Lane Kiffin says he could have coached in the national championship, Nick Saban disagrees

Lane Kiffin said he could have remained the offensive coordinator for the University of Alabama for the national championship game if he had wanted to stay.

Kiffin, the Alabama offensive coordinator who was relieved of his duties on Monday, told ESPN’s Mike & Mike on Tuesday that he the decision to leave the Tide was up to him.

“I know this was a decision that I came up with, and it was very difficult to do,” said Kiffin, who was named Florida Atlantic’s head coach in December. “This was not something that Nick Saban forced me to do by any means.

“If I wanted to coach this game, I would have coached this game, and I just thought that it wasn’t the best thing for the players.”

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However, Saban shot down any thought that Kiffin would be around the Crimson Tide as it prepared for the national championship or in Tampa for the game.

“That’s not something we’re interested in pursuing,” Saban said.

He also intimated that Kiffin being around the team might not be permissible by NCAA rules since Kiffin is no longer an Alabama employee, something Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Saban did not elaborate on what led to Kiffin’s dismissal, but noted that him juggling both the Alabama coordinator job and his new position with Florida Atlantic was becoming too much, and that the decision was mutual.

“I try to make the decisions based on what’s best for helping our players be successful,” Saban said. “At the time, there was no anticipation or thought that there would be any kind of problem relative to managing having two jobs at once.

“When we sort of saw that that and agreed that was a little bit of a tough thing, we decided to move in a different direction.”

Incoming offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, a former head coach at USC, will call the plays for the Crimson Tide against Clemson next Monday.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday