What Lane Kiffin said about leaving Alabama, ‘conservative’ game plan vs. Washington

Though some will try to spin this as no big deal for a program that has won 26 consecutive games, it is a massive gamble that could easily cost Alabama the championship. Sarkisian has slowly took over the OC role for Alabama since Kiffin announced that he would be taking the FAU job. He anxious that Kiffin was spending too much time assembling his coaching staff and recruiting players for his new school.

As an offensive coordinator – a single job that encompassed quarterback development and Saturday play-calling – Kiffin probably exceeded Nick Saban’s expectations, and certainly surpassed everyone else’s. Kiffin could attract the skill players who wanted to play in a fast, high-scoring offense while also luring the massive offensive lineman who wanted a chance to prove to National Football League teams they could carry pro-style assignments.

Sarkisian’s personality and ability to manage people, Kiffin said, will be a better fit. And just reflecting on the preparation for the game and trying to do both jobs. I thought it would be easier than it was.

Although that was taken by many to mean that Saban had fired Kiffin, it has never ben Saban’s style to fire coaches – and that would seem particularly true for a coach who has already moved on, as had Kiffin. “So it wasn’t anything about the game, I was wondering was I always there because I’m balancing between two jobs”. Keep in mind that prior to his arrival, the Crimson Tide offense had stalled and Saban hired him for the sole goal of completely remaking it. Kiffin not only fulfilled those duties, but did it with an incredible degree of difficulty.

Kiffin, who helped revolutionize Alabama’s offense into more of a spread attack over the last three seasons, during which the Tide have had some of its most statistically-productive years in program history, said he and Saban came to this decision following a series of meetings Sunday and Monday morning.

“I just felt Sark and I are so similar”. Now we have a little over a week for this game. I still think that Saban made the call, and we have a “let’s just say you resigned” scenario here.

To me this shows that Alabama has some doubt entering the game.

Hurts, in particular, will have to rebound from a Washington game in which he threw for a career-low 57 yards and rediscover the confidence that led to him winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

Will Kiffin’s departure be a distraction?

“I can’t worry about that”. “This is something 10 years ago I wouldn’t have come up with, signing a contract here”. Smart would admit that the back-and-forth between Alabama and Georgia past year wore him down.

Finally, Kiffin disputed the ESPN report that Kiffin was late to meetings and wasn’t enjoying his time at Alabama.

“The missing the bus thing, the media was there, and we’re sitting there at media day and I was doing every interview that I was supposed to do”. He’s already thrown his best player under the bus. “There were no distractions”.

Kiffin joined the Alabama staff in January of 2014 and was responsible for helping develop former Alabama quarterback Jake Coker and former Heisman victor Derrick Henry ahead of the Crimson Tide’s championship a season ago.