Lane Kiffin elaborated on the surprising news that he is leaving his job as Alabama offensive coordinator prior to the National Championship Game during an interview with ESPN’s Paul Finebaum on Monday.
Kiffin echoed what Nick Saban said was the reason for the split, which is that it was tough for Kiffin to balance his new duties as the head coach at Florida Atlantic with his responsibilities as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator. Kiffin says he even questioned his commitment to Bama once he got the FAU job.
“I was wondering, ‘was I always there?’ because you are balancing two jobs. You are interviewing guys at night, calling recruits at night,” Kiffin told Finebaum. “I was just talking with Coach (Saban) and Coach and I were bouncing around, and I don’t know for the players that you can do 100 percent. You try. But then your mind’s thinking, ‘I gotta interview this guy later. Or here’s a list of recruits you gotta watch at night, versus watching extra film for the opponent.
“I just want to win this game. I want to win it for the players, for the fans. We gotta do one more. And as we discussed it, we felt (Steve Sarkisian) and I are so similar — we speak the same language, call games the same way — that he would probably give us the best chance to win because 100 percent of his mind all day long is on the game.”
Kiffin made it clear that despite his departure, he is still hoping Alabama wins.
“I’m still going to help in any way that I can win the game. Watched some film last night and this morning. Help these guys. It’s a very good team obviously. Talked some ideas with Sark. But it’s the best thing for the players at this time for Sark to call the game and to lead all the meetings all week long because I want these guys to win, and they deserve to have the best.”
Kiffin was asked about the speculation that Saban lost confidence in him especially after the way the CFP semifinal game against Washington went.
“There’s no way on that,” Kiffin said in response.
He was also asked about the reports that there were incidents contributing to his exit, such as being late to meetings and missing the team bus back from media day last week.
“That’s not true,” said Kiffin.
Kiffin acknowledging that he wasn’t completely focused on the Alabama job echoes what Saban said earlier in the day when discussing the news. Here’s what Saban said on Monday was the reason for the split.
“We just thought it was in the best interest of our players and our program and for Lane to assume his responsibilities as the head coach at Florida Atlantic,” Saban said live on ESPN. “It’s been our goal as a program to always give our players the best opportunity to be successful, whether it’s personally, academically or athletically.
“This decision was made after we mutually agreed that this would be the best thing for both parties.”
And here’s what Kiffin said in his statement on his departure.
“After going through these last couple of weeks, trying to serve the best interests of two universities as an offensive coordinator and a head coach, it became apparent that both programs would be better served by me giving all my time and efforts to being the head coach at FAU,” Kiffin said. “After meeting with Coach Saban during preparations last night and this morning, we mutually decided that it was in everyone’s best interests for the players and the program for Coach Sarkisian to take over all responsibilities as offensive coordinator for the championship game.”
There are reports and speculation that other factors such as these contributed to Kiffin’s early exit from Alabama.
