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Press Conference Q&A with Lane Kiffin
12/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 13, 2016
Q: How do you build a team at FAU?
“Got that sunshine right there, I know that, and those palm trees, that’ll help, and a beautiful stadium. I do believe that recruiting is about the people and it’s about the people that I’ve already met that were around and the support that recruits and families will see when they come here. That it is ‘we’ and it’s a program committed to doing the things to become a championship program. Yes, all people will talk about facilities that are great, and there’s a process here for that happening, but that’s not the No. 1 most important thing. It’ll be the people that we put in the program and when the families and the kids come here and see that, they’ll want to be a part of this.”
Q: What have you learned from your previous head coaching jobs?
“How much time do we have? A lot. As hard as some times were, when you go through those experiences, if you learn from them and you don’t make the same mistakes, you now know the answers to things when they come up. I’ve talked about that a lot and I like helping first-year head coaches. I went down to see Tom Herman when he first got to Houston and had put together some notes, about 32 different things I wrote down for him. (Things) that no one teaches you until you become a head coach, that you don’t even think about. I’m in a much better position now, when things come up, to having answers instead of figuring them out. That’s maturity and growth, if you learn from those things. There would be a lot of things to that (question), but I think it’s just in general, learning from those experiences so when they happen, you’re in a better position. (After) three years with Coach (Nick) Saban, you have a whole new set of answers. So I think as you sit down to figure things out, ‘OK, this is what Pete (Carroll) would have done, this is what Coach Saban would do,’ and you kind of put it together. Where I think I was so young as a head coach, I think I just was just figuring everything out one day at a time versus really having a plan. Sometimes that happens. Coach Carroll referred to it before to me, he got fired twice and he said something between that (second and) third time, it just came together for him and he figured it out. You kind of stop trying to be someone else and you figure out what you want to do and what you want for your program and that’s where I’m at today.”
Q: What do you know about the players you have coming back?
“I know that we’re a very young team. I’ve not studied the entire roster, that was not important at the time, it was more important to me to meet the people that were in charge here and the leadership that was here, because I know what we can do with the players. I know it’s a very young roster, and there is talent on the team, and there were very close games in the second half last year. We’ll go to work today with our current players and go find immediate impact players that can come in right away and help us win next year.”
Q: What are you able to do while you’re still at Alabama in terms of this job?
“I do have the ability to go back and forth, it is a dead period coming up. There’s not a need to go back and forth as much (as opposed to if) this had been a week ago when recruiting was still alive. I can do a lot of that over the phone while I’m there. We’ll be preparing to hopefully go win another championship, back-to-back National Championships. We were fortunate to win three SEC Championships in a row, now we’re going to try to go and win another National Championship. That’ll be the focus, and then in the other time, my focus will be on recruiting over the phone and also hiring a staff. On that note, with Coach Saban, I just felt that it was very important, as grateful as we are for this opportunity, it was very important to go finish what we started there in the commitment to those players and how hard they have worked throughout the process to get to this point. To be in the Final Four, it’s time to go finish that.”
Q: Did you talk with either Tom Coughlin or Pete Carroll during this process?
“I did speak with Coach Carroll via text on some things, I’d spoken with him about two weeks ago about some different things going through this process. We were both on the same page. This was not about becoming a head coach, I was very happy at Alabama in what we were doing there and what we were building. And to have a true freshman there in Jalen Hurts and what he was able to do, being the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, we were fortunate three years in a row to have the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. This was not a ‘I’ve got to be a head coach.’ There’s some special things going on at Alabama, obviously a run of 25 straight wins, I was very happy there. This was a unique opportunity of a place that really wanted to build a championship program, a place that under Coach (Schnellenberger) was there a time ago, so it’s time to get it back.”
Q: How can you build rapport with your players so that when they get on the field Week One, they perform how you want?
“One of things that is very fortunate because of name recognition of where I’ve been and what these guys know … that’s very valuable initially. That doesn’t matter at the end, but initially, they naturally areready to listen, because they’re watching the teams you’re part of. The great players, the Heisman (Trophy) winners, they know we can take them there. That makes that part very easy, but at the end of the day, it’ll be about the relationships that I’ve always had with the players. They know that I can take them somewhere they can’t take themselves, and we’ve done that often.”
Q: How much more attractive was this job because of your proximity to your father (assistant head coach of defense for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Monte Kiffin)?
“There were a lot of things very attractive about this job. We’ve talked about where the program is at, (and) the commitment to building this program to a championship level. There were some family things, about location, that also made this great. With my dad in Jacksonville, my sister and a bunch of family in the Tampa area and some actually down here in Fort Lauderdale. The majority of our family and my kids’ relatives, I would say 90 percent of them, are in Florida, so very attractive.”
Q: In terms of a turnaround, what sort of a timeline are you hoping or expecting to get this program to the .500 mark?
“We really don’t care about what happened before. I talked to the players last night about that, that doesn’t matter and we’re not going to focus on it. We’re going to focus on where we’re going, but that’s going to be one day at a time and it’s going to be about how we work and how we build this.
“I said this last night sitting in the office … you’re probably not going to believe this, this is my fourth head (coaching) job … and I was the most excited that I’d been of any job. And I know it’s like, how can you believe that – USC, Tennessee, Oakland Raiders – because it’s just a different place and a different feeling. It’s a place of building something and doing something that’s never been done before versus trying to do what’s already been done. It’s going to be a special run and it’s going to feel different as you’re doing it. It’s going to feel different because we’re taking everyone here to a place they haven’t been. There’s so much excitement for me about doing that, I’m just excited for where we’re at right now and very fortunate and grateful for the opportunity.”
Q: What’s your approach to recruiting in the state of Florida?
“It’s again, a very attractive part of the job. I’ve recruited Florida a bunch myself. When we were at USC, Coach Carroll made a decision after the first year there, that he wanted to put eight coaches in California and one coach with the other 49 states … so that was me. So I’d pack my bag and go. And similar to what I’m talking about, doing stuff that’s never been done before, I came down to Florida. At USC, we’d finished our first year, we were 6-6 and lost to Utah in the Vegas Bowl. It was not like recruiting to USC, not like what you’re used to. It was a different time then, USC had been down for a while, had not won a National Championship since 1981. I just took the mindset, I didn’t know any different, I’m going to go beat Florida, Florida State and Miami in their own backyard. That’s just how I think, I don’t really worry about what was done before. And I remember some coaches, even on our staff, kind of laughing and saying you’re wasting your time. What are you doing trying to go get Keith Rivers, the top player in Florida, from outside of Orlando? He’s not going to come all the way to USC. What are you doing going to try to beat Florida on Mike Williams, who’s in Tampa and Gainesville is right up the road? That just made me more excited. Just like people that say, why are you taking this job? I’ve recruited here a lot before, been fortunate to sign a number of great players from Florida, so I look forward to getting back to doing that.”
Q: What do you say to prospective players that think you won’t stay at FAU?
“As you’ve heard me talk about in this press conference, I’m in a different place than where I would have been 10 years ago, and I think different. I see something really special here. Meeting with the people that are here, when I met with them, this was different. Being in those interviews, you can tell sometimes that of the four or five people in that room that you’re meeting with, maybe two or three of them want to do something special. I could feel everyone in that room was committed to doing something really special. Why not build something special and take it to where it’s never gone before and continue to do that? Pete (Carroll) would say all the time, anybody can win once. You can have one year because you fall into a great quarterback, or the ball bounces the right way or you get some good calls, but can you do it over and over and over again? That’s what success is, and that’s what we’re getting ready to do here.”
Q: Would you perhaps look to local high school coaches to fill out your staff?
“Definitely. Actually (I) started last night, reaching out to a number of high school coaches in all of Florida, especially south Florida, to make sure they knew what we were doing with the program. The doors are open. The commitment here (is) to also help football get better, high school football here, bringing them in to help them. But then also at the same time, looking at some in a coaching role here, or an off-the-field role, that can help us continue to develop relationships here with the high school community.”
Q: When it comes to hiring assistants, what kind of traits are you looking for and how do you judge keeping people that are here?
“Before I go back tonight (to Alabama), I’m going to spend the majority of today doing that, talking to the people that are here. Obviously we’ll make some changes, and some people we’ll evaluate. Having to go back, there will be an evaluation period and I’ll be very clear with them about that and interview some of them. We not just going to change to change, if there’s really good people here, that have great relationships with our players and are coaching our guys extremely well, then we’ll look at keeping them. We’ll spend the day working on that and then also, obviously, talking to other people so that we get the right fit. This will not be about hiring the biggest names, this will be about hiring the best coaches for Florida Atlantic’s program right now.”
Q: Do you intend to bring some guys from Alabama?
“That is definitely a possibility. Obviously we’ve got some great coaches at Alabama, in roles where they would come here, in advanced roles, so that’s definitely an option.”
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