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Lane Kiffin is not the head coach at Houston as of this exact moment. He remains the Alabama offensive coordinator and has said he wants to coach the Tide’s offense through the College Football Playoff.
It’s clear he’s in demand, though. SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey has reported in the past week that Kiffin’s interviewed at Houston and is USF’s top target, and that LSU head coach Ed Orgeron has pursued Kiffin as a potential OC for the Tigers.
So now what?
On the one hand:
Oh, and when I said hearing Kiffin could be named coach today, that meant of the University of Houston
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) December 8, 2016
BREAKING: Houston has decided on Lane Kiffin, president to OK the hire at a Thursday meeting, @USATODAY has learned https://t.co/DhTeueFIU5
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 8, 2016
On the other:
Sources at Houston say that no head coaching hire has been approved yet. Deliberation is still ongoing regarding multiple candidates.
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) December 8, 2016
USAToday reporting Houston's set to hire Lane Kiffin.. UH source told FoxSports no decision's been made & no offer's been extended to anyone
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 8, 2016
From Houston’s AD:
— Hunter Yurachek (@HunterYurachek) December 8, 2016
No new pope/head coach yet.
Former LSU head coach Les Miles, Houston coordinators Todd Orlando and Major Applewhite, and Oklahoma OC Lincoln Riley have also been top candidates.
Kiffin remains attractive to Houston, but establishing a consistent transition from the Tom Herman era has been on the minds of some decision makers, Godfrey’s reported.
Kiffin’s reputation had declined after failed college head coaching stints at Tennessee and USC, but it’s rebounded considerably in the three years he’s spent as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator. Alabama has four- and five-star talent at every position, but Kiffin deserves credit for the Tide unit that won a national title last year and been No. 1 for the entirety of 2016 so far.
He’s updated Alabama’s offense with spread running concepts that helped true freshman Jalen Hurts dominate the SEC, and he’s made Alabama’s offense look a lot like other college offenses, only better. Alabama didn’t immediately jump into the pool with other programs that transitioned to spread-oriented offenses over the last five years. But the Tide are there now, and they’re thriving, thanks largely to Kiffin.