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The Internet can't contain itself Lane Kiffin will work for Nick Saban. Oh the humanity.
Hey it's not as bad a partnership as you might think. This move certainly is subject to debate and a degree of criticism but if you think it's a terrible decision by Saban you're focusing too much on Kiffin the head coach and too little on Kiffin the coordinator.
The Internet is exploding with glee jokes and GIFs in response to Kiffin being hired as the new offensive coordinator at Alabama replacing Doug Nussmeier who left to help Brady Hoke at Michigan. Yes the reality of seeing Kiffin back in the SEC where he caused so much trouble as a head coach makes for good copy. Yes the reality of seeing Kiffin at Alabama a few short years after his stormy tenure at Tennessee will make Vols Tide even more of a raucous and spirited hate fest. Yes this spices up life in America's most talked about and competitive college football conference.
One thing this is not however is a bad move.
Oh it might not be a great move. Saban could have done better. Saban needs to become more up tempo in his offensive style if only because he needs his defenses to practice against tempo so that they' re more prepared for the real thing against Auburn and other SEC offenses that like to pick up the pace. However if the parameters of the discussion are confined to the question Is Lane Kiffin a competent and qualified offensive coordinator this is a solid move by Saban. It could even become a great move.
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This is NOT a case of Kiffin failing upward or falling into a better job than the one he had before. When you're the head coach of USC going to a coordinator position no matter how lofty is a downward move period. For once Kiffin has not climbed the ladder despite a lack of results. No this is a demotion into a pressure cooker in which Saban becomes Kiffin's (demanding perfectionist) boss.
If Kiffin fails at this job he won't get another top tier head coaching job. Maybe at a Sun Belt or Conference USA program. Maybe an NFL team would take him as a position coach. Maybe a lower tier automatic qualifier program would give him a chance as an offensive coordinator. This is a test for Kiffin. That level of urgency is something Saban a master of psychology is banking on.
After four plus seasons as a collegiate head coach Kiffin is back to the position he occupied in 2006 when he was Pete Carroll' s main play caller at USC. Kiffin is once again being asked to help a superstar coach at an elite program. He' s no longer the man in charge. He's no longer the focus of media scrutiny. He's no longer the face of a high profile program. He is now again a helper not the boss.
Kiffin was not a good leader. He was not an effective boss. He did not handle the pressure or visibility of head coaching with poise or skill certainly not on a sustained basis. He has the 2011 season to his credit at USC but that's the exception in his career as a head coach not the rule. The extent to which Kiffin bailed at Tennessee and then failed at USC has led a lot of people to nail Saban for this hire.
However when Kiffin bailed and failed he was a head coach not an offensive coordinator. You don't have to hail Saban for making this move but you shouldn' t nail him either. When Kiffin was an offensive coordinator at USC he did a decent job. Some would say he did a great job based on the 2005 season in which USC' s offense maxed out. Some would say he didn' t do anything special given the extent to which USC' s production dropped in 2006 especially in that ugly 13 9 loss to UCLA that knocked the Trojans out of a national championship date with Ohio State.
Nevertheless USC made the Rose Bowl in each of the two seasons when Kiffin with Norm Chow out of the picture had a major role in formulating USC' s offensive plan of attack. That's not a bad track record. More to the point it' s not the portrait of misery that Kiffin's head coaching career has become.
Plenty of mediocre or poor head coaches are really good coordinators. Kiffin' s tenure as an offensive coordinator was marked by solid results. Was this the best hire Saban could have made Not if Clemson's Chad Morris was a possible candidate. However this certainly doesn' t rate as a poor hire.
When Kiffin called plays at USC he was trying to put his stamp on a program in the form of the plays he called but his leadership deficiencies cast a cloud over the X's and O's goals he tried to achieve with his play sheet. This job at Alabama will not be a manifestation of Kiffin's personality because Saban will not allow Kiffin to deviate from the plan. Kiffin is being asked to insert fold A into slot B. He doesn' t have to deal with the wholesale politics of leading a program guiding a full roster of players and handling a full range of media duties. He's now a day (and night) laborer someone who must toil in the shadows.
Yes this is the job Kiffin has to perform well if his career is to have any legs. And for all the punches Kiffin has rightly absorbed over the past five years his track record as an offensive coordinator is marked more by success than failure. If you think Saban has lost his marbles you might look at the floor and to your surprise see no rocks rolling around at all.
Follow Matt Zemek on Twitter.
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