Lane Kiffin talks Nick Saban’s worth and recruiting against Alabama

Lane Kiffin was on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday afternoon to discuss one of his favorite topics: Nick Saban. The Ole Miss coach, entering his second year in Oxford, discussed why Saban is worth far more than his new, massive contract suggests and how his success complicates SEC recruiting.

"A little bit at times, especially when [Saban] announces that his back up quarterback from last year is getting a $1 million. That's going to be a little hard to recruit against."

–@Lane_Kiffin tells us it can be difficult recruiting against Saban and @AlabamaFTBL at times 😂 pic.twitter.com/t6Y7sjfHqG

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 3, 2021

Kiffin believes Saban’s contract does not fully reflect his value

Saban’s new contract extends through the 2028 season and is worth $84.4 million, but Kiffin does not think that captures what Saban means to Alabama. Kiffin acknowledged the gripes about football coaches being overpaid compared to other state employees but noted Saban’s impact on the school is far greater than what takes place in Bryant-Denny Stadium in the fall. 

“Way more than what he makes,” Kiffin said when asked what Saban is worth. “The money he brings into the program and the university. When a football program is rolling, the university changes. Student applications change. Tuition goes up. Everything changes.”

Kiffin thinks Saban’s recent offensive success greatly alters recruiting in the SEC

The changes that Saban implemented on offense in the recent seasons have been widely documented. Crimson Tide teams were anchored by their defenses through the early 2010s. Now, Alabama is an offensive powerhouse. 

“He wanted to change and credit to him,” Kiffin said. “He saw that people that weren’t changing and evolving on offense and still trying to do the old way, you know pro-style, under-center and all that, they were getting fired.”

Alabama’s offense averaged 47.9 points per game last year. Five of their six first-round NFL Draft picks were on the offensive side of the ball. They cleaned up in the individual awards, including a Heisman Trophy for DeVonta Smith.

The only other offense able to challenge the Crimson Tide last year was Kiffin’s Rebels. His air-raid offense scored 40.7 points per game and led the SEC with 562.4 yards per game. Alabama won their 2020 shootout by a final score of 63-48.

Despite demonstrating that there will be no shortage of offense on a Kiffin-led team, Alabama’s recent success on that side of the ball complicates Kiffin’s recruiting pitch. 

“It used to be you had a chance to beat them on offensive players because they were so conservative,” Kiffin said. “Now they’re winning all these awards and everything and scoring 50 points a game. Now nobody beats them on defensive players or offensive players.”

Another compounding factor is the name, image and likeness (NIL) rule change. During SEC Media Days, Saban mentioned his quarterback Bryce Young has made over a million dollars despite never having played a snap for the Crimson Tide. 

“That’s going to be a little hard to recruit against,” Kiffin said. 

Image courtesy of Kent Gidley/Collegiate Images/Getty Images