Saban and Kiffin set a new bar...
It
turned out to be a marriage made in heaven. For all of those (me included) who
thought that hiring Lane Kiffin was a mistake, maybe an insanity, please accept
my humble apology. Call them what you will – the odd couple, Mutt and Jeff, or
even Batman and Robin. Call it the long and tall of it all. Alpha and Omega.
Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin did some remarkable coaching this season. Saban, a
man who constantly amazes me, looked at Lane Kiffin and saw the future and not
the past. When Saban announced the hiring of Kiffin a kind of stunned silence
began which soon gave way to downright anger in the Tide Nation. How could Nick
Saban hire the much hated and extremely arrogant Lane Kiffin? Kiffin left UT in
the lurch, and got fired by the Southern Cal AD at LAX. He was damaged goods to
most anyone who wondered about his future. Many wondered if he might ever coach
in the college ranks again. Enter Nick Saban.
I’m
not sure that any man with less stature than Nick Saban had the ability to pull
off one of the greatest coaching hires ever made. Today, we celebrate Kiffin
for all he has done with the Alabama offense. That is what Nick Saban saw in
Lane Kiffin. Kiffin wasn’t damaged goods, maybe just a little bruised, and
suffering from a deflated ego. I first wondered about his hiring Kiffin when
the ex-Southern California coach visited the Capstone for that week or so
before the last bowl game. Was it possible that Saban was considering hiring
him? I didn’t think so. Southern California is exactly Southern Mississippi
either. It’s a long fall from one of the top programs in college football
history to being an assistant. Yes, even at Alabama.
No
doubt, the man has coaching skills. Big doubt, the man had people skills to
match. Saban offered and Kiffin accepted. That says a lot about both men.
Kiffin was too proud to beg for a job anywhere. Saban made it possible for
Kiffin to install Kiffin 2.0 and get his life back on track. Saban, ever the
wiley fox, understood the quid pro quo.
Saban
understood the upside of hiring the offensive genius. He also understood the
downside as well. While most people dwelled on the negative, Saban and Kiffin
signed on for a lot more than a contract offering employment. Each man was
giving up a lot of control. Somewhere in all the thought processes that each
had to go through to reach decision to come to Alabama, there must have been a high
level of trust established. I’m talking about serious out on a limb type trust.
If Kiffin failed Saban would catch a lot of flack. It wasn’t as if the Tide
hadn’t experienced success under past OC’s.
Here’s
what I think happened. Saban knew that he had to drag his offense into a new
era whether he liked it or not. Saban know what a wonderful OC Kiffin would
make. Kiffen understood that this wasn’t just a change to redeem himself, this
was a chance to redeem himself with the greatest coach in America. Alabama had
no experienced quarterbacks waiting in the wing. Saban know that Lane Kiffin
could help remedy that problem. Saban kept the media off Kiffin’s back by not
allowing him to speak.. I bet Kiffin both liked and wanted that to happen. He
needed to be judged on his ability to coach and not on non-football matters. Saban
had the clout and the power to let Kiffin succeed while not allowing Alabama
football to turn into Entertainment
Tonight. Oprah and Dr. Phil couldn’t have created a better ending. Do you
know what kind of leadership that hire took? Can we really appreciate exactly
what Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin did this season for Alabama? I just beginning
to appreciate this myself. Can you imagine the guts it took for Kiffin to tell
Saban that Blake Sims was going to be his starting quarterback? We all knew how
unpopular that choice was. What was going on in Tuscaloosa?
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