Alabama has a complex history with LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, and another chapter of that saga is set to unfold on Saturday, when Alabama will have its first matchup against Kiffin with Kalen DeBoer as its head coach.
“When you combine offense and defense, these guys really are loaded,” Kiffin said ahead of the matchup. “[They] look like the old Alabama teams.”
That was high praise for DeBoer’s team, which likely has to win in Baton Rouge to remain in the mix to make the College Football Playoff. But Kiffin is very familiar with the “old Alabama teams,” multiple of which he was on staff for under Nick Saban.
Kiffin spent three seasons as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016, a period in which Alabama won a national championship and saw tremendous success on offense. With the best offense in the SEC in 2016, the Lane Kiffin experiment at Alabama appeared to be a success.
The union ended unceremoniously, however, when Kiffin was relieved of his duties just a week before the 2017 national championship. Saban was reported to have grown frustrated with Kiffin for some of his off-the-field behavior, and Kiffin took over as head coach for Florida Atlantic soon after.
After three seasons with the Owls, Kiffin was named head coach at Ole Miss. He faced off with Saban in each of the first four years of his tenure with the Rebels, and Saban went 4-0 against his former coordinator.
Once Saban announced his retirement after the 2023 season, the saga of Kiffin going up against his old mentor came to an end.
But the emotional weight of Alabama’s history with Kiffin feels no less important prior to his first matchup with DeBoer. Kiffin’s search for his first win against the Crimson Tide will only magnify the pressure of a rivalry game in one of the most intense environments in college football.
Kiffin has experience on the other side of the Alabama-LSU rivalry. He knows the stakes this game has historically had for both teams, and he was incredulous that it didn’t get an evening kickoff this year.
“I never even considered that it wouldn’t be at night,” he said. “If someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year, after what’s been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months.”
The storied history between the Crimson Tide and Kiffin is sure to grow this weekend, as the matchup could eliminate the loser from playoff contention, while the winning coach will pick up his first career victory against the other.
Kiffin’s high praise of Alabama provides the Crimson Tide with some of the “rat poison” Nick Saban famously warned of. In a high-stakes game against a coach as experienced as Kiffin, Alabama will face one of its greatest tests of the season.
“[I’ve] known Lane for a while,” said Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. “[I] think they do a tremendous job. They’ve got great answers and in-game adjustments.”
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