Hard to believe a guy like Lane Kiffin could wear out his welcome at the end of his University of Alabama tenure, but after showing up late to numerous meetings and generally being a destraction since being announced as the new head coach at Florida Atlantic University, Kiffin will not finish out the season with the team. According to Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, the decision was made “in the best interests of our players, our program and for Lane to assume his duties at Florida Atlantic. We mutually agreed this was best for both programs.”
OK.
Stepping in for Kiffin calling plays for No. 1 ranked Alabama will be Steve Sarkasian, who was already supposed to inherit the job next season.
Now, it’s nothing new for a coach to step away once he’s gotten another job. The truth is, the fact that Kiffin was hanging around through bowl season was odd. I’d guess Kiffin wanted to earn one more ring and show how smart he is with Alabama’s talent one more time, but, because he’s Lane Kiffin, he screwed that up too.
Kiffin reportedly had been late to multiple events last week as the team prepared for the Peach Bowl. Not just media stuff, but actual team meetings. According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, other Alabama coaching staff members were “done with him.”
On Peach Bowl’s media day, Kiffin was not only 15 minutes late, but missed the team bus back to the hotel from the stadium.
Kiffin has been in the news a few times since he first took the FAU job. First people assumed he was behind the Owls’ recruitment of former Florida State quarterback Deandre Johnson. Kiffin had to come out and publicly deny it, though he sure as hell will use Johnson this season. It’s the Kiffin way. He’s already thrown his best player under the bus.
@DredaDon14 surrounded by family and friends as he signs with Florida Atlantic. #TEAMSIDELINE pic.twitter.com/omKUGP0Psy
— Chris Porter (@ChrisPorterFCN) December 14, 2016
There have been rumors all season that Kiffin had worn out his welcome at Alabama. While that would explain why he would take a job at a place like Florida Atlantic instead of holding out for a bigger program, I find it hard to believe that Saban couldn’t just enforce his will on anybody. It obviously worked on Kiffin until he got a case of senior-itis last week.
And, really, it didn’t do FAU any good to not have Kiffin already in his office. They need to recruit in a Florida that will be tougher to compete in than ever. With Charlie Strong at South Florida and Scott Frost building up a program at Central Florida, Kiffin has his work cut out for him. There are only so many convicts you can bring in. At some point, you have to recruit real players.
“After going through these last couple of weeks, trying to serve the best interests of two universities as an offensive coordinator and a head coach, it became apparent that both programs would be better served by me giving all my time and efforts to being the head coach at FAU,” Kiffin said in his statement . “After meeting with Coach Saban during preparations last night and this morning, we mutually decided that it was in everyone’s best interests for the players and the program for Coach Sarkisian to take over all responsibilities as offensive coordinator for the championship game.”
Kiffin was 35-21 as an NCAA head coach with one season at Tennessee and four at the University of Southern California. He was 0-2 in bowl games.
Kiffin joined the Alabama staff as offensive coordinator in 2014 and led one of the top offenses in the country for three straight seasons. Alabama has been one of the final four teams in the College Football Playoff since its inception with Kiffin calling the plays and won the national title last season. They’ll face No. 2 Clemson in a rematch of last year’s game on Jan. 9.
“This was a very difficult decision, but it’s a decision made in the best interests of the program, Kiffin said. “I look forward to helping Alabama win another championship, and would like to thank Coach Saban, the staff, and all the players and fans for the past three years at UA for an unforgettable time and championship run. Roll Tide!”
Will this change anything for Alabama in the national title game? I have no clue, but any boost Clemson can get, even perceived, has to be welcomed in the rematch.
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