Lane Kiffin's firing adds to early coaching chaos; more Overtime

Haden, who produced gave Kiffin a video vote of confidence before the season, said "it could be easily asked, why not last year after a 7-6 season? What do
Lane Kiffin's firing adds to early coaching chaos; more Overtime
Lane Kiffin's firing adds to early coaching chaos; more Overtime /

USC fired coach Lane Kiffin just five games into the 2013 season after a blowout loss to Arizona State.
USC fired coach Lane Kiffin just five games into the 2013 season after a blowout loss to Arizona State :: Rick Scuteri/AP

Haden, who produced gave Kiffin a video vote of confidence before the season, said "it could be easily asked, why not last year after a 7-6 season? What do you know now that you didn't know then?" After going 10-2 in 2011, Haden had hoped 2012 was "an aberration." It was not. The 3-2 Trojans seem to have gotten even worse in 2013. The offense was improving but erratic. The defense was dominant until Saturday night, when linebacker Hayes Pullard and safeties Dion Bailey and Su'a Cravens, standouts all, suffered injuries and Arizona State wasa able to do everything it wanted in the second half, finishing with 612 total yards.

Braxton Miller (5) accounted for 281 total yards and four touchdowns in the victory over Wisconsin.
Braxton Miller (5) accounted for 281 total yards and four touchdowns in the victory over Wisconsin :: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Quarterback Clint Trickett and West Virginia beat Oklahoma State just one week after losing to Maryland.
Quarterback Clint Trickett and West Virginia beat Oklahoma State just one week after losing to Maryland :: Tyler Evert/AP
Running back Cameron Stingily and Northern Illinois are 4-0 with road wins over Iowa and Purdue.
Running back Cameron Stingily and Northern Illinois are 4-0 with road wins over Iowa and Purdue :: Pat Lovell/USA Today Sports

Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET): Over the past three weeks, the Sun Devils have played games that left one coach (Wisconsin's Gary Andersen) livid and another one (USC's Lane Kiffin) fired. With the Fighting Irish already saddled with two losses, Notre Dame's Brian Kelly will surely be exasperated if his team falls at Jerry World.


Published
Stewart Mandel
STEWART MANDEL

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Stewart Mandel first caught the college football bug as a sophomore at Northwestern University in 1995. "The thrill of that '95 Rose Bowl season energized the entire campus, and I quickly became aware of how the national media covered that story," he says. "I knew right then that I wanted to be one of those people, covering those types of stories."  Mandel joined SI.com (formerly CNNSI.com) in 1999. A senior writer for the website, his coverage areas include the national college football beat and college basketball. He also contributes features to Sports Illustrated. "College football is my favorite sport to cover," says Mandel. "The stakes are so high week in and week out, and the level of emotion it elicits from both the fans and the participants is unrivaled." Mandel's most popular features on SI.com include his College Football Mailbag and College Football Overtime. He has covered 14 BCS national championship games and eight Final Fours. Mandel's first book, Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy That Reign Over College Football, was published in 2007. In 2008 he took first place (enterprise category) and second place (game story) in the Football Writers Association of America's annual writing contest. He also placed first in the 2005 contest (columns). Mandel says covering George Mason's run to the Final Four was the most enjoyable story of his SI tenure.  "It was thrilling to be courtside for the historic Elite Eight upset of UConn," Mandel says.  "Being inside the locker room and around the team during that time allowed me to get to know the coaches and players behind that captivating story." Before SI.com Mandel worked at ESPN the Magazine, ABC Sports Online and The Cincinnati Enquirer. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 with a B.S. in journalism. A Cincinnati native, Mandel and his wife, Emily, live in Santa Clara, Calif.