Maybe it is in Lane Kiffin's DNA.
He just had to live up to his history of leaving under a cloud of controversy, which is what happened with the Oakland Raiders.
He left Tennessee in the middle of the night, after one season, only a couple of jumps in front of the posse after insulting everyone from Urban Meyer to a recruit who chose South Carolina over the Vols. He also had attracted interest from the NCAA over his recruiting.
He was fired at USC -- at a private airport at 3 a.m. after a loss -- forcing him to find his own way home.
Those are historical facts. What has happened between him and Nick Saban at Alabama is somewhat of a mystery.
Days after accepting the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic but agreeing to stay on for the playoffs as offensive coordinator at Alabama -- where apparently his three-year contract was about to run out and wasn't going to be renewed -- Kiffin was relieved of his duties by Saban one week before the national championship game.
Relieved is a nice way of saying fired.
Why? Kiffin's DNA is why.
This is a guy who couldn't land a big job. Not even Houston wanted him, choosing to promote Major Applewhite to head coach instead of the guy who was 40-3 as the Crimson Tide play-caller.
Florida Atlantic isn't the bottom of the coaching barrel, but you can see it from there.
The most interesting thing about that school is that it was named after an ocean. That is likely to change with Kiffin in charge, but maybe not for all the right reasons because from the time he accepted the job as chief Owl he became the one thing Saban won't tolerate -- a distraction.
In other words, he became himself, seeking attention and not playing well with others.
Three years under the tutelage of Saban was for nothing. Kiffin hasn't matured, and it would be surprising if he could spell humble.
He reportedly was late for meetings in the week leading up to the semifinal game, missed a bus and made random statements, including that he pays 52 percent in taxes, 34.5 percent in child support and alimony, and 3 percent to his agent, Jimmy Sexton, who obviously deserves a lot more.
He let a sportswriter from Sports Illustrated go house-hunting with him. He's searching for something in the $3 million range on the water.
He took jabs at Saban, even saying his replacement Steve Sarkisian will be better at getting along with the other coaches than he was.
Throw in the fact that Alabama was not impressive offensively in its 24-7 win over Washington, and Saban did what he had to do and kicked Kiffin to the curb.
It definitely wasn't because Saban wanted all the attention, but he knew Kiffin was taking the focus off the players, off the competition and putting it all on himself.
This probably wasn't a tough call for Saban. Even though he runs the risk of tremendous national criticism if Alabama loses to Clemson on Monday, he won't have any regrets.
It is always Saban's way or the highway, and when you have a championship ring for every finger and thumb on one hand, you have to be in charge and things have to be done your way.
Kiffin played by those rules as long as he could. Once he had a foot out of the door, he couldn't do it anymore.
Maybe there shouldn't be any surprise in the quick firing of Kiffin, although it is certainly unprecedented before a national championship game.
It seems Saban was already sick of Kiffin, and when the narcissistic behavior started to show, Saban told Kiffin to get lost. Maybe that's really what Kiffin needed -- to go out with controversy.
Sports on 01/05/2017