Kiffin explained that he talks to his players like they’re professionals. Even though his time in the NFL as head coach of the Oakland Raiders didn’t necessarily go well (5-15 record in 2007 and 2008), he does have that experience to lean on now that he’s navigating this era of college football.<\/p>\n
Playing football is a job if you’re playing for Kiffin’s LSU squad, and that comes along with high expectations. Not only was Kiffin brought in to bring another championship to Baton Rouge, but he’s going to expect championship-caliber preparation from his players.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThey kind of, in their mind, think they\u2019re like pros now \u2014 which is good. That\u2019s how we talk to them,” he explained. “So you\u2019ve got high expectations. \u2018Hey, we expect you do these things. We expect you to do these things in the weight room, in the film room, all these different things.\u2019 If you want to be a normal student and not really do all those things, that\u2019s fine. Go see the GM and give back half your money, if you want to do half the work. So that way, I think it\u2019s a little bit easier that way. You bring them in, \u2018Hey, this is what you need to do.\u2019 And if you don\u2019t, there\u2019s a fine system for those things, but also, what\u2019s going to happen at the end of the year? You\u2019re going to get cut.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Detractors of the way things are going in college athletics will be quick to point out that any semblance of the term “student-athlete” has essentially been dropped.<\/p>\n
With that said, Kiffin’s players are getting a dose of the real world under this coaching philosophy, so they’re receiving a different kind of education.<\/p>\n
If somebody is paying you, they’re your boss. Your boss can tell you what to do. You don’t have to listen, but then you don’t get paid. That’s Life 101 right there, and Professor Kiffin’s course is apparently in session.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n