USC football: Lane Kiffin learned something special from Urban Meyer

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Lane Kiffin, who is about to begin his first spring practice as the new coach at USC,had a few go-rounds with Florida Coach Urban Meyer before and after Kiffin coached Tennessee against Florida.

On Monday, Kiffin sounded like he came away from the Southeastern Conference with more than experience in mudslinging.

When discussing USC’s plan for special teams, Kiffin said he would institute something he learned from watching what Meyer did with the Gators: utilizing top players on the units.

Among other topics Kiffin discussed on the eve of spring practice:

-- Quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Mitch Mustain will get equal first-team snaps on Tuesday, but the percentage will change as performance dictates during the 15 spring workouts.

-- Linebacker is the biggest area of concern, with sophomore Devon Kennard set to get a look at the middle linebacker spot as well as the outside positions. Linebacker Jarvis Jones’ USC career is in jeopardy because of a neck injury suffered last season.

-- USC is expected to announce a tighter policy in regard to the public’s attendance at practices.

-- Former Trojans Sammy Knight and Keary Colbert will join the staff as graduate assistants.

I’ll have more later at latimes.com/sports

-- Gary Klein