It is not often that a college football team fires a coach during the middle of the season, but after giving up 62 points that is exactly what Pat Haden did to Lane Kiffin. For a school like USC, that is unacceptable. That was really the final straw for a coach who really had his program underachieve.They were ranked #1 in the preseason last season and ended up losing in the Sun Bowl to an average Georgia Tech team. Their performance in that bowl game was so embarrassing that star receiver Robert Woods declared for the NFL draft minutes after it was done.
Kiffin didn't help himself in the off season by not being able to choose between Cody Kessler and Max Wittek as starting quarterback. That frustrated many of the players and most vocal was All American Marqise Lee. The team struggled against Hawaii who has not won a game and then lost to Washington State before having an unimpressive win against Utah State. That of course all led up to the Arizona State game which was the end for Kiffin.
The coach for the rest of this season is long time Kiffin assistant Ed Orgeron. Whether or not Orgeron coaches the Trojans beyond this season remains to be seen. It will be interesting to see how the team responds as they play Arizona on Thursday night. You just never know how a team will respond to an interim coach. Orgeron will likely be without Lee who was injured in the Arizona State game.
Notre Dame players, coaches, and fans will be watching this game with great interest. It is a bye week for the Irish and they will definitely want to scout their next opponent. That is especially true when you don't know what kind of changes, if any, the new coach will make to the offense and defense.
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