Nick Saban reveals how Lane Kiffin changed his coaching philosophy at Alabama

Nick Saban pinpoints the immediate impact Lane Kiffin had on his tenure at Alabama.

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban says Lane Kiffin had a major impact on his coaching philosophy when he served as the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator. | Michael Patrick/News Sentinel

College football was already changing with the growing prevalence of spread offenses well before legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban felt the need to shift his own philosophy, but he pinpoints his own pivot to when he hired Lane Kiffin as offensive coordinator in 2014.

"I changed my philosophy about five or six years ago, well, it was more than that. When Lane came here, we said, 'We've got to outscore them,'" Saban said in an undated video making the rounds on social media.

"Now, when you take that philosophy, the defense plays more plays. We play about 15 more plays a game now that we're a no-huddle team, and we go faster than we used to -- 15 plays a game on defense, when we used to control the ball on offense. We don't control the ball on offense -- we score."

Nick Saban - Philosophy Evolution

- "I changed my philosophy when Lane (Kiffin) came here. We said we got to outscore them."

- "We don't control the ball on offense, we score."

- "I grew up with the idea that you play good defense, you run the ball, you control vertical field… pic.twitter.com/ogJQNslFIH

— James Light (@JamesALight) January 25, 2026

Based on Saban's references, it seems likely the comments came in 2021, citing the previous season when Alabama led the SEC in scoring defense at 19.4 points per game allowed in 2020 on the way to going 13-0 and beating Ohio State 52-24 for the national championship.

By then, Steve Sarkisian was Alabama's OC, replacing Kiffin, who would follow his three seasons at Alabama (2014-16) with three years as the head coach at Florida Atlantic, before, of course, going on to Ole Miss and now LSU.

The season before Saban brought in Kiffin and altered his philosophy, Alabama gave up just 13.9 PPG. From 2008 (Saban's second season at Alabama) through 2013, his teams never gave up more than 14.3 PPG in a season, and the number was as low as 8.2 PPG in 2011.

In 2014, with Kiffin on board and a more paramount priority on offense, the Tide allowed 18.4 PPG.

But it seems the season Saban was referring to is indeed that 2020 campaign in which Alabama led the SEC in allowing 19.4 PPG, the only time the Tide led the conference with a total that high under Saban.

"We have good defense. We gave up 19 points a game last year, and that was first in the SEC -- 19 points a game. That's 6 points above what we think is average, which is giving up 13 points a game -- and it's first in the SEC. So the game is different now. People score fast," Saban said.

"The whole idea, like I grew up with the idea that you play good defense, you run the ball, you control vertical field position on special teams, and you're going to win. Whoever rushes the ball the most for the most yards is going to win the game. You're not going to win anything now doing that.

"Because, A, with the way the spread is, the way the rules are to run RPOs, the way the rules are that you can block downfield and throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage, I mean, those rules have changed college football. And the no-huddle fast ball has changed college football."

Saban adjusted and continued building his legacy, winning three of his seven national titles (six at Alabama) in the 2015, 2017 and 2020 seasons.