Saban: Lane Kiffin 'absolutely' ready to be head coach again
ATLANTA – Nick Saban says Lane Kiffin is ready to be a head coach again.
“Absolutely,” Saban said Friday. “I think he’s proven when he was a head coach, he had a reasonably good amount of success, much more than I think he gets credit for and he’s done a phenomenal job in the three years he’s been with us relative to taking the players that we had and actually molding a system, especially for the quarterback to be successful.”
The question is the nation ready for Kiffin to lead a major college program?
Kiffin has re-established himself as an offensive coordinator by having five different starting quarterbacks in his three years at Alabama (Cooper Bateman started against Ole Miss last season and Blake Barnett started this season’s opener). He worked magic with Blake Sims and Jake Coker, whom had never started a college game, and has Jalen Hurts playing beyond his years as a true freshman this season.
“He’s a good ball coach and he’s got a lot of good coaches around him as well,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said. “Obviously with what they’ve done with those quarterbacks and particular with this freshman quarterback, and how they’ve adapted to his game and how that quarterback has adapted to what they are asking him to do. They’ve done a great job of highlighting the people around him.”
He’s no longer the youngest coach to be here or there. Kiffin is 41, gone through rough patches and seemed poised to lead a major program again. Those previous runs at Tennessee, Southern California and in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders that ended badly – and abruptly – should be further in the rearview mirror right?
You’d think so, but maybe, just maybe, Kiffin has re-established the label that he’s just an offensive coordinator, not a head coach.
The talk of Kiffin making a lateral move to coach at LSU under friend Ed Orgeron isn’t far-fetched, but I can’t see him taking that job. That’s not going to help him become a head coach again, but then again, we don’t know what it’s like for Kiffin to coach under Saban.
He’s says all the right things about it. He’s learned a lot. The hardware rewards are substantial, but we’ve seen the sideline spats between Kiffin and Saban. It’s not all fun and games. It’s a lot of late hours/early mornings.
How to survive being chewed out
So that grind has to be taxing. Plus LSU has just as much talent as Alabama. Kiffin could have the same success there and work with someone he has a better relationship with.
Oregon seems like an idea spot for Kiffin to land. Pac-12 school. He’s coached in that conference. Houston may be an even better fit, but when you’ve been an NFL head coach, led two Power 5 schools and been an offensive coordinator for the nation’s top program, that might be viewed as a downgrade.
Kiffin couldn’t be any hotter as a job candidate. He’s part of an undefeated program that’s looking to go an unprecedented 15-0. I could see him returning for another year just to work with the same starting quarterback for a second straight season, but if he doesn’t take/get another head coaching job by this time next year, he’s officially become an offensive coordinator who will never be a head coach at a big-time college program.