And you thought ABC’s hit show The Bachelorette had a lot of drama.
Monday’s surprising but not so surprising move between Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and head football coach Nick Saban was nothing short of crazy.
It was well-known that the two really didn’t get along, but what Saban did was arguably his biggest and boldest boss move yet.
Saban announced on Monday that Kiffin — who helped guide the Crimson Tide to a 24-7 victory over Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinals — was let go of his duties and won’t be coaching next week in the national championship game against Clemson.
Think about that for a minute.
A week before the national title game and Saban — who said it was a “mutual decision” — let go of his offensive coordinator.
Right move, bad timing
Saban’s decision was ultimately the right move, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Let me explain.
Last month, Kiffin announced that he would be taking over the head coaching duties at Florida Atlantic University. At that point, Saban should have either let go of Kiffin right then, or let him coach in both the semifinal as well as the championship game if the Crimson Tide made it that far (which they did).
To let Kiffen go after the semifinal game and leading up to the national title game is just completely bizarre.
But that’s the story of his life.
Kiffin, for whatever reason, has had the most bizarre firings in college football history during his short time at Tennessee and USC — and now Alabama. During his time in the NFL, Kiffin was fired after 20 games and was called a liar by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
It doesn’t help that Kiffin was always late to team meetings and was even left behind multiple times on team bus rides.
But that’s what made Kiffin’s latest tweet so entertaining.
After the announcement was made that he was let go, the 41-year-old tweeted (whether it was scheduled or not) out a picture of running back Bo Scarbrough’s record-breaking performance against the Huskies in the Peach Bowl.
#records pic.twitter.com/DpbUarp9xn
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) January 2, 2017
And to think just a day earlier, Kiffin tweeted out a picture of Saban holding the Peach Bowl trophy with the hastag “#theman.”
What a crazy ride.
Alabama will take on Clemson Monday night in the national championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
#theman pic.twitter.com/W2ygwWMB9j
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) January 2, 2017
