During his illustrious Alabama football coaching career, Nick Saban helped to kickstart and rekindle other coaches’ careers by hiring and mentoring them as assistants on his staff. Among the best success stories from Saban’s coaching tree is that of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who used his three years as the Crimson Tide offensive coordinator to restart his career and now has his own SEC program on the verge of a College Football Playoff appearance.
Less than four months after Kiffin’s infamous firing from USC at the Los Angeles International Airport, Saban selected him as Alabama’s offensive coordinator for the 2014 season. He quickly built some of the sport’s most formidable units, became a finalist for the Broyles Award as an elite assistant coach and eventually returned to the head coaching ranks at Florida Atlantic. Today, Kiffin is back at the power conference level at Ole Miss, and he credited Saban for helping him land the high-profile job.
“His career is amazing, and I’m just blessed for the opportunity that he gave me,” Kiffin said on SportsCenter on Monday. “I would not be here today without him. He took a chance on me and opened a lot of doors from there, allowing me to meet a lot of fantastic individuals, players, and coaches over the course of three years. I’m quite grateful for him.”
Kiffin’s relationship with Saban extended well beyond their time together on the Alabama staff, and they met face-to-face again at SEC Media Days. Kiffin said his former boss sought him out Monday morning to offer condolences after Monte Kiffin, the Ole Miss coach’s late father, died last week.
“I really appreciate Coach Saban,” said Kiffin. “I mean, he actually just came and was the first person to stop me here back behind closed doors and had already called and texted — which is new for him. I knew that was something special, that he texted as well as called.”
