Great hire for the Tide. He was not head coach material but will likely shine as an OC (again).

(01-11-2014 09:13 AM)QuestionSocratic Wrote:  Great hire for the Tide. He was not head coach material but will likely shine as an OC (again).

The only thing Kiffin shines is his mirror. He likes an unblemished reflection of himself. This hire is a disaster for Alabama. Heh heh! I love it!

BTW: When Kiffin left Tennessee he was universally detested by the coaching fraternity in the conference, and less than loved by the Conference office. Every recruiting move he makes will be hyper scrutinized and the usual mutual blindness to such will not apply. There were too many burned bridges and too much ill will. Kiffin walked all over SEC protocol while at Tennessee. Not even Mike Slive can save his bacon.

"Inexplicable" is not a word that usually applies to Nick Saban's professional decisions as a Head Coach, but this time it does. I just don't get it, but I guess (from Saban's standpoint) I don't need to.

Have to figure that from a recruiting angle, Kiffin will be limited to the West Coast. Mostly his job will be molding the QBs and maybe play-calling on offense. Not sure if Saban wants to delegate that responsibility, or not.

...at least this will add some nice 'tension' on that 'Third Saturday in October' game... ...which IS in Knoxville this year, BTW... ...and I would wager quite a bit that Gameday will be stationed there at that particular time...

(01-11-2014 10:37 AM)GreenFreakUAB Wrote:  ...and I would wager quite a bit that Gameday will be stationed there at that particular time...

Without looking at the other possibilities for that day, I'll put the chances at 80%.

(01-11-2014 10:59 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(01-11-2014 10:37 AM)GreenFreakUAB Wrote:  ...and I would wager quite a bit that Gameday will be stationed there at that particular time...

Without looking at the other possibilities for that day, I'll put the chances at 80%.

...depends on how much 'pull' Finebaum has at that point... but yeah, not a lead-pipe cinch, with it being in the midst of conference schedules across the country...

Where's the Alabama Tennessee game at next season??? Will be very interested to see that game if it is in Knoxville. The fireworks for that game should be very interesting.

Alabama is more concerned about results and not what misinformed message posters think. The fact is that when Kiffin was an OC he was arguably one of the best in the country at it. Furthermore, you can look at the recruiting class USC had last year when they had Kiffin and look at the class they have now that he is gone. USC has got five plus three star recruits coming of a ten win season. Kiffin is an excellent recruiter and an excellent offensive coordinator if he just does his job he will make Alabama unbeatable.

Too often people can't separate the fact that while someone might be a failure as a HC, that doesn't mean they are not a good coordinator and/or position coach. The football world is littered with examples that prove that is indeed the case: Tommy West, Ellis Johnson, Greg Robinson, Monte Kiffin, Dom Capers, and Jim Haslet to name a few.

Saban knows what is at risk here and wouldn't make this move if he didn't think the risk was much smaller than the potential reward. Kiffin has shown that while he can't be trusted with running the whole show, if he has the proper supervision he has had plenty of success in the not so distant past.

IMO this was a pretty good hire by Alabama. Under Saban he doesn't have to do all the things he failed at.....directing a program, booster functions, dealing with the media, and especially being the public face of a program. The only face of Alabama football is Nick Saban. Alabama assistant coaches have never spoke with the media all that much, and I don't expect that to change. In Tuscaloosa Lane can concentrate on the things he does do well....recruit and develop players, and call plays. If things go well in a few years perhaps his image is rehabbed enough where someone would give him another shot. Perhaps some of the things that make Saban as good as he has been will have rubbed off and make Kiffin a better HC. If he never gets another shot then he's going to be making pretty damn good money doing what he does best.

(01-11-2014 10:01 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  Too often people can't separate the fact that while someone might be a failure as a HC, that doesn't mean they are not a good coordinator and/or position coach. The football world is littered with examples that prove that is indeed the case: Tommy West, Ellis Johnson, Greg Robinson, Monte Kiffin, Dom Capers, and Jim Haslet to name a few.

Saban knows what is at risk here and wouldn't make this move if he didn't think the risk was much smaller than the potential reward. Kiffin has shown that while he can't be trusted with running the whole show, if he has the proper supervision he has had plenty of success in the not so distant past.

IMO this was a pretty good hire by Alabama. Under Saban he doesn't have to do all the things he failed at.....directing a program, booster functions, dealing with the media, and especially being the public face of a program. The only face of Alabama football is Nick Saban. Alabama assistant coaches have never spoke with the media all that much, and I don't expect that to change. In Tuscaloosa Lane can concentrate on the things he does do well....recruit and develop players, and call plays. If things go well in a few years perhaps his image is rehabbed enough where someone would give him another shot. Perhaps some of the things that make Saban as good as he has been will have rubbed off and make Kiffin a better HC. If he never gets another shot then he's going to be making pretty damn good money doing what he does best.

Kaplony the issue isn't Kiffin's ability to call plays. It's his integrity. His integrity is what failed at Oakland, at Tennessee, at USC, and he is still the same animal that threw his dad under the bus, lied in front of microphones on numerous occasions, and completely fabricated things he said about other coaches in the SEC while at Tennessee. Saban and Kiffin will be Nitro and Glycerin and it will be fascinating to wait and watch to see what the fuse will be.

This is more about recruiting then anything else. Kiffin gives Bama pathways into California. Saban has been recruiting nation wide lately. Bama has been going to places like Virginia,Iowa,Oklahoma,and Texas just to gather more high profile atheletes.