LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California athletic director Pat Haden says Lane Kiffin is not on the “hot seat” heading into his fourth as the Trojans’ football coach.
USC released a video of Haden’s comments on Thursday night, the day before Pac-12 football media days in California.
Haden says “I anticipate the media will ask me if our football coach is on the hot seat this year. Here is my answer and will be my answer whenever I’m asked. He is not.”
He says he is “behind Lane Kiffin 100 percent.”
USC is coming off a 7-6 season that started with the Trojans ranked No. 1 and ended with five losses in six games.
The team is still dealing with scholarship limitations from NCAA sanctions handed down soon after Kiffin was hired in 2010.
