The Alabama Crimson Tide produced yet another excellent season in 2017 and the product of that strong play from Nick Saban's was a berth in the College Football Playoff. However, there is a faction in the college football world that doesn't seem to fear the Tide in the same way and, in speaking to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg this week, a defensive coordinator from the SEC put forth a theory.
In short? Alabama could really use Lane Kiffin right about now.
"Alabama really misses Lane Kiffin. It's not the same. They miss the creativity and the big plays. Toward the end of that Auburn game, they just continued to run their core plays and Auburn's just sitting on it because it's all they've ever repped.
"It's more of a defensive coordinator's offense."
Of course, this is not an opinion that is universally shared and the Crimson Tide still managed to average 39.1 points per game while posting a top-20 offense. Still, it is undeniably true that Alabama has been more vanilla on that side of the ball and, regardless of one's view of Kiffin, there is no question that he is a talented and visionary offensive mind.
Some of Kiffin's personality could be construed as a negative for a team with Alabama's offense but, when it was clicking, the ceiling for that crew was immense and there is something to be said for that.
