Lane Kiffin was fired as USC’s coach early Sunday morning after the Trojans’ 62-41 loss to Arizona State on Saturday night dropped the Trojans’ record to 3-2.
Assistant coach Ed Orgeron was informed Sunday that he would be the interim head coach as a deliberate search for Kiffin’s replacement begins. Orgeron was 10-25 as a head coach at Ole Miss.
“Our history has been great, and we need to be great again,” USC athletic director Pat Haden said of the decision to fire Kiffin five games into what is tracking as another disappointing season. “My job is to do what is best for USC.”
Kiffin was informed of his dismissal upon the team charter’s return to Los Angeles. Haden made the final decision during Arizona State’s 28-0 second-half run, but said Sunday afternoon at a news conference that the final straw had been “brewing for a while.”
When the Trojans arrived back in Los Angeles in the early morning hours Sunday, Haden pulled Kiffin off the team bus, informed him of his firing and did not allow Kiffin to return to campus with the team. Haden said Sunday afternoon that Kiffin battled to keep his job in the session.
—Notre Dame dropped out of both major top 25 polls.
The Fighting Irish lost their second game of the season. They were replaced by Arizona State, which beat USC.
Alabama stayed at No. 1 after beating unranked Ole Miss 25-0 Saturday.
The Crimson Tide received 55 of 60 first-place votes in the Associated Press media poll. No. 2 Oregon got the remaining five votes. Alabama received 59 first-place votes in the USA Today coaches poll, with Oregon getting two votes and Clemson one.
— Army safety Geoff Bacon, the team’s leading tackler last season, underwent surgery on an injured wrist last week. He missed the game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday and will miss up to four more weeks.