Nick Saban reveals advice for Lane Kiffin amid LSU, Florida interest

Lane Kiffin is on the verge of making the most consequential decision in college football’s historic coaching carousel, to either stay at an Ole Miss program he helped build into a playoff contender, or to try his luck at LSU or Florida instead.

It’s a choice that could not only rewrite the power balance in the SEC, but will have a tremendous effect on Lane Kiffin’s legacy.

What would Nick Saban tell Kiffin about what to do? Kiffin’s former superior at Alabama revealed what he would tell his former offensive coordinator.

What Saban would tell Kiffin

A complicating factor for Kiffin is the fact that Ole Miss is on the cusp of making its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

“I try to give him my perspective from my experience,” Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show.

“I’ve been in a few situations like this, whether it was when I was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns going to Michigan State.

“I stayed there and finished the season, hired five guys to run the Michigan State program while we finished the last four or five games of the year with the Browns and went to the playoffs. So, I think everybody has to manage their situation relative to where their heart is and what they feel.”

Saban bemoans college football's calendar

“I know in Lane’s situation, every coach wants to coach their team. I mean, it is really, really hard to up and leave your team [during the season],” Saban added.

“And I gave a big speech about this last week on GameDay about how the calendar should be set up so that every coach can finish the season with his team. That’s good for the players, and it’s good for the team.”

Saban doesn’t believe how the NCAA calendar has been drawn up affords coaches the proper time and context to make a decision of this caliber.

“The circumstances in college football right now don’t really allow that to happen because of when the transfer portal hits, when Early Signing Day hits, and you’re still playing games and trying to get into the playoffs and you’ve got all these things to deal with,” he said.

“Hopefully maybe we’ll take some of these changes and put them on a calendar where it’s better for the players and you don’t have all these guys getting fired five games into the season.”

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