USC coaching search: Lane Kiffin asked if he’s interested in Trojans job

Could USC be interested in a return for Lane Kiffin as it continues its head coaching search?

The Ole Miss head coach, who controversially departed Tennessee after 1 season to replace former boss Pete Carroll in Los Angeles in 2010, has had a long and winding road to the sidelines in Oxford. But as he has the Rebels at 4-0 ahead of a pivotal matchup at Alabama on Saturday, the questions about whether he’d leave the SEC once more to go out West continue.

“I’m fully committed to where I’m at,” Kiffin said on Thursday when asked about his interest in the job by Dan Patrick. “This is a wonderful place, I love the people here. Any time that we get attention like that, it’s just a credit to our players and what they’re doing.”

Kiffin also spoke with Patrick about his return during the open week to the same airport in Southern California where he was infamously fired on the tarmac following the Trojans’ return from a loss at Arizona State in 2013.

“I was on the same tarmac and walked through the same FBO this weekend when I went recruiting in L.A., and it was very eerie,” Kiffin said. “The same exact one, and there was a little office there on the right when you walk through the private airport which is where [former USC AD] Pat Haden walked me in at 3:17 a.m., and so that was a little bit strange.”

DP asks @Lane_Kiffin about his interest in the #USC gig. And Lane shares a story about being back at the airport tarmac he was fired at, this past weekend…. pic.twitter.com/2LF0KTSblb

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) September 30, 2021

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.