Lane Kiffin is the front-runner to become the San Francisco 49ers’ new offensive coordinator. (AP photo)
Last month, Lane Kiffin said he would return as Alabama’s offensive coordinator.
It now appears that he is the front-runner for the same position with the San Francisco 49ers.
"Yes. Definitely," Kiffin said in December. "I think that we still have a lot of stuff that we can do better. Working with a new quarterback, that will be exciting. To me, the excitement of the unknown when you have the quarterback, to see if we can do this again, if we can perform really well and obviously coach has recruited very well year in and year out.
Under Kiffin, Alabama was second in the SEC in scoring offense (36.9 points) and third in total offense (484.5 yards). He put together game plans for a balanced attack that helped Blake Sims, a first-year starter at QB, finish third in the SEC with 249.1 yards passing a game.
Of course, he also had All-America WR Amari Cooper (124 catches for 1,727 yards and 16 TDs) and RBs Derrick Henry (990 yards) and T.J. Yeldon (979 yards).
Kiffin isn’t known to stay put for very long. Since being fired as the coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2008, he was the coach of both Tennessee and Southern California before heading to Alabama last year.
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Tomsula is putting together his staff since being hired to replace Jim Harbaugh, who was hired by Michigan.
