BY KIA TYUS

It seems like the University of Southern California (USC) finally did what everyone was waiting for and fired Lane Kiffin, causing a media up roar. But my question is, did the media perpetuate Kiffin as an awful coach that should have been fired long ago?

When Kiffin became coach at USC, they were ranked number one in the nation. They were one of the very few teams that were unranked by the end of the season.

After a 62-41 loss to Arizona State, Kiffin was fired by athletic director Pat Haden as the team returned home.

There have been many former players as well as future prospects that have given their input on Kiffin’s firing. Former USC cornerback Terrell Thomas claims that he still loves Kiffin but is glad they are looking for a new coach stating, “It’s about time.”

The media focused only on the negative portions of Thomas’s comments making it seem like former players didn’t respect him as a coach.

Snoop Dogg’s son, Cordell Broadus, made a comment on his twitter about how Kiffin was not leading the team in the right direction. Broadus is currently the number six-ranked wide receiver in California.

The media said because of his firing, USC will now have a higher chance at recruiting top prospects because of Kiffin’s firing. The media made it seem like USC had no chance of recruiting high prospects because the future prospects didn’t want to play under Kiffin.

Rumor has it that Kiffin may lose his house because USC loaned Kiffin 500 thousand dollars. Should schools even be allowed to loan money to coaches?

What is Kiffin’s response to all of this? Kiffin has fully accepted blame for the poor play of USC. While it was very hard for him to have his job taken away, he stated, “Pat has a very hard job…at the same time it was hard to deal with the sanctions and reduced roster.” 

In my opinion, the media was too hard on Kiffin. I feel as though they made it seem like Kiffin was the sole reason for USC’s fall. The media seems to have forgotten all the things that go into a winning team. USC has other coaches. You don’t hear anything about the defensive coordinator. 

Many players have probably given up on the current season because they know they will not get into a good bowl game. Kiffin does not make every call and it is up to the players to complete each play. I guess as a head coach, Kiffin had to take responsibility for everyone’s failure.