Lane Kiffin says Alabama would have beaten Clemson again if he were OC
Alabama would have beaten Clemson in last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship if Lane Kiffin had been coaching the offense.
At least, that’s what Kiffin himself said.
Kiffin was hired as the head coach at Florida Atlantic on Dec. 12 and went ahead with calling plays as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in the semifinal game against Washington. But then, as many remember, Nick Saban announced that Kiffin was out and would not coach the Crimson Tide’s championship game against Clemson, which Alabama lost 35-31.
Instead, Steve Sarkisian was brought in to call the shots on offense.
In an interview with the Washington Post, 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.”
Kiffin, who apparently watched the game in a room at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, said viewing it was “really rough.”
What rubbish! Sark’s play-calling on virtually every down-and-distance situation made it appear that Kiffin was still with the program. Both those guys have the USC-“West coast” offensive philosophy tattooed on their foreheads, and it’s highly unlikely Kiffin’s presence would have made much of a difference. Moreover, the rumors of Kiffin’s impending departure began circulating weeks before the Clemson game, so I doubt seriously that Bama’s offense was stunned or shocked when he left. Finally, does ANYONE seriously believe Saban would have risked another national title by severing connections with an OC simply to have the last word in a season-long squabble? No, thirteen games into the season Nick apparently thought Kiffin was dispensable. So do I, and I’m happy he’s gone.
The difference is the game was one play. I think Kiffin was worth at least one play.
The one play Kiffin would have won with would have been the Defense scoring as they did so many games except the last one.
How many games did the defense score the game winning TD?
You really kind of miss the point. Kiffins offense had success in a significant number of games due to the Defense scoring. Bama would have lost against Ole Miss and Ark if the hadn’t scored several times. The “winning touchdown” doesn’t have to be the last score if that’s what you mean.
Lane is right the midget messed up.
I’m with Lane on this one.
I suspect he’s right, and maybe not in the way you might think (more points). Remember why Bama lost the game – Clemson ran almost 100 plays and gassed the Tide D late. A couple more extended drives by the Bama offense, points or not, might have lowered Clemson’s snap count to a more manageable number for the D. The chemistry and familiarity Lane had with his O could have produced that. On the other hand, he’s speaking well after the fact. How engaged he would have been if he had stayed for the title game is up for debate.
The issue here is/was that Sarkisian’s and Kiffin are the proverbial “two peas in a pod” re: offensive philosophy and their tendencies in any number of “down and distance” scenarios. And that kinship bacame more and more evident as the Clemson game wore on. One thing’s certain: you won’t see Daboll abandon his running game on “third and three” and defer to tosses to receivers behind the line of scrimmage & hugging the sidelines. Unlike Kiffin, I can’t imagine he’d let stubbornness control his thinking.
I agree with you about their shared “West Coast” style game. Apparently Saben is moving that way which I don’t understand and a little disappointed. I don’t understand the reasoning behind adopting the offensive philosophy of lesser successful conferences. In any case Kiffin obviously doesn’t remember that if not for special teams and defensive scoring his Alabama offense would have lost against Ole Miss and Arkansas last year and several games in previous years. If the Bama D or special teams would have scored at least one TD then it would have shut him up…maybe not.
His new OC is from the Pats. New England isn’t exactly west coast style or from a lesser conference.
You might want to re-read our posts. They are not about the new OC or NFL conferences. It’s about Kiffin and Sark. It’s about Sabens new turn towards pass first offense. I’m talking about the adoption of a west coast style offense thats based on passing first with goals of big plays most common in the Pac12/Big12 which are less successful conferences in comparison to those with more balanced offenses with stronger defenses.