Much-traveled Kiffin says he’s ready this time

Associated Press

BOCA RATON, Fla.

Lane Kiffin was only 31 when the Oakland Raiders provided his first opportunity to become a head coach, and he insisted that he was ready.

He was wrong.

And he probably wasn’t ready to coach Tennessee at 32 or USC at 34, either.

Now 41, and freely acknowledging that he’s made more than a few mistakes along the way, Kiffin thinks he’s truly ready this time to lead a program — and Florida Atlantic is betting he’s right. Kiffin signed his five-year contract to become the Owls’ new coach on Tuesday, a deal paying him $950,000 annually and coming with a stiff buyout if he wants to leave anytime soon.

“The things you go through, if you look at them the right way and you learn from them, they make you stronger,” Kiffin said. “I know that sounds like a line, but they do. I’ve got a unique life with a lot of unique experiences, but that makes me so much better prepared and so confident about doing this. Probably 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have gone about this the right way. But you change.”

He’ll live a double life for the next few weeks. Kiffin is still the offensive coordinator No. 1 Alabama — he’s going to be there for Tide coach Nick Saban’s 7:30 a.m. staff meeting in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday — preparing for a College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington on Dec. 31 while trying to build a staff at FAU.

Some major changes await. Kiffin once counted 48 people at an Alabama staff meeting; there is no way to get 48 people into what will be his staff room at FAU. But in three years under Saban, Kiffin learned from one of the best in the college game and plans to incorporate those lessons in sunny Boca Raton.

“People grow up,” FAU athletic director Patrick Chun said. “It’s a small enough industry where you can call people, we have mutual friends who would tell me what they think. We spent two three-hour settings together and the good thing with Lane, you don’t have to spend a minute evaluating the football piece. This was about fits, values, who are you ... that’s where he won me over.”