Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin's time together on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa was a beautiful disaster. Sure, the Alabama Crimson Tide head coach and his offensive coordinator went 40-3, won two SEC Championships and one College Football Playoff National Championship in three years from 2014-16, but it was clear they didn't mesh well all the time.
Everyone remembers the famous "ass-chewing" that Saban gave Kiffin in the middle of the Alabama-Western Kentucky game in 2016. Kiffin reportedly called his own players dumb, to which Saban responded, "dumb offensive coordinators call dumb plays." Their tumultuous time together eventually ran its course and Saban kicked him to the curb just one week before the Tide lost to Clemson in the 2016 national title game.
Kiffin moved on to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic University for a few years before accepting the head coaching position at Ole Miss in December 2019, which means SEC fans will gloriously witness the two former co-workers face each other.
That's exciting because Kiffin has made fun of Saban countless times since he was let go. He's trolled Saban over his "rat poison" comments. He couldn't help but laugh on social media when another poor soul got his ass chewed out by the Tide head coach. Kiffin even texted his former boss often, but Saban apparently left him on read.
Kiffin got to know Nick Saban pretty well, so it's no surprise his impression of him is dead accurate.
Lane Kiffin's Nick Saban Impression
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Kiffin went on former ESPN personality Dan Patrick's show in 2018 when he worked for FAU and absolutely did not disappoint when he was asked about coach Saban. He also gave 'Bama fans a better glimpse into who Nick Saban is.
The funniest part of the interview comes when Kiffin speaks on Saban's idea of fun in his monotone voice.
"Dan, fun is winning. When you hold that trophy and you take a picture and then you hand it away and then you work on the next one, that's fun, Dan," Kiffin said in his best Nick Saban voice.
Kiffin goes on to say that Saban doesn't drink or cut loose (although he will dance the cupid shuffle if it means nabbing a top recruit). Saban also apparently isn't a fan of Applebee's or conversations that don't have their own itineraries. It's all pretty hilarious stuff that honestly shouldn't surprise anyone.
Kiffin has coached all over the place like the NFL's Oakland Raiders and NCAA's Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans, but I'm not sure he's ever worked with a football coach quite like the Alabama coach he so clearly adores.
This post was originally published on July 10, 2020. We brought it back before the two coaches faced each other in 2021.
