USC football: Chris Kiffin hired as defensive line coach at Arkansas State

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Chris Kiffin, a defensive administrative assistant on USC’s staff, has been hired as defensive line coach at Arkansas State.

Kiffin, the younger brother of USC Coach Lane Kiffin and son of Monte Kiffin, the Trojans’ assistant head coach for defense, interviewed with Arkansas State Coach Hugh Freeze last week in Jonesboro, Ark. He was offered the position on Monday.

Chris Kiffin, 29, was a defensive lineman at Colorado State. He worked with Freeze on Ed Orgeron’s former staff at Mississippi and has also worked at Idaho, Nebraska and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

‘Coach Kiffin is very hungry and is going to be one of the rising stars in defensive football,’ Freeze said in a statement. ‘He is the son of one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators for years in Monte Kiffin, has been under the tutelage of [Nebraska Coach] Bo Pelini and Ed Orgeron and enjoyed an outstanding career as a defensive lineman at Colorado State, all giving him a great pedigree that was too strong for me to pass up with this opportunity.’

Kiffin said he has enjoyed working at USC with his brother and father but was drawn by the opportunity of his first full-time, on-field coaching position. He will leave for Arkansas on Friday.

‘This is a chance to put into action everything that I’ve learned,’ he said. ‘I’m looking forward to being part of another great staff.’

--Gary Klein