Steve Sarkisian vs. Lane Kiffin is a fun undercard to the main event of Texas at LSU
· Yahoo Sports
AUSTIN - Steve Sarkisian matches wits with Lane Kiffin on Saturday, which offers an intriguing subplot to the main story on the field.
Well, maybe.
Visit freshyourfeel.org for more information.
It could be argued that these two polarizing coaches are the top narrative, and the game itself is secondary. Kiffin, as the declared King of Social Media until he got off it, might not be opposed to that.
The LSU coach does like attention. No, wait. He demands it. Sarkisian is fine with it and, given some of his offseason quips, it seems some of his good buddy's antics have rubbed off on the Texas coach.
Sarkisian and Kiffin might be mirror images of each other. That especially holds for the LSU coach with the boyish charm because he has never met a mirror he didn't like.
Sarkisian also has no shortage of self-confidence - should we say arrogance - which is yet one more common denominator for these two premier head coaches in college football.
The two will go head to head as head coaches at their current jobs for the first time Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
Not sure there has ever been two head coaches playing in the same conference that share such similar backgrounds and common ground - or uncommon ground, considering their paths - than these two men barely in their 50s.
Sign up for Kirk Bohls' newsletter
Sign up for Kirk Bohls' new newsletter for news, exclusive analysis and insights on University of Texas sports.
Both are head coaches in the SEC making $11 million or more. Kiffin somehow gets by with $13 million.
Both were quarterbacks in college, but Sarkisian actually played. Kiffin didn't play a snap.
Both called plays under Pete Carroll for USC.
Both got fired as the head coach at USC, but Kiffin got the axe barely after he got off the airplane from a road game.
Both have spent abbreviated time in the NFL before being fired.
Both coached for the Oakland Raiders, Kiffin as head coach and Sarkisian as quarterbacks coach.
Both are really good friends who share insults and insights on the same group text threads.
Both are incredibly smart. And eloquent.
Both coach at programs with near $50 million rosters.
Both have been panned for less than perfect seasons since they've lost a combined five games.
Both have overcome alcohol addiction. "On a personal level, a major change in my life was getting sober almost six years ago, and he was a big part of that," Kiffin said of Sarkisian. "I owe him a lot for that and will always be appreciative of that."
Sarkisian is a native Californian. Kiffin is Nebraska-born but California-cool. No truth to the rumor he came out of the womb tanned and wearing sunglasses.
In fact, these two have so much in common that they rehabilitated their reputations and repaired their careers in Nick Saban's halfway house for wayward coaches.
They're both front and center in the Saban docuseries although Kiffin got the most verbal spankings.
"Lane and I do go way back," Sarkisian said Monday, noting he was a grad assistant at USC when Kiffin was the tight end coach. "I think Coach Carroll had a big impact on both of us. Then there's this influence of Nick Saban on both of our careers. You love competing against your friends, and there's nothing more gratifying than beating your friends."
Lane Kiffin's first season at LSU is off to a 6-3 start after last week's loss to Alabama. (Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Imag)Sarkisian has to beat Kiffin to ensure a spot in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin has to beat Sarkisian to keep a For Sale sign from being planted in his front yard.
But they also have their differences, too.
When I asked Sarkisian about them Thursday, he demurred, "I don't know. I know this. I have a ton of respect for Lane and the job that he does. He's always had very talented teams. They play well. He's a really bright football coach. Thinks outside the box."
Thinks it? No, Kiffin invented out of the box.
No coach has angered more fan bases at his exits than Kiffin whether it was from Tennessee after one season to return to USC or from Ole Miss in the middle of the season. That was a new one, even for him, but it added to the growing list of fan bases who hate him. He might be leaving Bobby Petrino in his wake.
Both were unceremoniously fired as USC head coaches although Kiffin wins for drama since he was let go on an airport tarmac on the very night after giving up 62 points to Arizona State.
Both were quarterbacks, but Sarkisian actually played. He was a record-setting star at BYU while Kiffin was a backup at Fresno State and quit the team during his senior season to be a student assistant coach. Wise move.
Steve Sarkisian was the USC offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at USC when Lane Kiffin was assistant head coach/quarterbacks in the 2005 season. (Erich Schlegel)The duo combined to call plays for a 2004 Trojans team that put up half a hundred points in almost half its games and obliterated Oklahoma for a national championship. Then-USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, for whom Sarkisian played at BYU, claimed in Monte Burke's "Men of Troy" book that Sark undermined him with Carroll and wrote that Sark and Kiffin were young, cocky and living high.
Kiffin spent a season and a quarter as a 31-year-old head coach of the Oakland Raiders before going 4-12 and getting fired after a 1-3 start by owner Al Davis, who called him "a flat-out liar." Sarkisian called plays for the Atlanta Falcons for two years before getting fired for his red-zone failures. Hmmmm.
The two are very tight and don't mind exchanging barbs. They share a lot of group thread texts that Kiffin always starts.
"I do appreciate that Lane has the humor and ability to do that," Sarkisian said. "He's humble enough to joke about himself, honestly, and all of us. And so I think that part's kind of fun."
Both are super smart, maybe too smart for their own good. Kiffin at least trusts his offense to play-caller Charlie Weis Jr. Sarkisian, analyst and former Longhorn Rod Babers told "On Second Thought," has "nobody on his staff he trusts to call plays, and that scares me."
It scares a lot of people.
Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin shared the sidelines at Alabama under Nick Saban. (Bob Rosato/RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports)Alabama owns Kiffin, who is 0-6 against the Crimson Tide, while Sarkisian is 1-1 against Alabama and would be 2-0 if not for a missed sack and a last-second field goal at DKR.
Saban hired Kiffin as his offensive coordinator, only to fire him and promote Sarkisian in the middle of the playoffs when Lane took the Florida Atlantic job.
Sarkisian has a very strong personality but is extremely guarded about his private life. Kiffin has a personality that's out of control. Kiffin doesn't do subtle.
Lane Kiffin doesn't mind a little showmanship such as having Kevin Costner join the "Victory Walk" before last week's game vs. Alabama. (Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Imag)Did you see who joined him on the Victory Walk to the Tiger Stadium last week? None other than Kevin Costner, Shaq and Angel Reese. Who's joining him Saturday? Taylor Swift? Beyonce? The ghost of Billy Cannon?
"It doesn't have to do with winning or losing games and who walks in. We'd won every game at home so far, so who walked in wasn't the reason we didn't execute in the red zone," Kiffin said. "Obviously, recruiting is the number one part of the whole thing that you create a program with. People watch from far away, and not just 12th graders, but eighth graders, and they see it and go, "That place is cool. I want to go there."
Sarkisian, however, doesn't feel the need to draw as much attention to himself. He understands the Longhorn brand doesn't need to oversell.
"Sark is great and very transparent," SEC Now host Peter Burns told the "On Second Thought" podcast. "He's not going to rock the boat a whole lot, and they're winning ballgames. So are you trying to win the social media war? Or are you trying to win football games?'
That's always up for debate with Lane.
Kiffin doesn't mind whom he trolls. Sarkisian rarely said an unkind word until this offseason when he poked fun of Texas Tech's schedule and promoted Ole Miss's basket-weaving curriculum.
"Lane tries to convince himself that all of the headlines help the branding," said Burns, a Baton Rouge native who's attended more than 50 games at Tiger Stadium. "You probably had to do that at FAU. You probably had to do that at Ole Miss to get on everybody's radar. LSU is like Texas. You're already on everybody's radar. So the question is is the juice worth the squeeze? So you probably can't ask a tiger to change his stripes."
It's definitely what LSU signed up for. Its 6-3 record, not so much.
Lane Kiffin's USC team beat Steve Sarkisian's Washington team in 2012. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)Another thing these two coaches have in common is that neither has won a national championship as a head coach.
Sarkisian's definitely come closer and might have played for one in 2023 but could never get a hand on Michael Penix in the Sugar Bowl and in 2024 because of a stupid blitz before halftime and a more stupid toss sweep in the red zone against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Kiffin has a lacking record against Top 25 teams. He's 15-27 versus ranked teams, including 0-3 this season. Sark's 25-35 but 18-7 in his last five years as well as 4-0 this year.
Sarkisian dresses better.
Kiffin has a better sense of humor. He once joked at Ole Miss that the Rebels were coming for Alabama and fans had "better get their popcorn ready." The Tide smoked Ole Miss. The next week, Ole Miss offered free popcorn at its game.
Sarkisian almost certainly could have had the Alabama job and succeeded Saban but didn't want to live in Tuscaloosa. Or follow the legend.
Kiffin almost certainly has coveted the Alabama job, but the Tide wanted no part of the Kiffin circus. (See: Saban butt-chewings.)
The simple truth is both are very good at recruiting. Both are damn good coaches. Both have egos that can land them in trouble but gets enormous clicks.
Neither really minds being in the spotlight, but just one absolutely craves it. Maybe almost as much as he does wins.
Subscribe
There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Steve Sarkisian vs. Lane Kiffin is a fun undercard to the main event of Texas at LSU.