In a bold move that shows that Southern California is unafraid of raising the ire of the N.C.A.A., the Trojans hired Lane Kiffin, the controversial Tennessee coach, on Tuesday to replace Pete Carroll, who was hired as the Seattle Seahawks’ coach.  Lane Kiffin was chosen Tuesday to replace Pete Carroll as the head coach at U.S.C.  Interviews, insight and analysis from The Times on the competition and culture of college football.  Kiffin, 34, a former U.S.C. offensive coordinator under Carroll, had a 7-6 record in his first season at Tennessee, but he made more headlines off the field for committing numerous N.C.A.A. violations, none of which placed the program on probation. The N.C.A.A. has also interviewed high school recruits about Volunteers’ hostesses who attended stars’ high school games.  The U.S.C. athletic program is under investigation by the N.C.A.A. The review centers on the football team and whether the family of the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush accepted as much as $300,000 in cash and goods from a would-be marketing agent while he was in college.  The university itself is investigating a Los Angeles Times report that tailback Joe McKnight, who declared for the N.F.L. draft on Friday, was driving a S.U.V. purchased for his girlfriend by a local businessman.  Last week, the university imposed heavy sanctions on its basketball program because of violations in the recruitment of the former star O. J. Mayo.  “This was not an easy decision,” Kiffin said at a news conference in Knoxville, Tenn. “It’s something that happened very quick. It’s a decision that myself and my family made.  “I really believe this was probably only the place that I would have left here to go was to go to Southern Cal,” Kiffin said.  Kiffin’s hiring is another stunning chapter in a tumultuous six weeks during which Charlie Weis was fired by Notre Dame, Florida Coach Urban Meyer resigned and returned a day later, and coaches were fired by Kansas, Texas Tech and South Florida because of reported mistreatment of players.  The brash Kiffin coached at U.S.C. from 2001 to 2006 before posting a 5-15 record with the Oakland Raiders, who fired him in September 2008.  “We are really excited to welcome Lane Kiffin back to U.S.C.,” U.S.C. Athletic Director Mike Garrett said Tuesday night in a statement. “I was able to watch him closely when he was an assistant with us and what I saw was a bright, creative young coach who I thought would make an excellent head coach here if the opportunity ever arose. I’m confident he and his staff will keep U.S.C. football performing at the high level that we expect.”  Kiffin was hardly U.S.C.’s first choice to replace Carroll, who was introduced as coach of the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday. Those believed to have topped the list were Oregon State Coach Mike Riley, Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio and Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher.  Lane will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron with him.  “It’ll be fun,” Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian, the former U.S.C. quarterbacks coach, wrote in a text message of competing against Kiffin.  With U.S.C.’s highly regarded recruiting class starting to crumble because of Carroll’s departure, Kiffin’s top priority will be trying to solidify it over the next three weeks. Signing day is Feb. 3.  U.S.C. offensive tackle Kevin Graf said he was thrilled Kiffin would be coaching the Trojans.  “It’s like Carroll’s never even leaving,” Graf said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “We’re getting coaches that were here when we had the national championship teams. He definitely makes it fun.”  Brandon Willis, a defensive lineman from James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., was on his way Tuesday to enroll at Tennessee when he heard that Kiffin had been hired at U.S.C., said his father, Gary Willis. He said Orgeron called him after Kiffin’s hiring was announced and said that U.S.C. was “a dream job” for him and the Kiffins. Willis said Orgeron told him that his son was being offered a scholarship to U.S.C.  “You can’t just follow guys like that,” Gary Willis said in a telephone interview. “That’s not what I’m teaching my son.”  Willis and his son were evaluating his 42 scholarship offers Tuesday, but were still bothered by Kiffin’s sudden departure.  “To sit down and tell people stuff and then turn around and do what you do, I don’t like the way it was done, but I can’t control it,” Willis said.
Lane Kiffin, a former offensive coordinator at Southern California, is returning to coach the Trojans after just one controversial season at Tennessee.