Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Bama Must Enter Fast Lane: Why Kiffin is the Only Choice to Replace Saban

There are many strong candidates to replace Nick Saban. But Lane Kiffin is the only realistic choice.

Staff
Pin
Sep 23
Sep 23

By Rock Westfall 

There are many strong candidates to replace Nick Saban. But Lane Kiffin is the only realistic choice.

Saban Proves to be Smartest Man in the Room 

Nick Saban has retired as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was smart enough to go out with his full dignity and respect, and coming off what many consider to be his best coaching job for the Crimson Tide.

The next head coach is not just taking over as the replacement for Nick Saban. The Alabama job is not just following “The Man,” which many coaches are hesitant to do. The adage is to be the man that follows the man.

Whoever takes over for Saban is following the GOAT of college football coaching. The next coach must meet an impossible standard in the most challenging and unstable era in the history of the sport.  And do so for the most demanding and spoiled fans in college football.  

While many great coaches would seem to make sense, only one is meant for the moment. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has the ability, institutional knowledge, personality, and self-secure ego to face the pressure cooker of Tuscaloosa.

On paper, there may be better coaches out there. But none of them have the intangibles that Kiffin will bring. And it is those intangibles that will be needed to survive an unprecedented coaching challenge.

More Sports News

A Manchild Grows Up

It is undeniably true that Lane Kiffin had no business being hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in 2007 at age 32. Then-owner Al Davis was slipping mentally and wanted somebody bright that he could control. Kiffin lasted four games into his second season before Davis pulled the plug. It was too much too soon for Kiffin. But the Raiders have done no better since Kiffin left in 2007. Now, in Las Vegas, they have two playoff appearances since 2003.

Incredibly, Kiffin landed on his feet to take over at Tennessee in 2009. Kiffin alienated most of the SEC with his brash ways and slandering coaches such as Urban Meyer. Yet Kiffin went 7-6 in his only season, an improvement from 5-7 the year before.

Kiffin left Tennessee in the dead of night for his dream job at USC, where he made his bones as a Pete Carroll assistant during the last era of glory for the Trojans. There were riots in the streets of Knoxville as Kiffin left. The anger was over the belief that Kiffin was rapidly improving the program and would get it back to a championship level.

Next came the USC job. Kiffin’s defensive coordinator and father, Monte, would later admit it was a terrible mistake for them to leave Tennessee for USC. The Trojans were burdened with sanctions during Kiffin’s time, impeding his ability to get the program back to elite status.

After Kiffin went 10-2 in his second season (2011) with a final ranking of 6th, expectations were raised too high. A 7-6 campaign followed in 2012. And then the Trojans fired Kiffin after a dreadful 3-2 start in 2013. Athletic director Pat Haden infamously gave Kiffin the news on the LA airport tarmac. It remains a joke, even with Kiffin, to this day.

At that point, Kiffin’s career was in serious jeopardy. But Nick Saban threw him a lifeline to become offensive coordinator in 2014. In his three seasons, Kiffin modernized the offense. But he was fired after a 2016 playoff game for being distracted by his new head coaching gig at Florida Atlantic.

Saban cut Kiffin no slack during their partnership and would often chastise him publicly. It was all part of the growing up process that Kiffin had to endure for his own good.

At Florida Atlantic, Kiffin impressed all with a 26-13 record and two Conference USA championships. A desperate Ole Miss program wooed him away for his second SEC HC gig.

Kiffin has gone 34-15 at Ole Miss, including 11-2 this year, with a final national ranking of 11th. He has proven his ability to adapt as the portal king and has finally learned to take complementary football and defense seriously. Ole Miss ranked 43rd in the nation for points allowed, a strong improvement from 57th one season ago.

Former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding joined Ole Miss this year for another Saban connection and nod to championship football. Kiffin respects Golding, who was Saban’s DC from 2018-2022. Golding captured Kiffin’s imagination, and the increased priority on defense was the difference in the most wins ever for Ole Miss in a season.

It took a long time with plenty of trial and error, but Lane Kiffin has finally grown up.

Why Kiffin is the Only Choice to Make Tide Roll 

Put college football’s best coach in Alabama next year, and what will you get? A great resume and a man that few Alabama fans know or respect. You can say Dan Lanning of Oregon, Kalen DeBoer of Washington, Brian Kelly of LSU, or even Steve Sarkisian of Texas, among others, are better HCs than Lane Kiffin. But the job of replacing Nick Saban is much much more than being a great coach.

Alabama fans are likely to accept Lane Kiffin more than any other coach, likely by a wide margin. They loved him as the OC and are enthralled with his bad-boy image, especially compared to the stern and humorless taskmaster Saban.

When the first loss comes for the new Bama coach, there is no doubt that he will be feeling the intense heat and instant comparisons to Saban. Kiffin? Not so much. He is likely to defuse the situation with a self-deprecating joke or X-post. And he will be granted a level of grace and patience that no other coach could possibly hope for. He has a bond with Crimson Tide fans. And that will matter in hard times.  This is one time where the people’s choice is the right choice.  

Sarkisian was indeed an effective offensive coordinator for Saban in 2019-20. And Sark has done a good job in three years at Texas, getting them to the 2023 College Football Playoff.

But as annoying and superficial as it sounds, Kiffin has the superior personality to match this moment. He is less likely to crack under the relentless Crimson Tide of pressure that will perpetually slam into the next man up.  

Brian Kelly, Dan Lanning, and Kalen DeBoer are great coaches, perhaps better than Kiffin, but currently are perfect fits where they are. This is not the time for them to leave ascending programs with their names stamped on them for the insane challenge of taking over Saban’s program. Only Lane Kiffin can laugh in the face of the challenge and bring enough coaching gravitas to succeed.

The Unimaginable Challenge 

When Ray Perkins replaced Bear Bryant at Alabama in 1983, it was a big deal. But nothing like this. Perhaps the best comparison comes from college basketball, where an outstanding coach, Gene Bartow, replaced college hoops coaching GOAT John Wooden in 1975-76. Bartow went 27-5 and 24-5, winning two conference titles with a 1976 Final Four and 1977 Sweet Sixteen berth. Yet it was not good enough for spoiled UCLA fans, and the miserable outsider Bartow left for Alabama Birmingham, where he had great success and was respected.

The next coach at Alabama is walking into an unfathomable situation and pressure cooker. Only Lane Kiffin has the personality and temperament to let the firestorm roll off his back with his mischievous grin and irreverent X-posts while holding the fan base like no other candidate possibly could.  

Most important of all, Kiffin knows Saban, Alabama, Crimson Tide tradition, culture and pressure, the SEC, the portal, recruiting, and now even defense.  He is the complete package for Alabama.  Nobody else is.  

In life, timing is everything. Lane Kiffin’s time has arrived. He is ready to match the moment. He is the perfect fit at the perfect time for Alabama.  Kiffin is the only man who can replace The Man.  

Category: , Tag: , , , , , , ,
Pin

You’ll Also Like