This is easily my new favorite story about FAU head coach Lane Kiffin ever. On Oct. 4 during an interview with Stadium, former No. 1 NFL Draft pick and Fresno State quarterback David Carr revealed the story of how Kiffin’s coaching career began, and you’ve just gotta hear it to believe it.
The story of Lane Kiffin’s coaching career starting in the most Lane Kiffin way imaginable
His former QB competition at Fresno State, David Carr, adds an amazing detail to the tale.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
As legend has it, Lane, upset that he was losing reps to Carr — a true freshman during Kiffin’s fifth year — showed up in t-shirts and shorts on his last day of practice.
After coach Jeff Tedford ordered him off the field, it sounds like Lane’s father, Monte, ordered the QB to get back onto it.
Carr: “Lane was great. He was exactly what you’d expect, he was just a fifth-year guy that didn’t want to give his spot up to a freshman.”
Stadium: “Who would?”
Carr: “And then I started taking reps from him in practice, and his last day as a Bulldog player was when he came out, we were supposed to be in full pads, and he came out with shorts and a t-shirt on. And Jeff Tedford says ‘Lane, what are you doing?’ And he says ‘well, I figured I could come out here in shorts and a t-shirt because you’re just gonna give all my reps to Dave.’ And he [Tedford] sends him in, ‘get off the field’ so he leaves practice, disappears. I’m like ‘OK Lane quit,’ right?
“Well, Monte Kiffin is Lane’s dad. Monte’s a coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defensive coordinator at the time. Monte’s not having this, right. 30 minutes goes by, Lane comes back out without his helmet, shorts and t-shirt, and he is now the wide receiver assistant coach. That’s how his coaching career began.”
This whole story could be true.
Here’s Lane’s “official” response:
Here’s Tedford’s recollection:
“I said, ‘Why don’t you just start as a (graduate assistant) right now?’ because you knew he was going to coach,” Tedford has said. “So he did. He spent long hours. Even as a student, he spent long hours in my office with me at night watching tape. He would always give suggestions.”
And Kiffin has talked about Carr helping him get into coaching before.
“David Carr walked on campus as a true freshman, becoming the first pick in the draft,” Kiffin once said, “and so we went and threw for 10 minutes, and I decided I was going to start coaching because it was obvious I was going to third team. So I guess I should thank David Carr for that.”
It doesn’t exactly sound like Kiffin is bitter.
“They say, like, you never know why things happen,” Kiffin told Holly Anderson in 2017. Like blessings in disguise. You know what I didn’t realize at the time is a really good blessing, is that I was a really crappy player.”
And there’s this, from ESPN’s Alex Scarbrough:
Billy Volek was going to be the starter and some freshman named David Carr had just arrived, so rather than ride the bench his senior season, he decided instead to become a student coach.
Pat Hill, who coached 15 seasons at Fresno State, gave Kiffin all the responsibilities of a graduate assistant, working closely with then-offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford.
For now, Kiffin has just disputed what he was wearing, so we’ll see if we get more confirmation from him on the validity of this whole story.
And as unconventional as this story sounds, this is pretty par for the course in terms of Kiffin’s coaching career. From getting fired from the Oakland Raiders after 20 games, to getting fired from USC on a tarmac, and leaving Alabama before the 2016 national championship game, Kiffin’s path hasn’t exactly been traditional.
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