Kiffin at Ole Piss

I thought Eddie might get a kick out of this article off The Athletic.

Lane Kiffin is gunning for Nick Saban.

It’s been nearly three years since Saban unceremoniously fired Kiffin, his offensive coordinator, two days after Alabama beat Washington in the 2016 College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl. Saban fired Kiffin a week before the national championship game. Kiffin was embarrassed. Kiffin was angry. Kiffin hasn’t forgotten.

That dismissal fueled Kiffin’s desire to return to the SEC and a burning passion to exact revenge on Saban, multiple people with knowledge of the matter told The Athletic. Now that he’s the head coach at Ole Miss, he sees the chance to do so.

That’s why Kiffin is attempting to take as many current, former and potential Alabama coaches as he can with him to Oxford. In his biggest coup attempt, Kiffin offered Alabama strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran an on-the-field coaching position to try to steal him from Saban, multiple people close to the Alabama program told The Athletic. That speaks to a couple of things, not the least of which is how valuable Cochran, the 40-year-old strength coach, has made himself to Saban and to the Crimson Tide. Cochran is popular with the players and with recruits and has become a large part of Alabama football. Those same people said Kiffin also has interest in Alabama secondary coach Karl Scott, former Alabama defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi and former Alabama defensive line coach Bo Davis, among others.

It’s the opening salvo for Kiffin in his assault on Saban’s program.

Kiffin is no dummy. He’s media savvy and somewhat of a media darling. He’s college football’s first TMZ coach, a celebrity who makes more headlines for his off-the-field firings, drama and ordeals than for his coaching acumen. That’s not to say Kiffin isn’t a good coach. He is. He’s a masterful play-caller. But it remains to be seen just how good a head coach he is, and that’s weird to acknowledge given Ole Miss is his fifth head coaching opportunity. That’s a lot of road traveled for a 44-year-old coach.

Kiffin did not respond to a text message from The Athletic seeking comment. During Monday’s introductory pep rally/press conference, Kiffin — who turned three years at Alabama into a head coaching job at Florida Atlantic — spoke glowingly of Saban, crediting him with making Kiffin a viable candidate again after the ordeals with the Raiders, Tennessee and USC.

“You can have something like the firing at USC that you felt like is the end of the world when it happens, are you ever going to get a head coaching job again?” Kiffin said. “You go through sanctions, all that stuff that you go through, and then I look at that differently. Had that not happened, I would have never worked for Nick Saban. That obstacle really helped me develop.

“I think going to work for coach was great for X’s and O’s and all that stuff, but really how he manages the program from top to bottom. I mentioned it (before), I feel like I was a head coach before, going back to USC and really I was the offensive coordinator, being the head coach and developing players, getting them to the NFL. Getting a lot of players drafted. Then I really changed and realized there is more to this, that’s not my calling. My calling wasn’t just to get guys drafted and get them a lot of money, it was to develop them off the field and have relationships with them and help them through things. I feel like there’s a lot different in player relationships this time around, and I’m not saying today — this is the last three years as a head coach.”

But that’s just one side of the duality of Kiffin as it pertains to Saban. When the national cameras roll or when he does national radio, Kiffin lauds Saban. But there’s the other side that trolls Alabama and needles Saban when they lose, as Kiffin did on Twitter after this year’s Iron Bowl.

His hiring should spice things up between the two schools. Kiffin did mention that two of his losses while at Alabama came at the hands of Ole Miss (2014 and 2015).

On his end, Saban always took the high road when it came to Kiffin. He never spoke publicly about all the off-the-field drama surrounding Kiffin. He didn’t even refer to the firing as a “firing.” In the press release Alabama sent out after the dismissal, it was worded that Kiffin was focusing on his new job at FAU.

“We appreciate all that Lane has done for our football program over the last three years,” Saban said at the time. “We sat down following the Washington game and talked about the time demands of managing both jobs, and we recognized that it is best for our players, and for Lane, that we allow him to turn his full attention to his new head coaching role at FAU.”

Alabama fans and even Kiffin himself feel that had he coached in the national title game, the Crimson Tide would’ve won. Kiffin even went on record with those sentiments with the Washington Post after Clemson edged Alabama at the last second. Saban, though, felt he had no choice. Saban had seen all he needed to with the way the Washington game was managed. Kiffin called plays that the players hadn’t practiced, multiple former players told The Athletic. So Saban cut bait and Kiffin moved to Boca Raton. And apparently harbored a grudge for three years.

Now he has a chance to pay back Saban — both on and off the field. Kiffin is attempting to raid Saban’s staff both present and past. He’ll also target Saban on the recruiting trail, said multiple people who spoke to The Athletic.

If this is the sign of things to come, expect a much spicier Alabama-Ole Miss, Saban-Kiffin rivalry going forward, even if all the animus is coming from one end.

Bad blood there, for sure.....when it all shakes down, I wouldn’t trust Kiffin.....sorta reminds me of the proverbial “snake in the grass”. ;)

He flirted with Arkansas till Ole Miss offered, probably figures he can draw more talent to old Miss and he'd be right. Nick better mind his P's & Q's or the Lane Train will roll the Tide in a couple of years

^^^^Kiffin will have Ole Piss on probation before that happens. ;)
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If it comes down to ANY type of battle, and choosing sides between Kiffin/Ole Piss and Saban/Bama, I’m pretty sure the safe bet would be on the money-side, and I’d say Bama holds about a 10,000 to 1 advantage in that department. ;)

Two best quotes I've heard on Kiffin returning to the SEC:

"The football gods really do love us" - Kirk Herbstreit

"Take time to savor it Ole Miss fans. It will be the best two years of your life" - Trey Wingo

Bwahahahahha :p

^^^^^^^^^HA^^^^^^^......good 'un. ;)