It seems as though Alabama head coach Nick Saban has had to defend the hiring of Lane Kiffin since day one. Even with a quick 3-0 start to the 2014 season, with quarterback Blake Sims grabbing a hold of the starting job, and wide receiver Amari Cooper among the best receivers in the nation, there is still work to be done on offense. Saban stops short of suggesting there is any frustration with the way Kiffin is working out.
Alabama has the nation’s fifth highest offensive yards per game. The Crimson Tide are 23rd in the nation in rushing offense, 12th in passing offense, and the nation’s second highest third-down conversion rate.
“It’s never been bad,” Saban said when asked about the chemistry with Kiffin and its impact on the offense, as transcribed by Coaching Search. “Who ever said it was bad? Why does it need to get better? I thought something had to be bad before you needed to get better. Has it gotten better? That assumes it was bad, it was worse at one time. We’re in love, we’re out of love, we fell back in love. I don’t get it. … We communicate well together.”
“If I did what you all thought when I hired the guy, he wouldn’t even be here,” Saban explained. “Maybe that was the assumption, because nobody thought it was a good hire, that all of a sudden, it’s something bad. I thought it was a good hire. Nobody else did.”
That’s not exactly true, Saban. Back in January I shared my take on the hire being a good move for Alabama, and an even better move for Kiffin. It seemed clear Kiffin got in over his head as a head coach of a program, from the NFL’s Oakland Raiders to the Tennessee Volunteers and, most recently, at USC. Getting back in his element as offensive coordinator and doing so at a loaded program controlled by Saban took away much of the pressure and grind Kiffin was unable to master as ahead coach. It was a clear win-win.
Helmet sticker to Coaching Search for the transcribed quotes.