Written by Dan Wolken at USAToday.com
Houston is closing in on a decision to make Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin its next football coach, pending a Thursday meeting at which school President Renu Khator will have to give the final OK, two people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. Those people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the school had not yet announced the move.
Kiffin would replace Tom Herman, who left for Texas after two seasons.
Houston has not officially offered the job and can’t until the president signs off on it. Major booster Tilman Fertitta told a Houston radio station Thursday morning that no decision has been made.
Though it’s possible Houston could backtrack, Kiffin has been operating as if he will become the next Houston coach as of Wednesday night.
As of Wednesday, Houston had eliminated Les Miles as a candidate and was deliberating between Kffin and its internal candidates, most prominently defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley had been a candidate but pulled out Wednesday.
South Florida’s opening accelerated the process as Kiffin’s representatives were trying to leverage interest in that job as Houston had dragged its feet this week.
Kiffin, 41, was USC’s coach for three-plus seasons and at Tennessee for one prior to that. His career record is 35-21. He was fired from USC five games into the 2013 season but landed at Alabama in 2014 to begin to rebuild his reputation.
A brilliant offensive mind, Kiffin has been crucial in Alabama’s transformation to a more varied up-tempo attack and it was only a matter of time before he got another chance as a head coach despite questions about why it ended so badly with the Trojans.
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