Alabama has evolved a ton over the last 15 years under Nick Saban. What was once a defensive-minded group whose main focus on the offensive side of things was the ground and pound game, the Crimson Tide has adapted to the times by installing a high-velocity spread offense, utilizing mobile quarterbacks and a much more diverse playbook.
On Monday, during a press conference ahead of the Ole Miss game on Saturday, Saban was candid in giving credit to Lane Kiffin, who served as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-2016, for transforming the offense.
“I learned a lot of offensive football from him.” Saban said on Monday.
Saban has been well-known as a defensive mastermind, so it’s fair to assume that he’s had to learn some things from his various offensive coordinators over the years concerning that side of the ball.
But, Kiffin is definitely the first guy at Alabama who was successful in turning a run-oriented offense into a high-powered machine. It can be said that he also began a chain-reaction of bringing in high-profile, highly-rated QBs to Tuscaloosa over the years.
Saban on Lane Kiffin: “I learned a lot of offensive football from him.”
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) September 27, 2021
Saban said that the biggest changes the Crimson Tide made on offense, including adding RPOs and spreading out the receivers, can be credited to Kiffin.
He said that Kiffin was given the task upon his arrival of modernizing the offense at the Capstone to create more issues for opposing defenses. It’s safe to say that his efforts were not futile.
Saban would go on to say, “I’d say I learned that from him because we sorta made that change so we had to get together on those things. He’s very bright, a very good play caller.
You can watch Nick Saban’s full Monday press conference right here:
No. 12 Ole Miss will make the trip to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. The game can be viewed on CBS at 2:30 p.m. CT.
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