Former Alabama offensive coordinator, now FAU head coach, Lane Kiffin joined The Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio Monday to talk about his transition to Boca Raton and the FAU program. While Kiffin made it through those questions rather easily, Le Batard took the opportunity to also ask the coach some tough questions about his time with the Tide.
Le Batard first asked Kiffin if he was happy at Alabama.
“Yes and no,” Kiffin said on the air. “I had a unique situation where for the first time my family didn’t come with me — my kids and my wife — so that made it, outside of the football part, not so fun because they were across the country. That played into that. I think it would have been much more enjoyable had they come… Versus coming somewhere, where the only reason you are going there is to dive into football, to learn from Coach Saban and to win a bunch of games. And to have a blast on the field like we did. We went 40-3, so it was a good time (on the field).”
Le Batard then followed that up by asking Kiffin if his time in Tuscaloosa aged him.
“I already got in trouble for that statement one time,” said Kiffin while laughing. “When I called it the equivalent of dog years. I thought it was kinda funny at the time, but I guess not.”
In case you missed it the first time, Kiffin is referring to his comments made to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated in an article published back in December:
Kiffin doesn’t pretend that he enjoyed every moment working at Alabama, as he mentions daily 7:30 a.m. staff meetings like he was forced to drink sour milk. He felt isolated in Tuscaloosa; his family didn’t move there, and his profile didn’t allow him to go anywhere socially. “This will come across wrong,” he says. “But it’s like dog years. Three years is like 21.”
Though Kiffin’s breakup with Alabama was certainly messy, it’s becoming more clear that it was unavoidable.
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A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
