The Lane Kiffin soap opera rolls on with dramatic Alabama exit

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Lane Kiffin left a job on Monday in dramatic fashion.

Upon his hiring as Florida Atlantic's head coach a couple weeks ago, Kiffin insisted he would remain as Alabama's offensive coordinator through the end of the College Football Playoff, but that wouldn't end up being the case as Nick Saban announced he was no longer a part of the program effective immediately.

Related: Kiffin out, Sarkisian in as Alabama OC for national championship game

Steve Sarkisian, remember that name for later, will take over play-calling duties for the national championship against Clemson. It was announced in late December that Sarkisian would be the replacement for Kiffin starting next season, but that has now been moved up.

It seems impossible for Kiffin to leave a job without blowing the football world up, and the Alabama exit is just the latest in a long line of dramatic departures.

Oakland Raiders

Kiffin was fired from his first head coaching job with the Oakland Raiders after going 5-15 through 20 games.

Team owner Al Davis told ESPN that he was "embarrassed to watch" the Raiders under Kiffin and that the young coach had "disgraced" the organization. He wasn't done there, describing Kiffin as a "flat-out liar" and "professional liar" and that "he conned me like he conned all you people."

Although Kiffin insisted he was glad he had taken the job, the way he was fired certainly left a bad taste in his mouth.

"It was something I wasn't proud of to be associated with, and I was embarrassed for him, to tell you the truth," Kiffin said.

Tennessee

Kiffin landed on his feet after the Raiders fired him, taking the head coaching job at Tennessee.

After a 7-6 season which also included him accusing Florida of cheating, Kiffin left the job suddenly to take the head coaching position at USC.

As most can expect, the move was not well received, and fans began protesting outside the Volunteers' football facility.

"Every time a car moved anywhere in the vicinity of the complex, the mob ran in that direction, shouting and chanting 'F--- you Kiffin!" - Chris Low, ESPN

Volunteers player Robert Nelson admitted to the New York Times that when Kiffin told the Tennessee team he was leaving for USC, players were so angry they didn't want to let Kiffin finish his speech.

"I'm not going to lie, it hurts and it definitely feels like he turned his back on us," Ben Martin told ESPN's Chris Low. "Good luck to him. Tennessee football will go on."

USC

Kiffin started off strong at USC but faded in his third and fourth seasons with the program, seeing the Trojans lose seven of his last 11 games.

Following a 62-41 loss at Arizona State, athletic director Pat Haden decided he couldn't wait any longer to fire Kiffin, breaking the news to him on the tarmac at the Los Angeles Airport.

"At the end of the day, it became a gut feeling that we weren't making the progress that I thought we should be making," Haden told the New York Times' Billy Witz. "It's never the perfect time, but I thought this was the right time. Our history has been great, and we need to be great again."

Haden would end up hiring Steve Sarkisian (*told you to remember his name) to replace Kiffin as Trojans head coach. He wouldn't even last a full season, as Haden dismissed him following numerous alcohol-related incidents.

Alabama

By almost all accounts, Kiffin did an excellent job with the Crimson Tide this season, leading the nation's 15th-ranked scoring offense to 39.4 points per contest.

All that goodwill seemed to be undone by the team's performance in the Peach Bowl, despite the fact they won the game 24-7. Fans, and former Crimson Tide players alike, bemoaned throughout the first half that running back Bo Scarbrough wasn't getting enough carries.

Combine that with the fact Kiffin was late to a team bus, and made the following comments to media in the buildup to the game, and the writing was on the wall.

"I don't know that I would describe there was a happy moment," Kiffin joked to Nicole Auerbach of USA Today. "I don't recall a happy moment. I just recall the ass-chewings. I won't take that part of the process with me (to Florida Atlantic), though."