Lane Kiffin

The season is just two months old and already the firing line is working overtime. Coaches fired so far: Scott Linehan (Rams), Lane Kiffin (Raiders) and, last week, Mike Nolan (49ers). On deck: * Rod Marinelli, Lions: Unless Detroit can beat the Vikings on Dec. 7 at home, he has an excellent chance to achieve 0-16 infamy. Really. * Brad Childress, Vikings: He whiffed on personnel decisions, and the owner wanted a playoff team to help get a new stadium. Look for a new coach instead. * Romeo Crennel, Browns: Not much has gone right in his fourth year of great expectations.

USC's quest to capture the media poll flag is going the way of Wrong Way Roy Riegels. The Trojans keep winning and retreating, losing six poll spots since debuting at No. 14. It seems like every time coach Lane Kiffin goes for two, the Trojans drop two, sliding from No. 14, to 16, to 18, to 20. Two more victories and USC may end up in the NAIA poll. Could it be backlash for the NCAA sanctions levied against USC last June? Or, perhaps, a bad aftertaste resonating from Reggie Bush, who recently became the first player in history to magnanimously return the Heisman Trophy before it was ignominiously ripped from his hands.

Report: L. Kiffin reaches agreement with Vols col. football Tennessee and Lane Kiffin have reached a tentative agreement for the former Oakland Raiders coach to lead the Volunteers, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press yesterday. A formal announcement was expected early next week, said the person, who requested anonymity because the deal had not been finalized. Kiffin, 33, replaces Phillip Fulmer, who was forced out after 17 seasons as Vols coach. Fulmer won a national championship in 1998 but had two losing seasons in the past five years, including a 4-7 mark this year.

THE TOP FIVE 1 Giants The pass rush still rules. 2 Titans Tenacious defense has returned. 3 Cowboys No defense at all after losing at home. 4 Steelers Facing a major injury crisis early. 5 Bills Biggest win so far was against Jaguars. THE BOTTOM FIVE 28 Raiders Al Davis deserved Lane Kiffin. 29 Chiefs Back to the Larry Johnson offense. 30 Bengals Marvin Lewis' plans are unraveling quickly. 31 Lions Jon Kitna will be the next to lose his job. 32 Rams Jim Haslett is trying to win back the locker room.

USC coach Lane Kiffin caused quite a stir in 2010 when he offered a scholarship to prodigious quarterback David Sills. The problem? Sills was in the eighth grade. Now, a former colleague of his, Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, has taken a page out of Kiffin's book. According to the Seattle Times , Washington has taken a commitment from San Diego quarterback Tathan Martell. Martell will begin his eighth-grade school year this fall. "The best analogy I can use is today was our engagement,” Al Martell, the boy's father, told ESPN.com . “our engagement to a long-term relationship.

We know about the stark-raving looniness that characterized Marge Schott's time as owner of the Cincinnati Reds, and the Madness of King George of the Bronx has been well documented. Now, Al Davis' stewardship of the Oakland Raiders is taking a decidedly unfortunate turn. It was reported yesterday that Davis - once considered one of the most canny operators in sports - sent a letter to coach Lane Kiffin asking him to resign. Kiffin has been on the job one year, and the early word is that he refused.

What a bizarre world the Oakland Raiders inhabit. While other NFL camps are abuzz with optimism and crackling with competition, Raiders coach Lane Kiffin sounds defeated already and says there are not enough people fighting for jobs in his camp. In a newspaper report, Kiffin complained that the Raiders organization (read: owner Al Davis) wasn't bringing in available bodies who could push the players on a team that was 4-12 a year ago. He flat-out called some of the guys he has "borderline," who will make the club simply because there is no one to replace them.

Treading water It's the high-water mark of Tom Cable's modest career: becoming the Raiders' fourth coach in four years. A one-time head coach at Idaho (11-35 record) and offensive coordinator at UCLA, Cable, 43, replaces Lane Kiffin, 33. His interim title is what it implies: caretaker for the final 12 games of the season. He's handled adversity Rarely do coaches get rewarded for failure. When Jim Haslett was named coach of the Rams on Sept. 29, it wasn't because of his defense, which ranks 31st in the NFL. It was because he dealt with chaos as Saints coach after Katrina.

Notre Dame's Golden Tate has won the Biletnikoff Award honoring the nation's best receiver. Tate had 93 catches for 1,496 yards with 15 receiving touchdowns, two rushing TDs and a punt return for a score. He finished third in the nation in receiving yards per game (124.67) and seventh in catches per game (7.75). •Texas star Colt McCoy won the Davey O'Brien Award honoring the nation's best quarterback and the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player.