The Washington Post is the most widely circulated newspaper published in Washington, D.C., and oldest extant in the area, founded in 1877. Located in the capital city of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. Daily editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The newspaper is published as a broadsheet, with photographs printed both in color and in black and white. In 2008, Marcus Brauchli replaced long-time executive editor Leonard Downie, Jr., serving publisher Katharine Weymouth.^[3]

In the early 1970s, in the best known episode in the recent history of The Post, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press's investigation into what became known as the Watergate scandal; reporting in the newspaper greatly contributed to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In years since, its investigations have led to increased review of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.^[4] The newspaper is also known as the namesake of "The Washington Post March", which John Phillip Sousa composed in 1889 while he was leading the United States Marine Band;^[5] it became the standard music to accompany the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze.^[6]

The Post has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes. This includes six separate Pulitzers awarded in 2008, the second-highest number ever given to a single newspaper in one year.^[7] The Post has also received 18 Nieman Fellowships and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards, among others.

The newspaper is owned by The Washington Post Company, an education and media company that also owns Kaplan, Inc., and many media ventures besides The Post.

Overview[link]

The Post is generally regarded as one of the leading daily American newspapers,^[8] along with The New York Times, which is known for its general reporting and international coverage, and The Wall Street Journal, which is known for its financial reporting. The Post has distinguished itself through its political reporting on the workings of the White House, Congress, and other aspects of the U.S. government.

Unlike the Times and the Journal, the Post does not print an edition for distribution away from the East Coast. In 2009, the newspaper ceased publication of its "National Weekly Edition", which combined stories from the week's print editions, due to shrinking circulation.^[9] The majority of its newsprint readership is in District of Columbia and its suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia.^[10]

The paper's weekday and Saturday printings include the following sections:

• Main section, containing the front page, national and international news, business, politics, and editorials and opinions
• Metro section, containing local news
• Style section, with feature writing on pop culture, politics, fine and performing arts, film, fashion, and gossip, along with advice columns and comics
• Sports section
• Classified advertising

Sunday editions largely include the weekday sections as well as Outlook (opinion), Arts, Travel, Comics, TV Week, and the Washington Post Magazine. The "Sunday Style" section differs slightly from the weekday Style section; it is in a tabloid format, and it houses the reader-written humor contest The Style Invitational.

Additional weekly sections appear on weekdays: Health & Science on Tuesday, Food on Wednesday, Local Living (home and garden) on Thursday, and Weekend, with details about upcoming events in the local area, on Friday. The latter two are in a tabloid format.

The Washington Post headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Post is one of a few U.S. newspapers with foreign bureaus, located in Baghdad, Bogota, Cairo, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Jerusalem, Kabul, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Paris, Shanghai, Tehran, and Tokyo.^[11] In November 2009, it announced the closure of its U.S. regional bureaus — Chicago, Los Angeles and New York — as part of an increased focus on "political stories and local news coverage in Washington."^[12] The paper has local bureaus in Maryland (Annapolis, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Southern Maryland) and Virginia (Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Richmond, and Prince William County).^[13]

As of September 2009^[update], its average weekday circulation was 582,844, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, making it the fifth largest newspaper in the country by circulation, behind USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. While its circulation (like that of almost all newspapers) has been slipping, it has one of the highest market-penetration rates of any metropolitan news daily.^[14]

The paper is part of The Washington Post Company, a diversified education and media company that also owns educational services provider Kaplan, Inc., Post-Newsweek Stations, Cable One, the online magazine Slate, The Gazette and Southern Maryland Newspapers, and The Herald, a daily paper in Everett, Washington. The company also distributes the free daily Express newspaper in the D.C. area and runs its own syndication service for its columnists and cartoonists, The Washington Post Writers Group.^[15]

The Post has its main office at 1150 15th St, N.W., and the newspaper has the exclusive ZIP code 20071.^[16]

History[link]

Founding and early period[link]

The paper was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins and in 1880 added a Sunday edition, thus becoming the city's first newspaper to publish seven days a week. In 1889, Hutchins sold the paper to Frank Hatton, a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio. To promote the paper, the new owners requested the leader of the Marine Band, John Philip Sousa, to compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa composed The Washington Post, which remains one of his best-known works. In 1899, during the Spanish–American War, The Post printed Clifford K. Berryman's classic illustration Remember the Maine, which became the battle-cry for American sailors during the War. In 1902, Berryman published another famous cartoon in The Post— "Drawing the Line in Mississippi." This cartoon depicts President Theodore Roosevelt showing compassion for a small bear cub and inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom to create the teddy bear.^[17]

Wilkins acquired Hatton's share of the paper in 1894 at Hatton's death. After Wilkins' death in 1903, his sons John and Robert ran The Post for two years before selling it in 1905 to John Roll McLean, owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer. During the Wilson presidency, The Post was credited with the "most famous newspaper typo" in D.C. history according to Reason magazine; The Post intended to report that President Wilson had been "entertaining" his future-wife Mrs. Galt, but instead wrote that he had been "entering" Mrs. Galt.^[18][19] When John McLean died in 1916, he put the paper in trust, having little faith that his playboy son Edward "Ned" McLean could manage his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, but, under his management, the paper slumped toward ruin.

Meyer-Graham period[link]

The Washington Post was purchased in a bankruptcy auction in 1933 by a member of the Federal Reserve's board of governors, Eugene Meyer, who restored the paper's health and reputation. In 1946, Meyer was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law Philip Graham.

In 1954, The Post consolidated its position by acquiring and merging with its last morning rival, the Washington Times-Herald. (The combined paper would officially be named The Washington Post and Times-Herald until 1973, although the Times-Herald portion of the masthead became less and less prominent after the 1950s.) The merger left The Post with two remaining local competitors, the afternoon Washington Star (Evening Star) and The Washington Daily News, which merged in 1972 and folded in 1981. The Washington Times, established in 1982, has been a local rival with a circulation (as of 2005^[update]) about one-seventh that of The Post.^[20]

The Monday, July 21, 1969, edition, with the headline "'The Eagle Has Landed' — Two Men Walk on the Moon."

After Graham's death in 1963, control of The Washington Post Company passed to Katharine Graham, his wife and Meyer's daughter. No woman had ever run a nationally prominent newspaper in the United States. She described her own anxiety and lack of confidence based on her gender in her autobiography, and she did not assign duties to her daughter at the paper as she did to her son. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979 and headed The Washington Post Company into the early 1990s as chairman of the board and CEO. After 1993, she retained a position as chairman of the executive committee until her death in 2001.

Her tenure is credited with seeing The Post rise in national stature through effective investigative reporting, most notably to ensure that The New York Times did not surpass its Washington reporting of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandal. Executive editor Ben Bradlee put the paper's reputation and resources behind reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who, in a long series of articles, chipped away at the story behind the 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington. The Post's dogged coverage of the story, the outcome of which ultimately played a major role in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, won the paper a Pulitzer Prize in 1973.

In 1972, the "Book World" section was introduced with Pulitzer Prize winning critic William McPherson as its first editor.^[21] It featured Pulitzer Prize winning critics such as Jonathan Yardley and Michael Dirda, the latter of whom established his career as a critic at The Post. In 2009, after 37 years, "Book World" as a standalone insert was discontinued, the last issue being Sunday, February 15, 2009.^[22] However, book reviews are still published in the Outlook section on Sundays and in the Style section the rest of the week, as well as online.^[22]

In 1980, The Post published a dramatic story called "Jimmy's World",^[23] describing the life of an eight-year-old heroin addict in Washington, for which reporter Janet Cooke won acclaim and a Pulitzer Prize. Subsequent investigation, however, revealed the story to be a fabrication. The Pulitzer Prize was returned.

Donald Graham, Katharine's son, succeeded her as publisher in 1979 and in the early 1990s became both chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He was succeeded in 2000 as publisher and CEO by Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr., with Graham remaining as chairman.

Post-Graham period[link]

In 1996, the newspaper established a website.^[24]

In 2010, the paper cited its local focus as a reason for running its first-ever front page advertisement: the Capital One ad was being run to draw attention to the rebranding of Chevy Chase Bank, a bank Capital One bought in 2009. According to the Post's vice president of advertising, the page one advertisement is a "very local, useful-information-for-our-readers type of campaign."^[25]

Political stance[link]

This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (June 2009)

In the mid-1970s, some conservatives called The Washington Post "Pravda on the Potomac" due to its perceived left-wing bias in both reporting and editorials,^[26] This characterization referred to the official newspaper of the Soviet communist party. Since then, the appellation has been used by both liberal and conservative critics of The Post.^[27][28] In 1963, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly told President Lyndon B. Johnson, "I don't have much influence with The Post because I frankly don't read it. I view it like the Daily Worker."^[29][30]

As Katharine Graham noted in her autobiography Personal History, the paper long had a policy of not making endorsements for political candidates. However, since at least 2000, The Washington Post has occasionally endorsed Republican politicians, such as Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich.^[31] In 2006, it repeated its historic endorsements of every Republican incumbent for Congress in Northern Virginia.^[32] There have also been times when The Post has specifically chosen not to endorse any candidate, such as in the 1988 presidential election when it refused to endorse then Governor Michael Dukakis or then Vice President George H.W. Bush.^[33] On October 17, 2008, The Post endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States.^[34]

The Post's editorial positions on foreign policy and economic issues have seen a definitively conservative bent: it steadfastly supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, warmed to President George W. Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social Security, opposed a deadline for U.S. withdrawal from the Iraq War, and advocated free trade agreements, including CAFTA.^{[citation needed]}

In "Buying the War" on PBS, Bill Moyers noted 27 editorials supporting George W. Bush's ambitions to invade Iraq. National security correspondent Walter Pincus reported that he had been ordered to cease his reports that were critical of Republican administrations.^[35]

In 1992, the PBS investigative news program Frontline suggested that The Post had moved to the right in response to its smaller, more conservative rival The Washington Times, which is owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate owned by the Unification Church which also owns newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America. The program quoted Paul Weyrich, one of the founders of the conservative activist organization the Moral Majority, as saying "The Washington Post became very arrogant and they just decided that they would determine what was news and what wasn't news and they wouldn't cover a lot of things that went on. And The Washington Times has forced The Post to cover a lot of things that they wouldn't cover if the Times wasn't in existence."^[36] In 2008, Thomas F. Roeser of the Chicago Daily Observer also mentioned competition from the Washington Times as a factor moving The Post to the right.^[37]

On March 26, 2007, Chris Matthews said on his television program, "Well, The Washington Post is not the liberal newspaper it was, Congressman, let me tell you. I have been reading it for years and it is a neocon newspaper".^[38] It has regularly published an ideological mixture of op-ed columnists, some of them left-leaning (including E.J. Dionne, Ezra Klein, Greg Sargent, and Eugene Robinson), and some on the right (including George Will, Marc Thiessen, Robert Kagan, Robert Samuelson, Michael Gerson, and Charles Krauthammer).

In November 2007, The Post was criticized by independent journalist Robert Parry for reporting on anti-Obama chain e-mails without sufficiently emphasizing to its readers the false nature of the anonymous claims.^[39] In 2009, Parry criticized The Post for its allegedly unfair reporting on liberal politicians, including Vice President Al Gore and President Barack Obama.^[40]

In a November 19, 2008 column, The Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell stated: "I'll bet that most Post journalists voted for Obama. I did. There are centrists at The Post as well. But the conservatives I know here feel so outnumbered that they don't even want to be quoted by name in a memo".^[41] Responding to criticism of the newspaper's coverage during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, Howell wrote: "The opinion pages have strong conservative voices; the editorial board includes centrists and conservatives; and there were editorials critical of Obama. Yet opinion was still weighted toward Obama. It's not hard to see why conservatives feel disrespected".^[41]

Notable contributors (past and present)[link]

Sources not listed here can be found on the referenced pages

Executive officers and editors (past and present)[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Honors and achievements[link]

See also[link]

	District of Columbia portal
	Journalism portal

• Social Reader#Washington Post Reader

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (Mobile)
• The Washington Post Company official website
• "The Washington Post Company history"
• Scott Sherman, Columbia Journalism Review, May 2002, "Donald Graham's Washington Post" Columbia Journalism Review. September / October 2002.
• Video Interview with then-Baghdad Bureau Chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran
• Jaffe, Harry. "Post Watch: Family Dynasty Continues with Katharine II", Washingtonian, February 26, 2008.

Lane Kiffin
Kiffin coaching quarterback Matt Barkley during a game
Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	USC
Conference	Pac-12
Record	18–7
Annual salary	$4,005,000[1]
Biographical details
Born	(1975-05-09) May 9, 1975 (age 37) Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S.
Playing career
1994–1996	Fresno State
Position(s)	Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–1998 1999 2000 2001–2006 2007–2008 2009 2010–present	Fresno State (assistant) Colorado State (OL) Jacksonville Jaguars (assistant) USC (WR/OC) Oakland Raiders Tennessee USC
Head coaching record
Overall	25–13 (college) 5–15 (NFL)
Bowls	0–1
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse

Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans college football team.^[2] He previously served as offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans from 2005-2006, head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders from 2007-2008, and head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in 2009. Kiffin was the youngest head coach in NFL history when he was with the Raiders, and is currently the youngest head coach of a BCS Conference team in college football.^[3][4] He is the son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who is the assistant head coach for USC.^[5]

Coaching career[link]

Early positions[link]

Kiffin also worked as a Graduate Assistant for one year at Colorado State University. In 1999, while he was working with the offensive line, the Rams played in the Liberty Bowl that season. Kiffin secured a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars^{[citation needed]} as a quality control assistant for one year. He was then hired by Pete Carroll as a tight ends coach at USC.

USC Trojans Assistant Coach[link]

Kiffin joined the University of Southern California (USC) staff in 2001 and became the wide receivers coach in 2002. In 2004, he added the duties of passing game coordinator and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2005. Kiffin also took the reins as recruiting coordinator that year, after offensive coordinator Norm Chow left USC for the same position with the NFL's Tennessee Titans. Along with these duties, Kiffin continued as the wide receivers coach.

During Kiffin's tenure with USC, he was instrumental in the development of several wide receivers and tight ends in the program. While he was there, USC produced noted talents such as NFL draftees Mike Williams, Keary Colbert, Kareem Kelly, Alex Holmes and Dominique Byrd. In addition, Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett of the 2006 USC Trojans football team were both selected in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft by the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers, respectively. Patrick Turner, Fred Davis and several other young new recruits such as Vidal Hazelton, Travon Patterson and Jamere Holland seem likely to continue the trend of excellence at this position. Holland transferred to the University of Oregon in 2006 and was kicked off the Ducks team for making racist remarks . Notably, Lane Kiffin also helped amass the number-one recruiting class in the nation, the past several years (as evaluated by organizations such as Scout.com and Rivals.com).

In 2005, USC head coach Pete Carroll selected Kiffin to replace Norm Chow as offensive coordinator. Despite being new to the role, Lane Kiffin helped guide USC to a 23–3 win-loss record during his tenure- 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 their 2005 wins). During the previous four years under Norm Chow's play calling, the Trojans achieved 41 wins and 9 losses (82%). Under Kiffin in 2005 the USC offense produced school records in virtually every dimension, averaging 49.1 points and 579 yards per game. USC’s potent offense that season became 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 short of also surpassing 1,000 yards in receiving. With an all new offensive cast at the skill positions and in what was generally viewed as a rebuilding year for USC the offensive totals fell off to 30.5 point, and 391 yards per game, and 11 wins overall, he was promoted to offensive and recruiting coordinator while continuing as the wide receivers coach. In Kiffin’s three years as recruiting coordinator at USC, the Trojans had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in college football every year. Under Kiffin leadership in 2006, the Trojans finished first in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency by averaging 142.8 yards per game, 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. Injuries affected the team all year as three fullbacks went down to major injury by the third game of the year, several freshman running backs rotated as starting tailback, and wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett missed parts of the mid-season due to injury. Despite these losses and key injuries 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.

Oakland Raiders[link]

Raiders' owner Al Davis hired Kiffin on January 23, 2007, making him the youngest head coach in Raiders history, and the youngest head coach in the NFL's "modern era" (i.e. since 1946), and signed Kiffin to a two-year deal worth about $4 million with a team option for 2009.^[3] Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach John Madden was 32 when he was elevated to the head post by Davis in 1969. Davis has been known to select young, up-and-coming coaches in their thirties; those hires who fared well include John Madden, Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden. All have won Super Bowls, though Madden is the only one of the three to win a championship with the Raiders.

Age 31 at the time of his hiring by the Raiders (32 when he coached his first game), Kiffin became the youngest head coach in National Football League history; he also surpassed the New York Jets' Eric Mangini and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin as the youngest head coach since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970.

On August 12, 2007, in his NFL head coaching debut, Kiffin and the Raiders won their preseason opener 27–23 over the Arizona Cardinals.

Kiffin vehemently opposed the selection of JaMarcus Russell. The reasons for this were never made clear, though in 2010 Bleacher Report Raiders correspondent Jeremy Baril suggested that Kiffin didn't like Russell's work ethic.^[6] As it turned out, Russell held out until September 12, and didn't make his first start until December 2, long after the season was effectively over.

Kiffin recorded his first regular season win as an NFL head coach on September 23, 2007; the Raiders defeated the Cleveland Browns 26–24 when defensive lineman Tommy Kelly blocked a late Cleveland field goal.

At his end-of-the-season press conference, Kiffin told the media and his players that he had many plans and changes he was going to make in the 2008 offseason. When asked by his players about rumors that Kiffin was interested in open coaching positions in college football, he told them he never thought the rumors were important enough to address because he was never planning to leave.^[7]

Departure from the Raiders[link]

On January 25, 2008, it was reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen that Davis, who was not known for being patient with his coaches, tried to force Kiffin to resign after his first season ended with a 4-12 record. A source allegedly close to Kiffin told Mortensen that Kiffin would not resign, and would not sign the letter of resignation which would cause him to forfeit his $2 million salary for the remaining guaranteed year of his contract.^[8] However, the Raiders denied the story, while Kiffin refused to comment.^[9]

On September 15, 2008 NBC Sports reported Davis was unhappy with Kiffin, and intended to fire him as soon as the following Monday or Tuesday. On September 30, 2008, Davis fired Kiffin over the telephone.^[10] At the televised news conference announcing the firing, Davis called Kiffin "a flat-out liar" and said he was guilty of "bringing disgrace to the organization". The Raiders said the move was made for cause, meaning they would terminate his contract immediately without paying the $2.6 million that was left on it for 2008. Kiffin later added in an interview with ESPN that he was not proud to be associated with Davis's accusations and was actually more embarrassed for Davis than himself.^[11] The Raiders subsequently released a letter Davis sent to Kiffin on September 12 which warned him that he was on the verge of being fired for "conduct detrimental to the Raiders," including repeated instances of making excuses and outright lies.^[12] Kiffin's post-firing press conference was cancelled. Kiffin filed a grievance against the Raiders, claiming that he was fired without cause,^[13] but on November 15, 2010, an arbitrator ruled that Davis did indeed have cause to fire Kiffin.^[14] Kiffin's short tenure as the Raiders' head coach ended with a 5–15 record. Offensive line coach Tom Cable was given interim head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2008 season and was later made their permanent head coach on February 4, 2009.

Several of his former Raider staff expressed interest as Kiffin began assembling his new staff at Tennessee. On December 15, 2008, Raiders Head Coach Tom Cable lashed out at Kiffin for hiring one of his assistants, James Cregg, with two weeks remaining in the NFL season. Cable called the timing of Cregg's departure "wrong in the business of coaching" and indicated he had lost respect for Kiffin and planned to confront him about it. Nothing further was said publicly regarding the incident.^[15]

Despite the animosity between the Raiders and Kiffin, he released a statement following Al Davis' death in October 2011 stating that although their relationship had not ended well, he appreciated the opportunity Davis had given him and had "nothing but the greatest respect" for the late Raiders owner. ^[16]

Tennessee Volunteers[link]

On November 28, 2008, multiple media outlets reported that Lane Kiffin would be the next head football coach for the University of Tennessee Volunteers in 2009, replacing ousted head coach Phillip Fulmer.^[17][18] UT formally introduced Kiffin as the school's 21st head football coach on December 1, 2008 in a 2:00 p.m. news conference.^[19]

Kiffin, 33, was hired by Tennessee and became the youngest active head coach in Division I FBS, surpassing Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald.^[20]

Kiffin signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Tennessee on November 30, 2008. The deal included $2 million in 2009, with additional performance bonuses, including a $300,000 bonus if UT competes for the national championship. His salary was set to increase over the six-year-deal, reaching a high of $2.75 million in 2014. The average salary of the deal was $2.375 million. If Kiffin had been fired in 2009 or 2010, the school would have to pay him $7.5 million under a buyout clause; after the 2012 season, the buyout clause decreased to $5 million.^[21] Kiffin's contract stated that if he resigned, he would have to pay UT $1 million in 2009, with the sum decreasing by $200,000 each year of his contract.^[22]

Kiffin led the Vols to a 7-6 record in 2009, an improvement from their 5-7 record in 2008. The Vols increased their offensive output by more than 60 percent in 2009 with Kiffin calling the offensive plays.^[23] Highlights included wins over South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. However the season was marred by losses to UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss, as well as a 23 point blow-out loss to Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. After one season as coach, Kiffin left the Vols during the 2010 recruiting season to accept the head coaching job at the University of Southern California.

Remarks and accusations[link]

On February 5, 2009, Kiffin accused Urban Meyer, the former head coach of the Florida Gators, of violating NCAA recruiting rules while at a Tennessee booster breakfast at the Knoxville Convention Center.^[24]

While Kiffin accused Meyer of violating NCAA rules, he incidentally violated a Southeastern Conference rule that prevented coaches from mentioning a recruit by name, and his accusations against Meyer were mistaken.^[24] Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive issued a public reprimand to Kiffin due to the comment.^[25] In addition to the public reprimand by Slive, Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley issued a statement demanding a public apology from Kiffin.^[26] Kiffin issued a public apology one day after making the comment. In a statement released by the University of Tennessee, Kiffin wrote, "In my enthusiasm for our recruiting class, I made some statements that were meant solely to excite those at the breakfast. If I offended anyone at the University of Florida, including Mr. Foley and Urban Meyer, I sincerely apologize. That was not my intention."^[27]

Departure from Tennessee[link]

Kiffin's departure for USC in 2010 after just one season as head coach of the Volunteers upset some students and fans of the University of Tennessee. Hundreds of students rioted on campus at the news of Kiffin's departure.^[28] Knoxville police and fire department were brought in after students blocked the exit from the Neyland Thompson Sports Center and started several small fires.^[29]

USC Trojans[link]

Kiffin on the sideline, 2011.

On January 12, 2010, Kiffin returned to USC to become the Trojans head coach. This came following Pete Carroll's departure from USC to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.^[30]

In June 2010, after a prolonged four-year investigation into whether former USC running back Reggie Bush and his family had accepted financial benefits and housing from two wannabee sports agents in San Diego while he was a student athlete at USC, the NCAA imposed sanctions against the Trojan football program for a "lack of institutional control," including a two-year postseason ban, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years, and the vacation of all wins in which Bush participated as an "ineligible" player, including the 2005 Orange Bowl, in which the Trojans won the BCS National Championship.^[31] These sanctions have been criticized by some NCAA football writers,^{[32][33][34][35][36]} including ESPN’s Ted Miller, who wrote, “It's become an accepted fact among informed college football observers that the NCAA sanctions against USC were a travesty of justice, and the NCAA’s refusal to revisit that travesty are a massive act of cowardice on the part of the organization.”^[37]

2010 season[link]

In 2010, his first season at USC, Kiffin's Trojans team finished the season 8-5 but were ineligible for post-season play due to the NCAA sanctions. After the NCAA issued a guideline allowing current USC juniors and seniors to automatically transfer from USC without having to sit out a year, several USC players left before the start of the 2010 season, including Malik Jackson and Byron Moore to Tennessee, Travon Patterson to Colorado, D.J. Shoemate to Connecticut, Uona Kaveinga to Utah, and Blake Ayles to Miami, among others.^[38] Seantrel Henderson, who had signed a letter of intent to USC, was granted a release by Kiffin and immediately enrolled at Miami. Both Kiffin and former head coach Pete Carroll publicly referred to this NCAA-transfer exception as "free agency" because it allowed current USC players to be targeted for transfer opportunities and granted them immediate eligibility at their transfer destination.^[39] USC played the 2010 season with just 71 scholarship players, some of whom were redshirt candidates who did not play, instead of the normal NCAA allowance of 85 scholarship players.

Season highlights included a 48-14 win over the California Golden Bears in which Matt Barkley tied the USC record for touchdown passes in a game by completing five in just the first half to put the Trojans up 42-0 at halftime.^[40] After losing to rival Notre Dame for the first time in eight years, USC bounced back to close their season with a win over cross-town rival UCLA to retain the Victory Bell. Quarterback Matt Barkley returned after missing the previous week and threw one of the team's two touchdown passes. Allen Bradford led the Trojans by gaining 212 yards rushing and catching a 47-yard touchdown pass.^[41]

2011 season[link]

In 2011, Kiffin coached the Trojans to a 10-2 record (7-2 in the Pac-12), despite being ineligible for post-season play for the second-consecutive season. On May 26, 2011, the NCAA's Appeals Committee upheld the sanctions against USC, after ruling that the use of precedent was not allowed under NCAA Bylaws, so the USC football team could not participate in the Pacific-12 Football Championship Game (although they held the best record in the South division) or play in a bowl game during the 2011–12 season.^[42] The BCS announced June 6, 2011, that it had stripped USC of the 2004 title,^[43] though USC still retains the 2003 and 2004 AP National Championships.^[43]

Season highlights included road wins against the California Golden Bears, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Oregon Ducks.^[44] Kiffin's Trojans lost in triple overtime to the Stanford Cardinal, who were led by Andrew Luck, but they bounced back by winning their last four games and defeating the UCLA Bruins 50-0 at the Coliseum, which extended the Trojans victory streak against the Bruins to five.

USC ended the season with two thousand-yard receivers (Robert Woods and Marqise Lee), a thousand-yard rusher (Curtis McNeal), and a 3,000-yard passer (Matt Barkley) for the first time since the 2005 season, when Kiffin served as offensive coordinator.

2012 season[link]

2012 will be the first year USC has been eligible for post-season play under Kiffin, since the NCAA sanctions were announced following the 2009 season and his hiring as head coach. With Kiffin and his family in attendance, USC quarterback Matt Barkley announced on December 22, 2011 that he would be returning to USC for his senior season because "this 2012 team has some serious unfinished business to attend to."^[45]

Family and Personal Life[link]

Kiffin is the son of Monte Kiffin, a long time defensive coordinator in the National Football League, most notably since 1996 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who now serves as the defensive coordinator on Lane's staff at USC.^[30]

In 1994 Kiffin graduated from Bloomington Jefferson High School in Minnesota^[46] and committed to Fresno State University. He played backup quarterback for the Fresno State Bulldogs and gave up his senior season to become a Student Assistant Coach at Fresno State, where his position coach was current University of California Head Coach Jeff Tedford. He gradated from Fresno State in 1998 where in addition to football, he played basketball and baseball.

Lane and his wife Layla, who is a University of Florida alumna, have two daughters named Landry and Pressley. On January 13, 2009, Layla gave birth to their first son, Monte Knox Kiffin. He named his son Knox after Knoxville, Tennessee, in honor of the University where he served as head coach.^[47] Kiffin's brother, Chris, was a defensive lineman at Colorado State University and is the current defensive line coach for Ole Miss ^[48] Kiffin's father-in-law, John Reaves, is a former NFL quarterback who played his college football for the Florida Gators.

Head coaching record[link]

NFL[link]