It’s hard to imagine now, but one of college football’s biggest personalities nearly landed with a Big 12 team years before the conference’s recent wave of realignment.
According to an excerpt from a forthcoming Lane Kiffin biography published by Vanity Fair, Kiffin was once a serious candidate for the Houston Cougars head coaching job, a move that could have dramatically altered both his career path and the future of one of college football’s most intriguing programs.
At the time, Houston was searching for a coach capable of elevating the program into national relevance. Kiffin, who has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most innovative offensive minds and most polarizing figures, was viewed as a potential fit for a program looking to make a splash. Ultimately, the stars never aligned, and Kiffin’s coaching journey took him elsewhere.
Still, it’s fascinating to consider what might have happened had Houston pulled it off.
What Happened?
Kiffin interviewed twice for the job, according to the excerpt in Vanity Fair, feeling good about his chances, and then Houston promoted its offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite, in 2016. Fertitta would later hint at concerns when describing to a local radio station why Houston opted against hiring the Alabama offensive coordinator.
Fertitta said, “Sure, he’s been a head coach and he’s been an OK head coach. But I can tell you this: [Kiffin] was not a safe hire.”
The Houston megabooster said despite Kiffin being one of three finalists, he was “never” close to becoming the Cougars’ next head coach. “Those [stories] are all put out by his agents because that’s the way they play the game.”
What Could Have Been?
Would Kiffin have turned the Cougars into a perennial Group of Five powerhouse? Could he have accelerated Houston’s rise to the Power Conference level years before it officially joined the Big 12? And perhaps most interestingly, would Houston have become one of the most talked-about brands in college football under Kiffin’s leadership?
Instead, Kiffin’s winding career took him through stops that included FAU and Ole Miss, where he rebuilt his reputation and reestablished himself as one of the game’s top coaches. Houston eventually found its own path, culminating in a move to the Big 12 and a new era for the program.
It’s one of those college football “what ifs” that offers a glimpse into how differently the sport could look today. Had Houston landed Kiffin when the opportunity presented itself, both the Cougars and the Big 12 landscape might have unfolded in a very different way.
