Lane change
Kiffin: I’ll be at final; Saban: No you won’t
One day later, there wasn’t any more clarity on Lane Kiffin’s dismissal as Alabama offensive coordinator. Kiffin even threw a monkey wrench into the situation by telling ESPN Radio it was possible he would be around the Crimson Tide leading up to the national championship game against Clemson and even attend the game as a member of the staff.
On a conference call with reporters, Alabama coach Nick Saban shot down that idea.
“No, it’s really not even possible from a legal standpoint for him to do those things,” Saban said. “That’s not something that we’re interested in pursuing.”
Instead, it will be former USC and Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian — who was hired in September as an offensive analyst by Saban — calling the plays. Saban said Sarkisian was allowed to be in coaches meetings this year, but that was the extent of his involvement with the team.
Saban didn’t go into much detail about what triggered the supposed mutual decision, other than Kiffin was struggling to balance his new job as Florida Atlantic head coach and Alabama coordinator. Saban was short with his answers, and made it clear he was ready to move on.
“I don’t know why you all keep asking me what changes we’re going to make,” Saban said. “[Clemson coach] Dabo [Swinney] is a good friend of mine. Maybe I’ll just call him up and tell him what we’re going to do.”
Swinney, meanwhile, said he doesn’t believe it will be a major factor.
“I guess you’ve got some nuances that might be a little bit different maybe from a play call or something like that, but it’s not like they’re going to come out and run the triple option,” he joked.
Swinney said he believes Clemson is better equipped to face Alabama this year than it was a year ago for multiple reasons: Depth and health. Two stars, cornerback Mackensie
Alexander and defensive end Shaq Lawson, were nursing injuries. Wide receiver Mike Williams (neck) was unable to play, and fellow wide receiver
Deon Cain was suspended. There are no major injuries this time around. Just as importantly, the Tigers aren’t relying on a few stars, particularly on defense. They have quality backups, players capable of contributing.
“This year the biggest difference in our team, which is something that I saw back in camp, was we just kind of had more competitive depth,” Swinney said. “We’re a healthy team, much healthier than we were this time last year, and again, we’ve got more depth than we had this time last year.”
Despite starring as a junior, Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Al
len made the surprising decision to return to school. Now, after becoming the first Tide player to win the Ted Hendricks Award, which is given to the nation’s top defensive end, he is being talked about as the possible No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
“He was a very good player for us a year ago, and this year his production, his consistency in performance, his maturity as a player, his ability to sustain and just play a lot more plays this year are all things that I think has made him a better player,” Saban said.