Nick Saban clarifies Lane Kiffin's status
College Football Playoff Semifinal
Peach Bowl
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Washington
Where: Georgia Dome in Atlanta
When: Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. CT
Records: Alabama 13-0, Washington 12-1
TV: ESPN
Radio: 95.3 FM, 102.9 FM
ATLANTA | All four College Football Playoff coaches —Nick Saban, Chris Petersen (Washington), Urban Meyer (Ohio State) and Dabo Swinney (Clemson) sat on the stage at the College Football Hall of Fame to talk about their teams and the upcoming semifinals, but it was Lane Kiffin who commanded the most attention, at least judging by the first few questions.
The University of Alabama’s offensive coordinator and his at-the-moment uncertain future were the subjects of two of the first four questions poised to the coaches Thursday night before Saban were tired of the line of questioning and put a halt to “hypothetical situations.”
Before that, though, the veteran Crimson Tide head coach said he supports Kiffin’s goal of obtaining a head-coaching job — Kiffin is one of the frontrunners for the Houston position.
A report Thursday morning from USA Today stated that Houston was “closing in on a decision” to make Kiffin its head coach.
“I've spoken to Lane, and as far as I know, I don't think anything has been decided about that officially,” Saban said. “I'm sure that the University of Houston will make an announcement about who their coach is when they're ready to do that.
“We are very supportive of Lane in terms of him having an opportunity to be a head coach again after the great job that he did for us. Hopefully that or some other opportunity will work out well for him so that he gets the opportunity to be a head coach again.”
If Kiffin is named the Houston head coach it is unknown if he would remain with the team to coach in the College Football Playoff. Saban said a decision that is most beneficial to both parties would be made at the appropriate time.
“We'll make that decision when we have something to make a decision about, and we'll do what's best interest for Lane, for our program, our players,” Saban said. “But I think he'll want to finish the season with us, but I can't speak to that right now because we haven't discussed something that is a hypothetical situation to this point. And I'm not going to answer any more questions about hypothetical situations.”
Saban also addressed Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell transferring. Bateman, a redshirt junior, has one year of eligibility and Cornwell, a redshirt sophomore, has two.
“They have every intention of finishing the season,” Saban said. “I think these are situations when a younger guy won the job this year that these guys want to play someplace, and we want to -- Cooper is a graduate, so he'll be a graduate transfer, and we're very supportive of these guys.
“They've done a fantastic job for us, and we hope that they get a good opportunity and a chance to play someplace. But they will be with our team, and they're all anxious to finish the season with us.”
Saban and Petersen did give their impressions of the others team with Petersen speaking glowingly of the Crimson Tide defense and Saban dishing out high praise of the Huskies’ offensive skill players.
Recruiting in California on Wednesday, Saban watched film of the Washington offense and quarterback Jake Browning.
“I was very, very impressed with their offense in terms of how they execute, the balance that they have and their ability to run the ball with some very good backs, some very talented receivers,” Saban said. “But a quarterback who really understands his offense very well, executes it very well, gets the ball out of his hand quickly, knows when to throw the RPOs and when to hand the ball off and can make plays down the field, as well, and is athletic enough to scramble, extend plays and make plays with his feet.
“This is probably as good an all-around player at that position that we've played against all year long.”
Likewise, Petersen said Alabama’s defense, which ranks first nationally in scoring, rushing and total defense, is depressing to watch as an opposing coach.
“I watched them a little bit, so I was coming out here today on the plane, and I know about their offense, and I know about their defense. Didn't get real excited about watching them, so I put on their special teams, and I was even more depressed showing up here today. So I think that puts it in context for you,” Petersen said.
“I think you put that tape on, and they've got really good players and they don't give you anything. I mean, they're excellent. There's a reason that they're ranked how they are.”
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.