For Lane Kiffin, life has come to a full circle. Right before the SEC media days, Kiffin took to X to post some childhood pictures of his son Knox, captioning it as “My hero.” Just days after that, on July 15, during his appearance in the SEC media days, Kiffin found a moment to pay a special tribute to another family member who holds a dear, dear place in his heart: his father, Monte Kiffin. “Hero is really not the right term for him. It’s a superhero,” Kiffin said, remembering his father. After the world witnessed how much Kiffin misses his late father, his mentor Nick Saban reached out to him.

Kiffin’s wounds of losing his father are still fresh. It was on July 11 that Monte Kiffin, the longest-tenured coach in Buccaneers franchise history, passed away at the age of 84. Despite the heart-shattering loss, Lane Kiffin mustered up the strength to attend the important SEC Media days in the light of a pivotal season for the Ole Miss program. Having worked with him for about 3 years, Saban knew how tough it would be for Kiffin to manage all the interviews.

“He’s been amazing. He texted this week, going out of his way, and we know that he doesn’t text very often or that he doesn’t know how to text very well,” Kiffin mentioned on the Paul Finebaum show, iterating how Saban went above and beyond to make sure Kiffin was okay. This is exactly what makes Saban ‘the best head coach in CFB history’. During the 3 years Kiffin worked at Crimson Tide OC to redefine his trajectory in CFB, Nick Saban was there to guide him all along the way. Even now, when Kiffin is paddling through some severely demanding days, both as a son and as the head coach of Ole Miss, Saban reminds him that he is still right beside him.

Kiffin also added, “Every time I see him since I’ve left from there, I tell him how much I appreciate him,” expressing his genuine appreciation for Saban. So much so, that Kiffin even credited Saban for being the making point of his career.

Lane Kiffin hails Nick Saban.

Showing up every day and doing his job no matter what was a philosophy Monte Kiffin followed ardently in his almost 30-year-long NFL coaching career. The only way of honoring him properly for Kiffin would be to give his all to his work every day, which he is doing perfectly fine. Kiffin has made appearances on several interviews and SEC media day, emerging as a top competitor this time in the race to National Championship 24.

However, Kiffin extended the credits of making him tough enough to lead a program to these heights to Nick Saban. “I wouldn’t be here today without him,” Kiffin said on the Sports Center podcast. Kiffin also iterated how working with Saban for 3 years opened up new avenues for him.

“His career is amazing, and I’m just blessed for the opportunity that he gave me. Really grateful for him,” Kiffin added, appreciating Saban to his best. Now, however, Kiffin will have to compete with Alabama, the one that still brims with Nick Saban’s values even after his retirement, to make it to the top. Will he make it?