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Lane Kiffin to Ole Miss?

C-Man

By C-Man
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Hondo
Hondo

That's not harsh considering the context/circumstances.  Player ghosted the program (sounds like he was unhappy about the position they were making him play), claimed mental health, but did not respon

Victor Lazlo
Victor Lazlo

Exactly. Them SECs better just get out of his way if they know what’s good for them.   

Kevin O’Shea
Kevin O’Shea

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LTtxfan

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Less pressure and media attention at ole miss.  Kinda like Gundy's gig at okie lite.  Lane would be a great NFL assistant coach for a team in California or Florida.

But I wouldn't be surprised to see Lane stay at ole miss for several more years, even if other high profile offers come his way.

 

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Machinator

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Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin.

A decade later and it’s still baffling that the two not only joined forces in Tuscaloosa but that the odd couple survived (nearly) three full seasons.

A new book set for release next week offers some new context to their dynamic when Saban hired the castoff head coach as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2014 straight through the messy breakup at the end of the 2016 campaign.

The insight comes from an excerpt obtained by AL.com of “The Price: What It Takes to Win In College Football’s Era of Chaos,” a new tell-all from veteran journalists Armen Keteyian and John Talty (formerly of AL.com), set for release Aug. 27.

A chapter dedicated to sports agent Jimmy Sexton leads with the Saban/Kiffin relationship and Sexton’s role in their union. The CAA agent reps both coaches, and according to the book, it was Sexton who encouraged Saban to offer the fading star a second chance after Kiffin was dumped by USC.

Saban explained the hiring at the time as Alabama needing to modernize its offense at a time when the game was shifting from the run-heavy pro-style to a wide-open, pass happy attack.

“When I met with him about coming here, I said we have to change, we have to study and we have to figure out all these RPOs and all this spread offense and these motions and all these things we do,” Saban said in a 2022 radio show appearance. “And Lane is a really smart guy. So he was a good guy to really dive into this.”

While Saban, at the time, tamped down speculation that their contrasting styles were creating friction, the book offers insight into what could be a caustic relationship.

One such moment came when Kiffin called Sexton warning him that an angry Saban was about to call. Why? The offensive coordinator told the head coach “he didn’t know what he was talking about” in a meeting.

True to form, Saban’s less-than-cheerful call came within minutes.

“That son of a bitch,” Saban said to his agent, according to the book. “I’m going to fire you, Jimmy, for ever talking me into hiring that narcissistic prick.”

The agent who reps a solid majority of the SEC coaches (including Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze) had to talk Saban down that day but the two would continue to have their moments.

The book quoted a Saban conversation with another former assistant about Kiffin being the only assistant who constantly questioned Saban and “refused to adapt Saban’s preferred approach.”

“I ain’t never had a f------ coach I can’t control,” a disgusted Saban told this assistant.

At times, it was Sexton who had to coach Kiffin.

The book chronicles one such phone call, which Kiffin made just hours before a November 2015 kickoff in Tuscaloosa. The offensive coordinator called his agent to ask about a head coaching position that was coming open.

Sexton was enraged.

“I was screaming at him,” Sexton said, according to The Price. “‘Let’s go play the game today. Let’s win the game today. If you win games, you’ll get a job. People don’t hire guys who are losing; they hire guys who are winning.’”

Kiffin was not hired in that season’s round of coaching musical chairs so he returned for what would be his third and final season in Tuscaloosa. He almost got to the finish line but after struggling to juggle his Alabama offensive coordinator duties with building his Florida Atlantic staff after being hired as the head coach, Saban famously fired him between the CFP semifinal and the national title game.

Before that, Saban defended his hiring of Kiffin on multiple occasions. One such memorable defense came just a month into Kiffin’s first season.

“We communicate well,” Saban said in the Sept. 23, 2014 news conference. “He’s very respectful in terms of presenting the information I need and when I make suggestions, he always respects them. We communicate well during the game so it’s always been good is the way I would put it.”

Saban paused.

“If I did what you all thought when I hired the guy, he wouldn’t even be here. So maybe that was the assumption because nobody thought it was a good hire that all of a sudden there was something bad. But I thought it was a good hire. Nobody else did. You know, I got beat up like a drum over doing it and now, all of a sudden, it’s great.”

Kiffin would coach FAU for three seasons before being hired at Ole Miss before the 2020 season. He went 0-4 in games against Saban there, ending with a 24-10 loss last September in what would be their final meeting.

Kiffin has also publicly praised Saban, notably on social media, since his time in Tuscaloosa. He credited Saban with saving his career after he was fired from his dream job at USC.

“I’m so very appreciative to him those three years and really him taking a chance on me,” Kiffin said last month at SEC Media Days in Dallas. “Not just ‘OK what did I learn when I got there,’ which is all over our program whether that’s coaches hired, former players hired, principles process over outcome. But the opportunity that he gave me to come there. I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t. It was controversial and I give him credit.”

 

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C-Man

C-Man 27071

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Lane is gonna rebuild Florida real fast next year.

My daughter is a freshman at Ole Miss. Kiffin’s daughter is a sophomore. Word on the street is that the daughter has asked Lane to stay at Ole Miss at least until she’s graduated. Take that for what it’s worth.
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Gut Wagon

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2 hours ago, Underdog said:

About to put a big 70 on the scoreboard today vs the Cats. 

Home team has been dodging bullets so far. Nearly lost the opening kickoff and should have been flagged for end zone DPI a moment ago. But Kentucky looks as witless as its head coach, so I don't see an upset brewing.

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