Alabama head coach Nick Saban has been clear in his intentions. The team is moving on from Lane Kiffin. After there was some debate as to whether or not Kiffin would stick around to help scheme and develop a game plan for the upcoming game against Clemson, that was shut down almost immediately by Saban.
“That’s not something that we’re interested in pursuing,” Saban said two days ago.
There has been all sorts of speculation in what led to Kiffin’s dismissal, but there is one important piece of information that could be telling when trying to discover exactly when Saban decided on Kiffin’s future with the team. According to sources, new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian was tasked with developing the upcoming game plan against Clemson right after the SEC Championship game against the Florida Gators.
Now, according to these reports, it’s said that Sarkisian was actually tasked with coming up with a game plan for both Clemson and Ohio State — makes sense considering the team didn’t know which one they would be playing for the national championship. Kiffin went on preparing for the Washington Huskies while Sarkisian looked ahead to the other playoff teams. This brings up an interesting question: was this on purpose?
It could be argued that Sarkisian was simply an offensive analyst, and he wasn’t a “hands on” coach that needed to have a big hand in the preparation for Washington — his former team might I add. That does make sense, but could there also be an ulterior motif? It’s very possible.
There have been reported rumors and speculation as to what ultimately led to the falling out between Saban and Kiffin — Touchdown Alabama Magazine is currently investigating some newly discovered details on this matter. One thing is certain, however. Saban is always two steps ahead. If he did see Kiffin as being a potential problem, wouldn’t it be possible for him to go ahead and put the necessary moves in place to head this problem off? The answer is yes. It is absolutely possible. In fact, you could even say it was likely considering that we’re talking about Nick Saban.
This is certainly good news for the Crimson Tide, regardless. This means that most people who thought that Sarkisian was only going to have a week to put together a game plan for Clemson were wrong. He has been preparing for them for over a month now.
Clint Lamb is a columnist for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “follow” him on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
