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Lane Kiffin on working for Nick Saban: 'I don't recall a happy moment'
Lane Kiffin couldn't help but make a crack at Nick Saban in one of his final press conferences as Alabama's offensive coordinator.
When asked to remember the happiest Saban had been with his offense and play calls, Kiffin quipped, "I don't recall a happy moment. I just recall the ass chewings. I won't take that part of the process with me, though."
Kiffin is well-known for his self-deprecating humor and Wednesday was no different in front of reporters ahead of Saturday's Peach Bowl. During his introductory press conference at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin joked he had "learned to accept" Saban's ass chewings.
On Wednesday, Kiffin was asked to reflect on his three seasons working for Saban in Tuscaloosa. Beyond his joke, which will generate the most interest, Kiffin offered an enlightening answer about how hands-on the legendary meticulous Saban is at Alabama.
"So this morning, after the 7:30 staff meeting, before this, we watched the offensive film of practice yesterday," Kiffin said. "And I'd never done that with a coach. I'd never watched the offensive, you know, scout team with the head coach when the head coach is a defensive guy, like coach (Pete) Carroll. So when I got here, that was new. And I was thinking, okay, this is just Coach. He doesn't know me so he wants to understand the game plan, how practice is going, he wants to see the players. And then if we start doing well on offense, he'll back off and he just doesn't -- you know, he just doesn't come in for that meeting and he stays more on defense.
"But today is no different than the first day. Even after all the success we've had. Again, there's the process. He never changes. So that's another lesson as a head coach. Hey, maybe your defense is playing really well that year. You still go in there and you still have the same schedule of watching that and watching the players and hearing the coaches so that you know the game plan versus I know myself as a head coach, I just kind of let the defensive coordinator do what he was doing. Now, he happened to be my dad too, so it was kind of strange. But now I see why Coach does it. At first I thought it was he just wanted to check up on what we were doing on offense to make sure we were doing what he wanted. It really wasn't. It's just part of the process."
Lane Kiffin on working for Nick Saban: 'I don't recall a happy moment'
Lane Kiffin couldn't help but make a crack at Nick Saban in one of his final press conferences as Alabama's offensive coordinator.
When asked to remember the happiest Saban had been with his offense and play calls, Kiffin quipped, "I don't recall a happy moment. I just recall the ass chewings. I won't take that part of the process with me, though."
Kiffin is well-known for his self-deprecating humor and Wednesday was no different in front of reporters ahead of Saturday's Peach Bowl. During his introductory press conference at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin joked he had "learned to accept" Saban's ass chewings.
On Wednesday, Kiffin was asked to reflect on his three seasons working for Saban in Tuscaloosa. Beyond his joke, which will generate the most interest, Kiffin offered an enlightening answer about how hands-on the legendary meticulous Saban is at Alabama.
"So this morning, after the 7:30 staff meeting, before this, we watched the offensive film of practice yesterday," Kiffin said. "And I'd never done that with a coach. I'd never watched the offensive, you know, scout team with the head coach when the head coach is a defensive guy, like coach (Pete) Carroll. So when I got here, that was new. And I was thinking, okay, this is just Coach. He doesn't know me so he wants to understand the game plan, how practice is going, he wants to see the players. And then if we start doing well on offense, he'll back off and he just doesn't -- you know, he just doesn't come in for that meeting and he stays more on defense.
"But today is no different than the first day. Even after all the success we've had. Again, there's the process. He never changes. So that's another lesson as a head coach. Hey, maybe your defense is playing really well that year. You still go in there and you still have the same schedule of watching that and watching the players and hearing the coaches so that you know the game plan versus I know myself as a head coach, I just kind of let the defensive coordinator do what he was doing. Now, he happened to be my dad too, so it was kind of strange. But now I see why Coach does it. At first I thought it was he just wanted to check up on what we were doing on offense to make sure we were doing what he wanted. It really wasn't. It's just part of the process."
