was being dismissed. After the meeting, Haden rejoined the team bus, and they headed back to campus with Kiffin’s bags, leaving Kiffin behind at the airport. Haden supposedly met with USC president Max Nikias in the third quarter and they decided Kiffin should be terminated. Haden formally announced the decision to dismiss Kiffin the next day. Assistant coach Ed Orgeron took over for Kiffin and led the team to a 6–2 finish, including an upset win against Stanford at the Coliseum. USC won the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl under interim head coach Clay Helton against Fresno State. Former USC associate head coach and Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian was hired by Haden following the season. Alabama Crimson Tide In December 2013, Kiffin spent eight days in Tuscaloosa, Alabama reviewing the Alabama Crimson Tide football team's offense. On January 9, 2014, after Michigan hired Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Kiffin interviewed for the vacant coordinator job. Kiffin was offered the job as offensive coordinator at Alabama and accepted on January 10. In 2014, Kiffin was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top college football assistant coach. On January 2, 2017, three weeks after having accepted the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic, but electing to remain as the Alabama Offensive Coordinator through the playoffs, Kiffin was instead relieved of his duties as OC. He was replaced by another former USC head coach and his successor at that job, Steve Sarkisian, for the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship 35–31 loss against Clemson and for the upcoming season. Florida Atlantic Owls On December 12, 2016, Kiffin accepted the head coaching position at Florida Atlantic University. After a 1–3 start, the FAU Owls reeled off ten straight wins, culminating in the Conference USA (C-USA) football championship against University of North Texas, 41–17, on their home field. FAU was slated to play the University of Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl on December 19, 2017. Before the game against Akron, it was announced on ESPN that Kiffin and FAU had agreed to a new deal that would keep him on for the next ten years through the 2027 season. John Kelly, the President of FAU was quoted in the article as saying, "This is further proof of FAU's unbridled ambition . . . I thought we could be a Top-25 program and we need a coach who can do