Lane Kiffin is now college football's highest-paid offensive coordinator
Lane Kiffin has now been properly rewarded for rejuvenating and exploding Alabama's offense.
Alabama trustees on Friday approved a one-year contract for the Tide's offensive coordinator that will pay him $1.4 million through Feb. 28, 2017.
Kiffin was paid in the neighborhood of $700,000 for his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa while still collecting $2.7 million in severance from USC in 2014.
The deal stops in February because, presumably, another program will make Kiffin their head coach this winter. If not, Kiffin would be welcomed back to a job where his work running the Tide's offense has been nothing short of masterful. In the event Kiffin leaves, Alabama seemingly has a ready-made successor in place in former USC head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was hired earlier this week.
Alabama won the SEC and reached the College Football Playoff in 2014 while playing with a one-year starter at quarterback in Blake Sims, then claimed another SEC title and won the national championship under another one-year starter in transfer Jake Coker.
The top-ranked Tide opened the 2016 season with a 52-6 win over then-No. 20 USC while playing primarily with true freshman Jalen Hurts at quarterback.
The new contract makes Kiffin the highest-paid offensive coordinator in college football and the second-highest paid assistant in college football behind Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis. Clemson's Brent Venables signed a new contract in January of 2015 that pays him $1.35 million before bonuses.
