We already knew Lane Kiffin’s time at Alabama was chaotic.
Apparently, we didn’t know the half of it.
A new excerpt from John Talty’s upcoming biography Lane Being Lane provides some incredible details about Kiffin’s three seasons working under Nick Saban at Alabama.
The biggest stories involve Kiffin’s life away from football.
According to the excerpt, Saban became concerned enough about Kiffin’s behavior around Tuscaloosa that he instructed a staff member to keep Kiffin away from college-aged women. Kiffin was also frequently seen at local bars, with one staffer even having to retrieve a golf cart he had left at a bar the previous night.
Then there’s Joey Freshwater.
The famous story claims Kiffin used the fake name while talking to women at Tuscaloosa bars. Kiffin has denied actually using Joey Freshwater, although he once joked that he had used “Jimmy Chestnut.”
But the stories weren’t just funny.
The excerpt says Kiffin’s reputation became a legitimate concern for schools considering him for head-coaching jobs. Multiple Alabama sources also believed his behavior eliminated any realistic possibility of eventually succeeding Saban.
And his Alabama tenure eventually ended in dramatic fashion.
After Alabama beat Washington in the 2016 College Football Playoff semifinal, Saban reportedly became concerned that Kiffin was already focused on his new job at FAU. Players reportedly questioned Kiffin’s focus, and Saban decided to fire him before the national championship game against Clemson.
Nearly a decade later, Kiffin is now the head coach at LSU with a seven-year, $91 million contract.
It’s an incredible career turnaround.
But these new stories make one thing pretty clear:
The Lane Kiffin we see today is a long way from the Lane Kiffin Nick Saban had to deal with at Alabama.
