STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, September 10, 2006 7:00 pm
His father is a fiery sort who speaks his mind. So it probably should come as no surprise that Southern Cal offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin bristled when asked about his wide receivers’ performances in the season opener.
Kiffin said he “called out” his wideouts in practice last week. He gave them an “F.” He demanded improvement. Rode them hard, he said.
Most notably, Kiffin singled out preseason All-American Dwayne Jarrett, who made 91 catches last season.
“He might be living in the past, and that doesn’t do us any good right now,” said Kiffin, in his second season in charge of the Trojan offense.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Jarrett caught five passes for 35 yards in Southern Cal’s 50-14 triumph over Arkansas on Sept. 2 in Fayetteville, Ark. The Trojans were idle last week, though in this case “idle” might be misleading, at least as it applies to Kiffin.
The 31-year-old Nebraska native evidently challenged his players in harsh tones last week despite what most pundits regarded as a resounding season-opening victory. Of course, Kiffin’s standards are exceptionally high, which is to be expected considering his bloodlines.
All his father, Monte Kiffin, has done is establish himself as one of the most influential defensive minds in modern college and professional football. Architect of the “Tampa Cover 2,” the elder Kiffin is in his 24th NFL season and 11th as the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator.
Monte Kiffin began his college playing career at Nebraska in 1959 with head coach Bill Jennings and ended it in 1963 under Bob Devaney. Kiffin was a rugged two-way lineman who went on to coach defense at NU from 1966-76. His name still resonates among most Husker fans.
Although Lane Kiffin’s earliest football memories involve watching Nebraska games on television, he said he hasn’t gotten caught up in nostalgia as Southern Cal prepares for Saturday night’s game against the Huskers in Los Angeles.
After all, there exists little time for nostalgia when you’re striving to improve an attack that in 2005 led the nation in total offense (579.8 yards), ranked second in scoring (49.1) and eclipsed a slew of Pac-10 records. Gone from that squad are two Heisman Trophy winners — Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush — as well as five other starters.
Judging from the Arkansas game, Southern Cal appears to have reloaded in the manner Nebraska did throughout much of the 1990s.
Kiffin got in on the ground floor of USC’s remarkable return to gridiron greatness, joining Pete Carroll’s original Trojan staff in 2001 as tight ends coach and rising steadily in the ranks.
Indeed, Kiffin now has the distinction of being the only member of USC’s current coaching staff to work with Carroll for the entirety of the head coach’s six seasons at the school.
For a brief period in December 2003, Kiffin thought he might become a Husker.
It was a tumultuous time at Nebraska. Bo Pelini was interim head coach and wanted badly to have the interim tag removed. He would try to hire the younger Kiffin, perhaps as offensive coordinator or co-coordinator. It seemed realistic at the time, said Kiffin, who was then USC’s wide receivers coach.
“It was obviously something I was extremely interested in,” Kiffin said. “There are only a few places I would’ve been willing to go at that time.”
Nebraska was among them.
“It’s a national championship-caliber program. It’s one of those unique places where you could go from Southern Cal and not feel like you were moving down.”
Although the Pelini-Kiffin plan never panned out at Nebraska, Kiffin hasn’t exactly languished at USC. From 2002-05, the Trojans were 48-4 and twice won all of the marbles (2003-04) before falling about seven minutes short of an unprecedented three-peat last season.
Against Nebraska, Kiffin no doubt will try to devise a plan that seizes upon the Huskers’ inexperienced and injury-plagued secondary. If you bleed Husker red, the USC wideout-NU cornerback matchup is a troublesome part of an otherwise competitive battle.
Foremost in USC’s wideout stable are Jarrett (29 career touchdowns), 6-foot, 200-pound senior Steve Smith (119 career receptions) and 6-5, 230-pound sophomore Patrick Turner, who “is going to be really special for us,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin seems intent on ensuring his wideouts are ready to pounce Saturday, especially Jarrett.
“I didn’t have Dwayne right against Arkansas,” Kiffin said. “We’re going to have him right the next time.”
Kiffin keeps pushing. He insists Southern Cal can match or exceed last season’s offensive success.
“We think John David Booty has a better arm than Matt Leinart,” Kiffin said referring to the Trojans’ first-year starting quarterback. “We think, in some ways, there are things we can do better with John David than we did with Matt.”
For instance, Kiffin said, the 6-3, 210-pound Booty is better when firing passes into tight spaces.
What’s more, “Our tight end (Fred Davis) right now is better than the tight end we had last year (Dominique Byrd),” Kiffin said. “I really don’t think we need to lower ourselves because we lost some key personnel.”
Kiffin keeps pushing, forever prodding his players to improve. Just like his dad does.
Just like the great ones always do.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.