Paying your dues

There was an interesting article in this weeks Sports Illustrated about Lane Kiffin the very young head coach for the Oakland Raiders. I read the article with great interest on two levels: One was how proud his father must be (Father is longtime NFL assistant) and second is, what are his fathers contemporaries are thinking about this - What has this young whipper snapper done to deserve being a head a head coach at age 31? I know I have been pretty outspoken about paying your dues, but this guy has paid some dues and he will pay some dues big time if he does not produce. It took some guts and calculation on his part to accept the job, also knowing that he would be working with a toxic owner in Al Davis. He has also made some interesting picks in assistant coaches. In response to a reporters question about that he said: ”Sometimes you have an assistant coach teaching the same thing for 10, 12 years in a row, almost going through the motions. I’ve got guys whose livelihoods depend on how they coach and how we play.”

My question is how many doors were opened for him because he was lane Kiffin’s son that would not have opened for him. It will be interesting to watch his growth and progress.