LINCOLN — Monte Kiffin came to help his son but found time to do some football work as well.
Kiffin visited with Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and some of his staff Thursday at the Osborne Complex. The Southern Cal defensive coordinator was accompanied by two of his Trojan assistant coaches.
“Just exchanging ideas. It’s pretty commonplace,’’ said NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini. “Sometimes guys come and spend three or four days and pick your brain.’’
It’s a bigger deal when it’s Kiffin, though, because of both his Husker heritage and his reputation. Kiffin, 70, is a Lexington native who played and coached at NU, and later became one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the NFL.
Kiffin in January followed son Lane from Tennessee to USC when Lane Kiffin was named the Trojans’ head coach. The Kiffins have now added Lane’s brother, Chris, who spent two seasons with the Huskers as an administrative assistant.
“(Monte) came up and thanked us for all we did for Chris,’’ Carl Pelini said.
Monte and Chris Kiffin left Lincoln on Thursday night. They also attended the NU women’s basketball game on Wednesday. Chris Kiffin’s wife, Angela, is director of operations for Connie Yori’s program.
Carl Pelini said Monte Kiffin mostly spent time Thursday with Bo Pelini, whom Kiffin supported for the NU defensive coordinator job in 2003 when Frank Solich hired the little-known 35-year-old NFL assistant.
“The thing about Monte is he’s such good friends with Bo, they ended up just talking a lot,’’ Carl Pelini said.
About some football, too.
“He’s such a smart football coach, it’s great to throw things by him and get his thoughts on it,’’ Carl Pelini said. “Certainly it’s never one-sided. It’s just an exchange of ideas. You know, ‘This is a problem we’ve been having, how do you look at it?’ Or, ‘This is something we don’t like to face, what do you do about it?’
“We’re all evolving all the time. As soon as you stop learning, you’re not going to be a very good coach. You can’t be stagnant because people will figure you out fast.’’
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