Southern Cal was blasted by UCLA Saturday, and started the rumor mill and conversation regarding Lane Kiffin’s status as head coach for the future.
ESPN L.A. is reporting that Kiffin was told he’d absolutely be back as head coach in 2013 regardless of the outcome against the Bruins by athletic director Pat Haden.
“Absolutely,” Haden said in the message.
The 7-4 Trojans started the season ranked number 1, but have lost 3 of those games this month.
Kiffin took the brunt of the blame for the disastrous season.
“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed in the season. We’re too talented to have this many losses, and that falls on me,” Kiffin said.
I’ m not sure you can remove Kiffin with the Trojans still dealing with loss of scholarships from the sanctions levied because of Reggie Bush.
Kiffin has one more season in my opinion to get the defense corrected, and should benefit from tempered expectations for next season.