UCLA Offered Former USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin OC Gig

As much as USC has been accused of trying to recreate the success of Pete Carroll, the UCLA Bruins seem hellbent on trying out more Trojan retreads than the Trojans themselves.

UPDATE (1/14): Per Scout’s BruinReport, Lane Kiffin was not offered the UCLA job. (Link)

ORIGINAL STORY: The Bruins offered their offensive coordinator job to Lane Kiffin following the departure of Noel Mazzone to Texas A&M, according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy. The former USC head coach and current Alabama offensive coordinator turned UCLA down prior to the national championship game between the Crimson Tide and Clemson.

Given his success at Alabama, it is hard to imagine Kiffin changing venues for a lateral move — especially for a team that isn’t in the national title hunt every year as Nick Saban’s squad is. Still, the Bruins may have hoped that the draw of Los Angeles would be enough to float the offer.

Kiffin is far from the first USC-connected hire UCLA has attempted to make either.

In 2008 the Bruins brought in Norm Chow, who led some of the top offenses in the nation at USC from 2001 through 2004 before leaving to join the Tennessee Titans in the NFL. Chow was unable to replicate results at UCLA, however, and he departed the program in 2010. The next year Rick Neuheisel was fired.

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• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

Newly-promoted offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu was also an offensive coordinator and running backs coach at USC prior to joining Jim Mora’s staff in 2013.

Polamalu began his tenure as UCLA’s OC by poaching USC quarterback coach Marques Tuiasosopo to fill the same position for the Bruins. Tuiasosopo was also named passing game coordinator. Granted he had spent time as Mora’s tight ends coach in 2012.

Before Polamalu was promoted, there was also unsubstantiated talk that another fired Trojan head coach could be candidate for the Bruins’ opening — Steve Sarkisian. Obviously nothing came of that talk, but the USC-UCLA coaching web remains plenty interesting.