[5] He graduated from Bloomington Jefferson High School in Minnesota in 1994,[6] and committed to Fresno State University to play college football.

[7] According to teammate David Carr, Monte Kiffin forbade his son from quitting the team because of lack of playing time, so Lane became a coach instead.

For the 2004 season, he added the duties of passing game coordinator, and he was promoted to offensive coordinator along with Steve Sarkisian who returned as USC's assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for the 2005 season after Norm Chow left USC for the same position with the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

Davis had been known to select young, up-and-coming coaches in their thirties; those hires who fared well include Madden, Mike Shanahan, and Jon Gruden.

On August 12, 2007, in his NFL head coaching debut, Kiffin and the Raiders won their preseason opener 27–23 over the Arizona Cardinals.

[17] On January 25, 2008, ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen reported that Davis, who was not known for being patient with his coaches, tried to force Kiffin to resign after his first season ended with a 4–12 record.

[20] At the televised news conference announcing the firing, Davis called Kiffin "a flat-out liar" and said he was guilty of "bringing disgrace to the organization".

On December 15, 2008, Raiders head coach Cable lashed out at Kiffin for hiring one of his assistants, James Cregg, with two weeks remaining in the NFL season.

Cable called the timing of Cregg's departure "wrong in the business of coaching" and indicated he had lost respect for Kiffin and planned to confront him about it.

[28] At the age of 33, Kiffin was hired by Tennessee and became the youngest active head coach in Division I FBS, surpassing Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald.

Jeffery went on to sign with the Gamecocks, became the second round, 45th pick overall in the 2012 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, and subsequently a member of the Super Bowl LII champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.

[42][43] Kiffin's departure for USC in 2010 after just one season as head coach of the Volunteers upset many students and fans of the University of Tennessee.

When Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton was asked for an assessment of Kiffin's tenure coaching the Volunteers, he responded with just one word: "Brief.

[48] In June 2010, after a prolonged four-year investigation into whether former USC running back Reggie Bush and his family had accepted financial benefits and housing from two sports agents in San Diego while he was a student athlete at USC, the NCAA imposed sanctions against the Trojan football program for a "lack of institutional control," including a two-year postseason ban, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years, and the vacation of all wins in which Bush participated as an "ineligible" player, including the 2005 Orange Bowl, in which the Trojans won the BCS National Championship.

[55] Seantrel Henderson, who had signed a letter of intent to USC, was granted a release by Kiffin and immediately enrolled at Miami.

Season highlights included a 48–14 win over the California Golden Bears in which quarterback Matt Barkley tied the USC record for touchdown passes in a game by completing five in just the first half to put the Trojans up 42–0 at halftime.

On May 26, 2011, the NCAA's Appeals Committee upheld the sanctions against USC, after ruling that the use of precedent was not allowed under NCAA Bylaws, so the USC football team could not participate in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game (although they held the best record in the South division) or play in a bowl game during the 2011–12 season.

[60] Season highlights included road wins against the California Golden Bears, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Oregon Ducks.

However, USA Today, citing the need to "protect the poll's integrity", revealed that Kiffin had voted his team for the top spot.

During the Washington State opener, USC fans began filling the Coliseum with boos and, late in the game, chants to “fire Kiffin.” On September 28, 2013, after the 62–41 loss to Arizona State, USC Athletics Director Pat Haden fired Kiffin hours after the game, when the team arrived back in Los Angeles at 3 a.m. Kiffin was called off the team bus that was preparing to head back to campus from Los Angeles International Airport and taken to a small room inside the terminal where Haden told Kiffin he was being dismissed.

[65] 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.

[69] 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.

[70] 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.

[4] 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.

After winning the Outback Bowl Kiffin was given a one-year contract extension by Ole Miss (the maximum extension Ole Miss could offer since Mississippi state law only allows four-year total contracts for university employees), however financial details were not immediately released.

[84] Kiffin tested positive for COVID-19 two days before the 2021 Ole Miss opener in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game with Louisville and would not make the trip with the team.

Additionally, Jaxson Dart became the winningest quarterback in program history and set the Ole Miss single-season passing yards record.

[96] Kiffin's brother, Chris, was a defensive lineman at Colorado State University[97] and was the linebackers coach for the Houston Texans.

[98] Kiffin's former father-in-law, John Reaves, was a former starting NFL and USFL quarterback who played college football for the Florida Gators.