Former Tennessee and Southern California head coach Lane Kiffin will be the next Alabama offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the Crimson Tide announced on its Twitter feed Friday evening.

ESPN first reported the news Friday afternoon. Former offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier was hired Wednesday night by Michigan.

“We are excited to have Lane join our staff,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “He is an outstanding and creative offensive coach who has great experience both at the college and NFL level. He has a very good understanding of the game, and I have always been impressed with what I saw in the games he called. He coaches with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm, and also does an excellent job as a teacher. Lane will be an outstanding addition to our coaching staff, and we look forward to him and his family joining us at The University of Alabama.”

Kiffin brings with him to Tuscaloosa an impressive pedigree as both a recruiter and offensive mind at the college level, but a considerable amount of controversy in terms of public statements and NCAA violations.

With Kiffin as the USC offensive coordinator in 2005, the Trojans averaged nearly 600 yards per game in a season where they went undefeated but lost in the national championship game to Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns.

That year, USC quarterback and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart threw for 3,815 yards and 28 touchdowns, while running backs Reggie Bush and Lendale White rushed for 1,740 and 1,302 yards, respectively. Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett notched 1,274 yards receiving.

It was the first offense in NCAA history to have a quarterback throw for more than 3,000 yards while having two running backs eclipse the 1,000-yard mark and a 1,000-yard receiver.

As the head coach at Tennessee, Kiffin improved the Tennessee offense from 116th in the nation in 2008 to 60th in 2009, a year which included a near upset of Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“We want to thank The University of Alabama and Coach Saban for this tremendous opportunity, and we feel humbled and honored to be a part of the Crimson Tide family,” Kiffin said in the release. “I’ve always had the utmost respect for what coach Saban has done with his programs. Having the unique opportunity to be here last month, I was able to meet some of the great players and the great people in the organization, and I’m very excited to start working with them. We’ve seen the passion and support of the Alabama fans firsthand, and when that’s combined with the storied history and tradition of the program, this is a very special place to coach.”

Kiffin will also be one of the top recruiters on Alabama’s staff.

He signed the No. 3 class, according to 247Sports, in both 2010 and 2011, his first two years as head coach at USC. The next two years his classes were rated Nos. 9 and 13, respectively, but had the highest average player rating while the Trojans dealt with scholarship reductions and other NCAA penalties.

With only a short time to put together a class in his only year as coach at Tennessee in 2009, the Vols signed the No. 9 class, according to 247Sports.

But Kiffin’s hire was met with a significant amount of skepticism and criticism from Alabama fans.

While the 2005 USC team is considered one of the best teams of all time, especially on offense, the NCAA does not formally recognize the season, as all of its victories were vacated.

USC was punished for lack of institutional control in 2010 and received a two-year bowl ban, loss of 30 scholarships and four years of probation from the NCAA. A total of 14 wins were vacated from the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

The NCAA found that Bush had received improper benefits such as gifts from sports agents, a limousine ride to the 2005 Heisman Trophy ceremony and a rent-free home.

After a two-year stint as head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, Kiffin returned to the college ranks as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in 2009. That year, the Vols improved from 5-7 to 7-5, and the offense saw a dramatic increase in production with Kiffin calling the plays.

But the NCAA violations and controversy followed.

Kiffin made waves with his brash remarks in public, which included calling out then-Florida coach Urban Meyer for contacting a recruit while he was on a visit to Tennessee. He also reportedly told wide receiver and South Carolina native Alshon Jeffery that if he signed with the Gamecocks he would end up “pumping gas for the rest of his life.”

Jeffery put up 3,042 yards receiving and 23 touchdowns in three years at South Carolina and made the Pro Bowl in his second year with the Chicago Bears this season.

Kiffin denied ever saying that to Jeffery.

Kiffin left Tennessee with a handful of secondary violations, including publicly naming a recruit, and when he announced he was leaving to be the coach at USC there were riots on campus. Knoxville police and fire departments were called in to prevent students from blocking his exit from the Neyland Thompson Sports Center.

Kiffin’s Trojans amassed a 28-15 record during his three-plus years as head coach while the school dealt with the sanctions stemming from the Bush investigation. His 2012 team was voted preseason No. 1 by the Associated Press as they returned stars like quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receiver Marquis Lee, but the team finished with a 7-6 record, including 5-4 in Pac-12 play and a loss in the Sun Bowl.

He was fired after starting the 2013 season 3-2 with early Pac-12 losses to Washington State and Arizona State.

Still, Saban said he thinks highly of Kiffin as a coach and an offensive mind. After a 34-28 loss to Auburn that ended Alabama’s regular season, Saban brought Kiffin in to meet with coaches and evaluate the offense.

“Lane is a really good offensive coach, and I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Saban said at the time. “Just to come in and brainstorm a little bit, just some professional ideas with our guys, I think, is a real positive thing.”

Kiffin will be able to mostly avoid creating public controversy at Alabama, as Crimson Tide assistants are generally not allowed to speak to the media.

Contract details such as length and term have not yet been released for Kiffin.