Lane Kiffin Came At the Right Time for Alabama

Brace yourselves. I’m about to say something that goes against every ounce of reason I possess.

Lane Kiffin might have been the best thing Alabama could have asked for this season.

I can’t believe what I just said, being so vehemently against Kiffin and all that he stands for.

My prevailing opinion going into this season was that Lane Kiffin is a spoiled, arrogant, loud-mouthed child who specializes in breaking the rules, under-developing five-star talent, terrible in-game coaching that rivals the likes of Les Miles, and overall, failing as a head coach.

And for the most part, that opinion remains pretty intact.

But, as much as I hate to admit it, the guy runs a pretty good offense. And under Nick Saban’s tutelage, it’s hit its peak.

In his rookie season at the reins of the Crimson Tide offense, with a senior quarterback in his first year under center, Kiffin has taken Saban’s usually defensive-minded juggernaut to previously unexplored offensive heights.

Alabama is third in the SEC in total offense at 472.1 yards per game, and has surpassed 600 yards of total offense three times already this season, a feat that had yet to be accomplished by a Saban-coached Alabama team.

The next highest totals for the Crimson Tide in the Saban era are 454.1 yards per game, good for sixth in the SEC, during the 2013 season.

Alabama’s rise from the ranks of consistent, ball-control offensive gameplans to that of high-flying, explosive offenses has been impressive, and would be noteworthy in any season.

Fortunately for Alabama, the upgrade came at just the right time.

The times, they are a-changin’ in the SEC. The last six years have seen a drastic rise in the top to bottom effectiveness, explosiveness, and efficiency of offenses throughout the conference.

Back in 2008, Florida led the SEC in total offense with 445.1 yards per game. This season, Mississippi State leads the conference with 512.7 yards per game. Not only that, but there are six other teams that all average more than 445.1 yards per game (Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ole Miss), and one team, Arkansas who has an average just below that with 432.1 yards per game.

A team leading the SEC in total offense with just 445 yards per game is unheard of in the current day, and it’s because of the massive shift to more spread-based offenses in college football.

And it starts with the head coaches. Just look at all of the offensive-minded head coaches in the league who have coached national championship or nationally relevant offenses at other schools before landing at their current program (Dan Mullen, Gus Malzahn, Kevin Sumlin, and Steve Spurrier, to name a few).

The offenses in the SEC are evolving at a rapid pace, and defenses are struggling to catch up, plain and simple.

The exception, however, appeared to be in Tuscaloosa. Ever since his first season in 2007, Nick Saban has had Alabama’s defense playing at an elite level every year. If there was ever a defense that could slow down or shut down an explosive offense, it used to be Alabama’s.

In his seven seasons at Alabama, Saban’s defenses have given up an average of 265.6 yards and 13.5 points per game during that stretch. In short, they’ve been dominant in that stretch.

Any weekend facing the Alabama defense the past seven seasons has been an acceptable reason to be very afraid.

But after closing out last season with losses to Auburn and Oklahoma, games in which the Crimson Tide uncharacteristically gave up a combined 822 yards and 79 points, it seemed that maybe even Alabama’s defense was starting to struggle with the rapid improvement of opposing offenses.

An infusion of offensive explosiveness was required. Enter Lane Kiffin.

When he first made the move to Tuscaloosa, I thought that he would bring about the demise of Alabama’s football program if he wasn’t somehow corralled.

During his stints with the Raiders, Tennessee, and Southern Cal, he seemed out of control, never being able to adequately handle the full responsibility of being a head football coach, and always leaving his teams in worse shape than he found them.

But if anyone would be able to keep the young coach in line, why not Nick Saban?

Under Saban’s careful watch, responsible only for the offense, Kiffin has been able to develop a former running back into a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist just after losing a three-year starter from the previous season.

A team that has made a living off of systematically breaking down opponents with a suffocating defense and methodical, efficient offense focused on eating up the clock with a dominant running game now features the NCAA’s leader in receiving yards.

And it came at the perfect time for Alabama.

Alabama’s defense is still extremely talented and formidable, but offenses around the nation are getting much better. The Crimson Tide needed an offense capable of winning a shootout against a decent defense, if that situation ever arose.

Words I thought I’d never say: Lane Kiffin has been the perfect man for the job.