Alabama Football: Nick Saban praises new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin

With the departure of offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier and knowing that the Alabama offense needed a little bit of a modern update, head coach Nick Saban went out this offseason and made the controversial decision of bringing in former USC head coach Lane Kiffin to lead the Crimson Tide offensive charge going forward.

The controversy stems from Kiffin’s shaky resume as a head coach, but there is no denying his success when he is just running an offense, so overall the hire wasn’t as bad as people would make it seem.

On the SEC coaches teleconference recently, Saban reiterated to everyone just how valuable Kiffin has been since his arrival in Tuscaloosa.

"“Lane did a fantastic job with our staff and our players,” Saban said. “Both parties have a lot of respect for his knowledge, his enthusiasm, experience. I think they respect him as a teacher. He did a really good job with the staff and the players. Any time you make a change, everybody’s got to make little adjustments. We tried to keep some of the things we’re doing and allow Lane the freedom to do some things that he wants to do. I think everybody’s bought into that, and it’s worked out really, really well.“I think he’s a great asset to our staff, in terms of his knowledge and experience. It’s been great for me, too, to have a guy that’s been a head coach before and had some of the issues and problems we have. I really feel good about his addition to our staff.”"

Now the recent porous performance in the spring game did nothing to help change the perception of the Alabama offense, however Florida State transfer Jacob Coker, who is more than likely going to game the starter in game one against West Virginia, has yet to arrive on campus and should provide the final jolt that this offense needs under Kiffin to get rolling full steam.