Nick Saban responds to alleged quote about Lane Kiffin, calls him 'one of the best playcallers in the country'

On ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday, Nick Saban recalled his time with Lane Kiffin when he was one of his assistants at Alabama, including addressing an alleged quote he had about him from a book that came out earlier this week.

McAfee brought the quote about Kiffin from “The Price: What It Takes to Win In College Football’s Era of Chaos” up while Saban was on his show from Ireland. In short, he replied that he never said that.

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“I’ve never made a quote about Lane Kiffin so it wasn’t from me,” said on set in Dublin.

The book was written by Armen Keteyian and John Talty. In it, Jimmy Sexton, Saban’s agent, recalled a time where his client nearly fired him for suggesting he should hire Kiffin, who was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for ‘Bama from 2014 to 2016. In that phone call, Saban supposedly described him as a “son of a b****” and a “narcissistic prick”.

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“That son of a b****,” Saban apparently said per AL.com’s review of the book. “I’m going to fire you, Jimmy, for ever talking me into hiring that narcissistic prick.”

However, after denying that, Saban had nothing but positives to say today about Kiffin, specifically with what he brought and still brings to the table offensively.

“I’m telling you – Lane is one of the best playcallers in the country,” said Saban. “I mean he did a great job for us when he was with us, always knows what to call next. He can take advantage of a defense as well as anybody.”

Saban also applauded the work that Kiffin is currently doing with his own team at Ole Miss. What he has built entering his fifth season with the Rebels has them now looking like a conference and national contender this year.

“Ole Miss is going to be good. Ole Miss is going to look like a big time program up front, which has always been their issue. I mean they lost to us and Georgia last year because they couldn’t match up up front,” said Saban. “Skill-wise, quarterback-wise? They can match up with anybody. Now they’ve recruited some guys through the portal to shore up the offensive line, they’ve got a better defensive line. They’re going to look like an SEC team up front, which is going to make them very dangerous.”

Saban and Kiffin always had quite the working relationship with one another while together for three seasons in Tuscaloosa. Even so, Saban cleared this week’s news up by speaking highly of his former staffer.