Lane Kiffin explains how he respects Nick Saban despite the hijinks, and defends him like a family member
By Keith Farner
Published:
Lane Kiffin calls it an unusual way of showing respect for what Nick Saban did for Kiffin and his career.
“He’s the greatest college coach to ever coach college football because he is doing it in an era different than Bear Bryant and some of those names because of scholarship limitations compared to back then,” Kiffin said.
The Ole Miss coach took a moment to imagine if Nick Saban had unlimited scholarships, or if he could take 150 players.
“Good luck, everybody else. It would be Alabama and Georgia, I guess,” he said.
Kiffin still views Saban as close personally, and almost in a class by himself.
“He’s like a family member where I can joke about him or something,” Kiffin said on SiriusXM. “But, if someone else does, it really pisses me off.”
Kiffin regularly uses Saban’s famous term “rat poison” about motivating a team, or avoiding too much praise for a team. But Kiffin also coined a new term last season for motivating Saban and Alabama: GOAT fuel.
Lane Kiffin loves to poke fun at Nick Saban on Twitter, but don’t get it twisted — he has a tremendous amount of respect for the Alabama Head Coach.
Kiffin describes his relationship with Saban and why he considers him the G.O.A.T.?@OleMissFB | @AlabamaFTBL | @Lane_Kiffin pic.twitter.com/pr9eFe5ozy
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) May 9, 2023
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
