Kiffin seizes reins at USC

LOS ANGELES -- Lane Kiffin rolled into his dream job at Southern California with a wave of promises and praise, vowing to run a squeaky-clean program even while fending off questions about his staff's first few hours on the job.

Kiffin radiated California cool Wednesday even after arriving late to his first news conference because of traffic on the freeway after flying in from Tennessee. He abruptly left the Volunteers on Tuesday after one 7-6 season.

"It's great to be back home," Kiffin said.

The longtime USC assistant coach said he couldn't pass up the chance to take the job he had identified as the nation's best a decade earlier, when he joined Pete Carroll's staff for six years as an assistant.

"This is a place that was very special to me for a long time," the 34-year-old Kiffin said. "It became obvious to me that this was the best place in America."

Kiffin's staff committed several secondary NCAA violations during its 14 months in Knoxville. Now he joins a program laboring under an NCAA investigation that's expected to be resolved in the coming months.

Kiffin said he's dedicated "to running an extremely clean, disciplined program," saying his missteps in Tennessee will help his staff stay straight in Los Angeles.

Yet Kiffin and returning assistant coach Ed Orgeron immediately faced questions about Orgeron's contact with Tennessee recruits since their hiring at USC.

Orgeron, the Trojans' new defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, acknowledged speaking to several members of the Volunteers' standout recruiting class, but claimed he only gave them information requested by their families and didn't try to poach any Tennessee commitments.