Lane Kiffin had plenty of supporters in Alabama, but a new book excerpt makes the case that he was never really in line to replace Nick Saban.
The idea always had a loud following among Crimson Tide fans. Kiffin was the former coordinator who helped power some of Alabama’s biggest recent successes, and for a while it was easy for people to imagine him someday taking over in Tuscaloosa. But the reporting in John Talty’s soon-to-be-released book, “Lane Being Lane,” points to a much different reality: the off-field baggage was simply too heavy.
Talty’s excerpt, published Wednesday by Vanity Fair, digs into Kiffin’s time working under Saban and does not shy away from the mess. One former analyst is quoted as saying Saban told him to “keep him away from the sorority girls.” The book also notes that Kiffin’s behavior in Tuscaloosa left too many people alienated for him to be viewed as a true successor.
“Multiple Alabama sources insisted that Kiffin’s behavior during his time in Tuscaloosa precluded him from ever succeeding Nick Saban and becoming the Crimson Tide’s head coach. He had upset too many important people.”
That’s the central issue here. The wins were real, and they were massive.
With Kiffin calling plays from 2014-16, Alabama won three straight SEC championships, captured the national title in 2015 and came within seconds of another in 2016. On the field, the partnership worked at the highest level.
But the ending matters, too. Kiffin’s run at Alabama closed with Saban firing him the week of the National Championship Game against Clemson because Kiffin’s attention had drifted toward the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic instead of the task at hand.
The excerpt also revisits the reputation Kiffin carried around town, including the well-known “Joey Freshwater” persona and the stories that came with it. In other words, this wasn’t a case of a few bad rumors.
By the time Saban retired in January of 2024, there was still a sizable fan push for Kiffin. Yet the people around the program apparently never saw him as a real option.
Kiffin has since rebuilt his image to a degree, first at Ole Miss and then, after leaving Oxford right before the Rebels’ first College Football Playoff appearance, at LSU. Even so, the old version of him has a way of resurfacing. The article argues that maybe he never fully changed at all - maybe he just became better at keeping it under wraps for a while.
Either way, the conclusion is the same from Alabama’s point of view. The next Kiffin episode may be coming soon, and Tide fans will be glad it plays out in Baton Rouge instead of Tuscaloosa.
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