You could say that Lane Kiffin at Alabama was some sort of anomaly. We all know at this point that Nick Saban enjoyed maintaining proper discipline at camp. Kiffin was someone who was always against it all. Kiffin, as the offensive coordinator for the program, was one of the young minds who wanted to bring a change to the team. Back in July, former Tides QB Blake Sims gave us quite the insight into the entire Saban-Kiffin relationship. Sims mentioned that Saban was someone who “takes every moment seriously”. However, on the other hand, “you got Lane where he takes nothing seriously.” Now after Armen Keteyian and John Talty’s book came out, we learned many more details regarding their entire connection.

So, understandably, on August 23rd we got Josh Pate talking about the details of the night when the entire fallout between the HC and the Offensive Coordinator happened. “Jimmy Sexton, standing, right there. He is standing there and I kid you not. He has a phone in his hand. He’s got the full hand over the speaker. He is waiting for Lane Kiffin to come off the field,” Pate noted. After the kickoff game back in November 2015, Pate was right there waiting inside the tunnel through which the staff or the players exited the field. There he saw Sexton with a phone in his hand, waiting for Kiffin. So here’s the thing Kiffin had made a promise to Saban that he won’t be talking with any other team until the SEC championship game was over. However, it was later found that Kiffin had talked with his agent just a few hours before the kickoff game at Tuscaloosa, pretty much kick-starting the entire fallout between him and Saban. The entire conversation revolved around a new HC position that was going to open up soon. “Nick Saban walks down the tunnel. Box right past both of them and no eye contact is made,” Pate mentioned. When Saban found out about this entire thing, he did not react calmly.

“I ain’t never had a coach I can’t control,” Saban had told Sexton regarding what Kiffin was doing. Not only that, the HC continued to bash Sexton for when he had suggested hiring Kiffin onto the team. While some might agree that bringing Kiffin on brought some new generation energy onto the Tides, however, if we ask Saban himself, he will say that the mental toll was not worth it at all. What’s even wilder is that this old couple managed to last 3 seasons together before Kiffin moved to Ole Miss. However, while he did take over Ole Miss, he still hasn’t managed to win a single match against Saban’s Tides. Now that Kalen DeBoer has taken over the team, Kiffin and Ole Miss have already started losing to the Tides before the season even began.

Losing the 5-star RB

On August 21st, DeBoer and Tides took away a highly anticipated player for Ole Miss for the class of 2025. On3 Hayes Fawcett mentioned on X that 5-star RB Akylin Dear had decided to commit to Alabama. Dear had to choose between Ole Miss and the Crimson Tide. While he did originally commit to Kiffin, the kid was quick to flip his commitment and go to the Tides.

247Sports considers Dear as the No.2 RB nationally, making this a major loss for Ole Miss. Not only that, he is also the No.31 overall player in the nation as well. 247Sports’ Cooper Petagna had noted that “standout displays good patience and vision at the line of scrimmage.” Dear has shown amazing promise in the field. From being able to carry the ball effortlessly to showcasing bursts of energy and switching gears to make separation between tackles. The kid knows his stuff and will be a big asset for the Tides.