Lane Kiffin is in town, having arrived Thursday night. That might not seem like a big deal, since college football coaches more than ever cross half of the Pacific Ocean to recruit the talent here.

But now that Kiffin is offensive coordinator at Alabama, that voyage covers most of the North American continent, too. And the visit at this time is interesting, considering where he now coaches, and who made an early oral commitment to the Tide this week.

Saint Louis School quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made his intentions known nine months before signing day. A lot can happen between now and then, when the commitment would become binding. As we’ve seen many times before, recruiting doesn’t always stop just because a player makes an early announcement of his intentions. In fact, “intention” is a better word to use at this stage of recruiting. The real commitment is when pen hits paper in February.

That’s part of why Kiffin is here to visit, and also part of why outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi will show up at an airport near you, and Tua, next week. Lupoi (whose first name is really funny if you know what comedian Daniel Tosh thinks of Alabama football), is the Tide’s West Coast recruiter; he was previously on the staffs at Cal and Washington, and coached the New Orleans Saints’ Hau’oli Kikaha of Kahuku while with the Huskies.

’Bama thought it had its quarterback for the class of 2017 in Jake Fromm. When the man who recruited him, defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, left to be the head coach at Georgia, Fromm followed him.

Fromm is the traditional pro-style quarterback ’Bama used to favor. But in recent years, especially with Kiffin aboard, head coach Nick Saban has been more than willing to bring in dual threats, like Tagovailoa.

With his West Coast background, former Oakland Raiders and USC head coach Kiffin spreads out not just the offense, but the recruiting base, with the help of Lupoi. Earlier this week, Kiffin also visited California blue chips Wyatt Davis (Bellflower), Najee Harris (Antioch) and Elliot Baker (San Francisco).

Harris and Baker, considered the nation’s top prospects at running back and offensive tackle, are committed to ’Bama. Davis, another OT who preps at national powerhouse St. John Bosco, is said to be leaning his 310 pounds heavily toward Tuscaloosa.

It’s not unheard of for some of the top prospects from California to head east and south historically. But SEC schools rarely felt the need to expand their recruiting footprints north of the Mason-Dixon line or west of the Mississippi until recently. Now, two of its member schools (Missouri and Texas A&M) are located across the big river.

The SEC has long been famous (or infamous) for its internal recruiting border wars. But, more than ever, Alabama’s backyard is now anywhere it wants it to be, including Hawaii.

And, if there was ever any doubt, a Heisman Trophy winner and a runner-up in the space of three years from the islands makes all that extra recruiting travel a worthwhile investment.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.