Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban have had a love-hate relationship back in Alabama. While Kiffin was the offensive coordinator of the program, he understood the younger generation and would do things to favor them. This never worked out for Saban, who was much more focused on maintaining discipline in the camp. Saban was very forward with what he wanted to accomplish with Alabama, however, Kiffin was never on board with that. Now we have former Tides QB Blake Sims sharing with us some fun experiences he had with Kiffin.

Imagine this, you tell your former coach that you are leaving the team for some other program and then you are slapped in the face with some wild news. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Blake Sims, former Alabama QB. On the McCready and Siskey Podcast, Sims talks about how Lane Kiffin left that poor guy shell-shocked. “Me and Lane were sitting side by side and I called Coach Saban. And said, I’m leaving. I’m going to Tennessee,” Sims mentioned. This was right after the Tides grabbed the national championship back in 2009.

However, Sims was about to get a major surprise. Sims went on to explain that on a call with Lane later on, Kiffin told him that he would be going back to the Trojans. “So as he’s saying that I’ll look up on ESPN breaking news Lane Kevin goes, I’m like yeah, of course, I’m looking it on TV right now,” Sims mentioned. While Sims ultimately decided to stick with the Tides, Kiffin went on to make his name in the game.

A new legacy

2019 was when Kiffin joined in to lead the Ole Miss. Going on to have one of the most successful seasons in his career with the team, recording an 11-2 score. Even during an episode of On3 back in June, Andy Staples and J.D Pickell were very open with the idea that the 2024 season could see Ole Miss becoming conference champions. “I think it’s Ole Miss because this is a team that would have made the 12-team playoff last year,” Staples noted. The major threats that stand before Ole Miss are the Tides under Kalen DeBoer and the Bulldogs under Kirby Smart. Two teams that Kiffin had faced off against before but had lost.

With two new additions to the roster, Izaiah Hartrup and Jordan Smart, Ole Miss is definitely looking like a promising team this season. Who knows, maybe we will find them in the CFP Top 4 this year.