The question about Lane Kiffin’s potential return to head coaching isn’t if it’ll happen, but where, said Tony Barnhart.

The SEC Network broadcaster and long-time college football writer appeared on the Frangie Show to discuss Kiffin’s odds of getting hired at another school. Barnhart was confident Alabama’s offensive coordinator would find a head coaching gig this offseason.

“I think this is the year,” Barnhart said on the radio show. “Now the question is not will he get another coaching job; it’ll be at what level does he jump back into it? How high a level? Is someone at an LSU or someplace like that going to take the chance of bringing him back?”

Kiffin spent on year at Tennessee in 2009 before bolting to take the head coaching job at USC, where he served as an assistant from 2001-2006. His four-year stay with the Trojans ended with an unceremonious firing five games into 2013.

Despite his tumultuous coaching career, Barnhart pointed to Kiffin’s wildly successful transformation and management of the Crimson Tide’s offense as a reason programs would hire him.

“Nobody has done a better job of coaching offense and quarterbacks than he’s done,” Barnhart said. “Think about what he’s done. He took Blake Sims, who had been given up on. He was playing running back for Alabama, and made him into an SEC championship quarterback.

“He took Jake Coker and he won a national championship with him. Look what he’s done with an 18-year-old freshman (Jalen Hurts). So, I think someone is going to hire him. The question is how high up to food chain will it be?”

Kiffin has been connected to several jobs over the past month, and Barnhart is among those who believe he’ll inevitably lock down one of them.