After a failed gig with the Oakland Raiders, Lane Kiffin has proven to be one of the best head coaches in college football over the course of his stints with the Florida Atlantic Owls and Ole Miss Rebels, going 74-31 over the past nine seasons.
While the College Football Playoff rankings won't be released until later this year, the Rebels are ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 and have the look of a legitimate contender after a 4-0 start. They have the opportunity to make a statement this weekend when they host the No. 4-ranked LSU Tigers.
His coaching success wasn't always guaranteed, however, after tumultuous endings to his first three head coaching opportunities. The first of those gigs came with the then-Oakland Raiders back in 2007, when Al Davis made the then-31-year-old Kiffin the youngest coach in modern NFL history.
Lane Kiffin looks back on shocking call that ended his Raiders tenure
After leading the team to a 4-12 record in his first season, the Raiders were off to a 1-2 start in his second year, and leading the then-San Diego Chargers 15-0 with one second remaining in the first half.
Kiffin made the bizarre decision to have kicker Sebastian Janikowski attempt a 76-yard field goal, which, at the time, would've shattered the previous record by 13 yards. In fact, to this day, nobody has kicked a field goal longer than 66 yards in an NFL game.
Janikowski's kick came up well short, and Oakland went on to lose the game 28-18. Kiffin, who was fired two days later, recently reminisced on the decision and shared his perspective while speaking on The Pat McAfee Show. Kiffin even revealed that the kick was actually Shane Lechler's idea.
"Sometimes we're just ahead of the curve; they just aren't ready for it yet. And, he had made that in practice. And, like you said, I'm going to believe in the players," Kiffin said. "It was actually Lechler, the punter. He's the one by me, and he goes, 'Hey, we got this coach.' And I'm like, 'Alright, Shane, sure.' ... Then I'm like, 'Oh, (expletive), there goes the returner, phew, oh, he tackled him'. I could feel Al Davis up in the press box going, 'If this gets returned, I'm firing this coach.' I think he fired me the next week anyways."
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Kiffin was, indeed, fired with the move coming just two days after the 76-yard field goal attempt. While coaches typically don't listen to punters when it comes to decision-making, it should be noted that Lechler was less than a year younger than Kiffin.
Tom Cable, who had previously served as the offensive line coach, was promoted to interim head coach following Kiffin's departure. He led the Raiders to a 4-8 mark the rest of the way and was given the head coaching job following the season.
While this attempt, which ended up not being close, lives in Raiders lore as one of the most bizarre decisions the fan base has seen, it was nice to hear Kiffin's perspective on it and learn a little nugget about how and why it transpired in the first place.