USC Trojans assistant coach
Kiffin began working with the
University of Southern California (USC) staff during the
2001 season and became the
wide receivers coach prior to the
2002 season. For the
2004 season, he added the duties of passing game coordinator, and he was promoted to
offensive coordinator for the
2005 season after
Norm Chow left USC for the same position with the NFL's
Tennessee Titans. Kiffin also took the reins as recruiting coordinator that year. Along with these duties, Kiffin continued as the wide receivers coach. Under Kiffin in 2005 the USC offense produced numerous school records, averaging 49.1 points and 579 yards per game and becoming the first in NCAA history to have a 3,000 yard passer (
Matt Leinart), two 1,000 yard rushers (
Reggie Bush and
LenDale White), and a 1,000 yard receiver (
Dwayne Jarrett).
Steve Smith fell a few yards of also surpassing 1,000 yards in receiving. In Kiffin’s three years as recruiting coordinator at USC, the Trojans had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in college football every year. The Trojans finished first in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency by averaging 142.8 passer rating, produced two, 1,000-yard receivers – Dwayne Jarrett (1,105) and Steve Smith (1,083) – and a 3,000-yard passer
John David Booty, with 3,347 yards. The team produced top 20 statistics in most NCAA offensive categories and concluded with a 32–18 win over the then #3 ranked team the
University of Michigan in the
Rose Bowl.
Kiffin helped guide USC to a 23–3 win-loss record during his tenure as offensive coordinator, an 88% win percentage; however, in June 2010 the NCAA retroactively declared
Reggie Bush ineligible for the entire 2005 season, and forced USC to vacate all of its 2005 wins. Litigation from former coach
Todd McNair to overturn those vacancies is still ongoing.
[5]
This is going to be fun.
