Lane Kiffin apparently now believes Alabama could have won title with him
Has Lane Kiffin come to a definitive conclusion?
The former Alabama offensive coordinator and current Florida Atlantic coach now apparently thinks the Tide would have won the national title if he was the team’s offensive coordinator.
After calling the plays in the Peach Bowl, Kiffin left for his new gig at FAU before the title game. Former USC coach Steve Sarkisian — who was a co-offensive coordinator with Kiffin at USC — called the plays in Alabama’s championship loss to Clemson.
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Here’s what Kiffin had to say when he was asked by the Washington Post if Alabama would’ve won if he was there.
“I do,” Kiffin said. “It’s no disrespect to Steve. No matter who it was, you’ve been there all year long. You’ve been there for the quarterback. You’re all he knew. You were undefeated together. We’ve won [26] straight games together. You feel like, okay, it’s different. As great as Sark is, it’s just different. Again, if it had been 14 points either way . . . when it’s one play here or there, you think if those guys had the person they were used to, it would have made a difference.”
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Kiffin’s comments would be a big deal if they were a stark departure from what he’s said previously. He was asked the same question in a March appearance on Fox Sports Radio and said he didn’t know if his presence would have won the game for Alabama.
“I don’t know that,” Kiffin said. “There’s no way to know that. [Then-offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian] was put in a very difficult situation. Whatever it was, a week, eight days or whatever and all the sudden you’re calling the game. So like you said, it’s the hardest one to try to figure out. You’re talking about one play. So one different play here. If it would have been different and had I been there that meant I would have won — if that is the case I don’t know that. It wouldn’t have been to do with anything about Sark. It would have been the players being comfortable of what they know.”
But while his conclusion might have changed over the past five months, his thought process hasn’t. Look at the similarities between his March comments and the ones he made to the Post. Kiffin’s being pretty consistent in the hindsight game as he knows — along with everyone else — that there’s no idea if he would have equaled a second-straight title for Alabama.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
