Report: Alabama to interview Lane Kiffin for offensive coordinator position

Lane Kiffin (right) could be headed back to the SEC to as Alabama's offensive coordinator. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Is Lane Kiffin heading back to the SEC?

Lane Kiffin (right) could be headed back to the SEC to as Alabama's offensive coordinator. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Is Lane Kiffin heading back to the SEC? The former USC and Tennessee coach will interview for Alabama's open offensive coordinator position as early as Thursday, Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com reports.

The Crimson Tide are looking to replace Doug Nussmeier, who left this week after two years in Tuscaloosa for the same position at Michigan.

Trojans athletic director Pat Haden fired Kiffin in September after a 3-2 start. USC lost seven of its last 11 games under Kiffin, who went 28-15 in nearly four seasons with the Trojans.

Kiffin spent six seasons (2001 through '06) as an offensive assistant at USC. In '05 and '06, he was the Trojans' offensive coordinator under coach Pete Carroll. In '05, Kiffin's USC offense set Pac-10 records for total offense, first downs, points scored, touchdowns and PATs, and scored at least 50 points a school-record seven times. That Trojans team was also the first to boast a 3,000-yard passer, a pair of 1,000-yard runners and a 1,000-yard receiver in the same season. Kiffin left USC in '07 to become the coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders. Owner Al Davis fired Kiffin in Sept. '08, and he took over as the coach of the Volunteers the following year.

Kiffin's SEC ties are slim. He spent only a single season as the coach at Tennessee before leaving to take over the Trojans. But Kiffin reportedly visited Alabama coach Nick Saban last month to oversee the Crimson Tide's offense. That visit could have been a precursor to a possible interview.