Though Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin often butted heads during their time in Tuscaloosa, the former Alabama offensive coordinator clearly learned a lot in his three seasons working under one of the greatest coaches in college football history.

As he prepares for his first season as the head coach at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin said he’s applying some of the lessons he learned from Saban.

According to AL.com, Kiffin said he learned during his time at Alabama that a head coach’s responsibility extends far beyond simply calling plays:

“You reflect on things and how you can do things better,” Kiffin said. “The last place I was at I was watching coach Saban do that. It really allowed him to do other things by not calling the defense. I see what it is, especially here with so many other things to do.”

Instead of calling plays himself, Kiffin will let offensive coordinator Kendal Briles handle that part of the offense:

“Part of hiring him was we really wanted to be able to let someone else run it,” Kiffin said. “(And) for the first time ever, come out to practice and not call plays. It’s different for me and kind of boring. It does allow you to do a lot more off the field.”

Kiffin will likely be less bored on game days, when he’ll be in charge of making sure everything on the Owls’ sideline is running smoothly.