The demand for Lane Kiffin as a head coach, despite two successful years as Alabama's offensive coordinator, might need another year to solidify. But the demand for him as a coordinator, apparently, remains plenty strong.
UCLA coach Jim Mora offered Kiffin the offensive coordinator role at UCLA prior to the Crimson Tide's College Football Playoff title win over Clemson on Monday, but was turned down, according to ESPN. Mora hired Bruins running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu for the role.
Under Kiffin, Alabama averaged 35.1 points per game in 2015 with a heavy emphasis on a running game led by Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry. It was a stark contrast to Kiffin's first Alabama offense in 2014, which relied heavily on wide receiver Amari Cooper.
Kiffin's struggles as a head coach are well-documented, but since being fired midseason by USC in 2013, he's rebuilt his reputation as a top coordinator at Alabama. Since his arrival, the Crimson Tide has been the only team to reach the CFP's four-team field in each of its first two years. He's benefited from immense talent to work with -- from T.J. Yeldon to Cooper to Henry -- but he's also done it with back-to-back first-year starters at quarterback in Blake Sims and Jake Coker.
Having been a head coach at both the college and NFL level, it's unlikely Kiffin would make a lateral move from Alabama for another coordinator position. By the time Alabama's season was finished, the winter market for head-coaching jobs at the college level had dried up, so at this point, it's difficult to imagine Kiffin doing anything but returning to Alabama for a third season in 2016.
But if the Crimson Tide offense is once again effective with, once again, another first-year quarterback, Kiffin's options should be well beyond another coordinator role.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
