit that he probably should have asked more questions and listened more during his previous head-coaching stops.Id been around Pete [Carroll] and saw how he did it, and that was great, Kiffin said. But coming to Alabama and being under Coach Saban gave me an even different perspective. Every head coach has his own style, things they believe in, and now Ive seen it done by two of the best in the game with two completely different styles. Theres no question in my mind that Im better-equipped to be a head coach.New LSU head coach Ed Orgeron has known Kiffin for 15 years and still remembers Carroll bringing the young coach aboard the USC staff in 2001 after meeting Kiffin when he was a graduate assistant at Colorado State.Hes always been smart, very aware of everything around him, and the last thing you want to do is make him mad, said Orgeron, who worked with Kiffin at both USC and Tennessee. Lane gets devious if you screw with him. He wont let you know, but hes coming after your ass.Orgerons plan was to bring Kiffin to LSU as offensive coordinator if Kiffin were unable to get a head coaching gig. Probably one of the worst-kept secrets in Tuscaloosa was that Kiffin, one way or the other, wasnt going to be back at Alabama after this season. As someone close to the situation said, Theres a window in every relationship, and for both Saban and Kiffin, that window was just about closed.While Kiffin has been known to ruffle feathers, be it Urban Meyers or Steve Spurriers, hes generally been a hit among the players hes coached and the support staffs hes worked with.His sense of humor is legendary (and biting) to those who know him best. He was asked during the Olympics last summer whether he saw Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolts most recent race and what he would be able to do with Bolts incredible speed in his offense. Kiffin cracked: I didnt even know the Olympics were going on. I coach football at Alabama.One of his best stunts came during his first season at Alabama in 2014, when he made his first trip back to Knoxville, Tennessee. The Alabama team was staying at the Airport Hilton Hotel, which is just outside of Knoxville in Alcoa. Kiffin called one of his buddies still working at Tennessee and asked to be picked up out in front of the hotel later Friday night and to have a hat and sunglasses as a disguise -- they were hitting the town in Knoxville.Kiffins buddy at Tennessee still chuckles: Thats Lane. He was joking. At least, I think he was joking.There were no Kiffin sightings that night in Knoxville. He did his damage that next evening in Neyland Stadium, when Alabama beat Tennessee 34-20 and rolled up 469 yards of offense, including a school-record 224 receiving yards and two touchdowns by receiver Amari Cooper.Thats another calling card of Kiffins. He has a basketball mentality as a playcaller. If somebodys hot, hes going to keep feeding that player.Coach Kiffin doesnt make it too complicated, Cooper said. He knows who he wants to get the ball to and how he wants to get the ball to them. As a player, you love that. You know if youre delivering, hes going to keep coming back to you, and its going to be a little different every time.One former assistant coach said Kiffin was at his best with the players.He has an uncanny ability to lead players and to game plan and draw up Xs and Os in a way that they get it. He does not lead adults very well, the coach said.His turbulent 14-month stay at Tennessee is proof. Kiffin did a fabulous job of revitalizing quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who went from a liability to being taken in the fifth round of the NFL draft. The Vols also played well on the field and nearly upset Alabama that season.But as a manager of the program, Kiffin created his share of unwanted drama, whether it was flippantly racking up NCAA secondary violations, incorrectly accusing Meyer of breaking NCAA rules or being accused, himself, of telling receiver Alshon Jeffery during the recruiting process that Jeffery would end up pumping gas for a living if he went to South Carolina. Kiffin later denied saying that to Jeffery. Even rapper Lil Wayne dropped Kiffins name in one of his songs with the infamous, Smoke weed. Talk s--- like Lane Kiffin.Kiffins response at the time to being referenced in a rap song was classic.Its nice to see were getting a little street cred, he joked.That mischievous side of Kiffin hasnt completely gone away in Tuscaloosa. Who can forget Kiffin tweeting a picture of his son, Knox, doing Cam Newtons signature dab after Alabama beat Auburn last season at Jordan-Hare Stadium with Newton in the house?Its that kind of stuff that drives [Saban] crazy, but its also part of the give-and-take with Lane, one former Alabama staff member said. Hes always doing or saying something like that. Its almost like he cant help himself. But then you get in the games, and hes a big reason youre winning.Multiple athletic directors told ESPN.com for this story that Kiffin would probably be better off in a bigger city where he blended in, as opposed to being in a smaller college town where his every move was recorded and scrutinized.It may just be because Nick has put the clamps on him, but I dont think hes seen as the brash, immature guy that he once was, one athletic director told ESPN.com. He just has to be smart. He really probably needs to go somewhere other than the SEC, at least this next job. He probably needs to be somewhere that doesnt care quite as much about football and the personalities that go along with it.There are markets where you can find that and markets where I think he would go in and clean up.Well find out soon enough whether the fourth time is indeed a head-coaching charm for Kiffin, whos just ready for another opportunity.Im probably guilty of getting in my own way too many times, making it harder on myself, Kiffin said earlier this year. I cant change whats behind me but look forward to whats ahead.And, yes, hes ready to do it his way again, but his way in a refined sense. Consider it life after 40 because life before 40 -- at least as a head coach -- left us all hanging.Kyrie 5 Shoes For Sale . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. 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Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth.ALBANY, N.Y. -- David Broadus scored on a 4-yard run in the third overtime and the Richmond defense held on the ensuing possession for a 36-30 win over Albany on Saturday.Deontez Thompson did most of the damage in overtime, rushing for 42 of his 112 yards and scoring his third touchdown on a 14-yard run to tie the game in the second OT.Thompson was stopped on his PAT run after the Broadus touchdown but Albany only picked up seven yards on two runs and had two incompletions.Thompsons second TD capped a long drive and put Richmond (5-1, 2-1 Coloniial Athletic) up 20-13 with 2:44 to play.dddddddddddd But Neven Sussman hit Jordan Crockett for a 51-yard score to tie it with 1:17 to play. Albany (4-1, 1-1) got the ball back but Ethan Starks missed a 50-yard field goal wide right on the final play of regulation.Both teams got inside the 10 in the first OT but settled for short field goals. Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks had Albanys TD in the second overtime on a 1-yard run. ' ' '