USC assistant Kiffin, 31, named Raiders boss

The Oakland Raiders hired Lane Kiffin on last night, making the 31-year-old Southern California offensive coordinator the youngest NFL head coach in decades.

Kiffin, the son of Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, earned the job with a strong interview yesterday after the Raiders failed to reach a deal last week with 32-year-old Steve Sarkisian, Kiffin's fellow assistant to Pete Carroll at USC.

The Raiders called a news conference for today to announce the hiring.

Raiders owner Al Davis quickly moved to land another up-and-coming offensive mind with sterling college credentials, but just one season of NFL experience - as a defensive quality control coach with Jacksonville in 2000.

At 31 years, 8 months, Kiffin is even younger than Harland Svare, who took over the Los Angeles Rams in 1962 at 31 years, 11 months. Svare is listed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Web site as the youngest coach in the modern era, though younger coaches - including George Halas - led teams during the league's founding years.

But Davis has ample reason to trust in young minds: Jon Gruden, Mike Shanahan and John Madden all succeeded as Raiders head coaches in their 30s - as did Davis.

Kiffin is 14 months younger than Madden was when the Hall of Fame coach took over the Raiders in 1969. Davis was 33 years, 6 months when he took charge of the Raiders in 1963.

Kiffin, a former Fresno State quarterback, is younger than at least nine players who finished the season with Oakland during its NFL-worst 2-14 campaign.

Coach Art Shell was fired after the season, and Davis apparently was determined to hire another young offensive-minded coach in the mold of Gruden, his last successful hire. Davis has fired three coaches in the last 4 years: Bill Callahan, Norv Turner and Shell, whose return to the Raiders lasted just 1 year.

Kiffin had been at USC for 6 years, ascending from a job as tight-ends coach to three jobs last season as offensive coordinator, receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.

Sarkisian had two strong interviews with the Raiders last week, but decided to stay at USC.

In other coaching news:

* As expected, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin was named Pittsburgh's head coach, the first black to hold that position in the team's history. Tomlin, 34, is the Steelers' third coach in 38 years, following Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher.

* Cincinnati cornerback Johnathan Joseph was arrested early yesterday and charged with possession of marijuana. Joseph was the ninth Bengals player arrested in the last 9 months, but the first since coach Marvin Lewis announced 3 weeks ago that he was taking a harder line on player misconduct.

Joseph was arrested on U.S. Route 42 in northern Kentucky. The sheriff's arrest report said Joseph was the passenger in a vehicle driven by a woman who had a suspended license, was driving slowly and weaving.

Joseph, the 24th overall pick in last season's draft, started eight games, including the final seven in place of Deltha O'Neal, who was arrested Dec. 9 on a drunken-driving charge.

* Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick was cleared by police of any wrongdoing at a Miami airport, 4 days after general manager Rich McKay said the star player had "let a lot of people down."

Vick's water bottle was seized by security at Miami International Airport last Wednesday. Police said it smelled of marijuana and had a hidden compartment that contained a "small amount of dark particulate." Lab tests found no evidence of drugs, according to a memo by an assistant state attorney in Florida. *