Lane Kiffin explains relationship with Nick Saban as ‘divorce,’ talks ‘ass chewing’

Lane Kiffin wouldn’t be the Ole Miss coach if it wasn’t for his time in Tuscaloosa as offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In other words, if it wasn’t for Nick Saban, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

And today, the Ole Miss coach and his team hosts No. 2 Alabama in Oxford.

During a segment during ESPN’s GameDay, Kiffin joined Tom Rinaldi to discuss his relationship with Saban, a topic that has dominated college football headlines this week.

“I don’t know, maybe like an ex,” Kiffin said when asked to characterize his relationship with Saban. “There is some good and some bad. It is like divorce. You go back and see everybody years later.

“It’s almost like a child when you grow up in a house and you don’t understand why parents do things sometimes, then when you get older, you kind of realize you find yourself doing the same things. That’s really what it likes.”

Like that adult child, “I appreciate him way more now that I’m gone than when I was there,” Kiffin explained.

Kiffin has had some fun with his former boss this week, and Saban has returned the favor.

In fact, Kiffin revealed he and other three other SEC coaches – all who worked for Saban as assistants are in a group chat. “We all have the same father.”

Despite all the jokes, Kiffin is quick to credit Saban for where he is.

“I wouldn’t be here,” Kiffin said. “The phone wasn’t ringing. You just can’t coach. I mean I could have been quality control somewhere, analyst or something like that had coach not given me the opportunity.”

That opportunity included an “ass chewing” seen on national television.

“I didn’t think that much of it at the time,” Kiffin said. “That was like daily for me at the time. It’s usually in the morning at 7:30 in the staff meetings. It just happened to be on TV, so everybody made a big deal of it. I was just like, ‘another day at the office with coach.’”

So which Saban will Kiffin greet when the Tide hits the field in Oxford on Saturday.

“It will be fine,” Kiffin said. “I sent him a long text. Obviously, he didn’t respond. When I got the job I sent him a very grateful text.”

Alabama travels to Ole Miss on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) kickoff. The game will be live streamed on fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial. ESPN will televise the game.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

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