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There was some shocking news in college football today, as it was reported that offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has been fired from the University of Alabama.
Lane Kiffin will not coach for Alabama in National Championship game.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2017
This was a very bold move to say the least. Kiffin had already taken the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic University for next season, but it seemed a given that he would finish the year out with Bama first. Kiffin has been the offensive coordinator at Alabama since 2014, and they are exactly one week away from playing in the National Championship.
It’s a highly unconventional move, but I guess Nick Saban has earned the right to do whatever the f*ck he pleases at Bama. Via CBS, here’s what Saban had to say about the firing of Kiffin.
“We appreciate all that Lane has done for our football program over the last three years,” Nick Saban said in the school’s official release. “We sat down following the Washington game and talked about the time demands of managing both jobs, and we recognized that it is best for our players, and for Lane, that we allow him to turn his full attention to his new head coaching role at FAU.
“This wasn’t an easy decision and we appreciate the way Lane handled this terms of doing what is best for our team. At the end of the day, both us wanted to put our players in the best position to be successful. Obviously, we are in a unique situation where we have our next offensive coordinator on staff. We have full confidence that Sark will step in right away and make this a smooth transition.”
Steve Sarkisian will take over as offensive coordinator for Alabama when they take on Clemson in a re-match of last year’s National Championship. Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 last year, and I can’t imagine all of the second guessing of Saban that would take place if Clemson won this time around. But given how absolutely loaded Alabama is, a 12-year-old Madden enthusiast could probably call the plays on Monday and they would still emerge victorious.
