My Official Lane Kiffin Is Gone Take … Next?

Offer the virtual handshake and hat tip to Lane Kiffin as he attempts his FOURTH head coaching gig. Because Alabama football coach Nick Saban has already moved on.

As a good friend (and long-suffering Michigan State fan) of mine always says … here’s the deal on Alabama football offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin:

1. Thanks for your contribution to the Alabama football program over the past three seasons.

2. Next.

Look, Alabama Nation, there’s no reason at all to be losing sleep over Kiffin bolting to Houston after the College Football Playoff any more than hindsight should prove to you that Kirby Smart’s departure to Georgia didn’t leave a dent in the Crimson Tide defense.

What did Nick Saban do when Smart listened to momma’s clarion call? Calmly plugged Jeremy Pruitt into that set of sideline headphones and went about the soulless work of crushing opponents’ hopes and dreams.

ICYMI: LANE KIFFIN HIRED BY HOUSTON COUGARS

Don’t think for a nanosecond Kiffin leaving will be any different. Heck, his presumptive replacement – former Southern Cal coach (sound familiar?) Steve Sarkisian – is already roaming the halls of the Mal Moore Football Building!

And while Sarkisian brings baggage to the Tide (insert witty alcoholism joke yourself, as we tastefully decline …), we are quite certain Saban has vetted Sark and knows what he is getting.

Alabama Crimson Tide

As we pointed out – to some jeers – a while back, Kiffin’s Krimson Korner changing networks isn’t an altogether bad thing for Alabama. Certainly it alleviates any more Joey Freshwater sightings on and around campus. It also eliminates the drooling problem Alabama Nation wives and girlfriends seem to encounter when Jose Aquafresco is photographed or televised.

Don’t expect recruiting to be affected much at all in this transition, as Kiffin reportedly didn’t go on the road much at all. At least one high-value ‘crootin’ target, five-star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (the nation’s No. 33 overall prospect), has already gone on record affirming his commitment to Alabama despite Kiffin’s departure

Let us not go further without seriously praising Kiffin’s Krimson Kontributions to Alabama football. Shoot, the guy actually developed Blake Freaking Sims into a College Football Playoff-caliber quarterback! But seriously, the job Kiffin did with Sims, Jacob Coker and now with Jalen Hurts cannot be undervalued.

Kiffin somehow managed to drag Saban, albeit kicking and screaming, into the “fastball” era of offense. Not that Saban is a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust proponent, but His Lordship wasn’t exactly a huge fan of the hurry-up when he first saw it gumming up Alabama’s ability to make pre-snap defensive alterations. Kiffin surely was a voice in Saban’s ear on this one, surfer-dude cajoling the Wee Generallismo into speeding things along when the Tide has the rock.

Of course, we can’t pen the post-mortem on Kiffin without delighting in his thumbing of the nose to the “Run The Damn Ball” section of the Alabama Nation. Listen, people, pitch-and-catch is how offensive football is done these days. And c’mon, Derrick Henry won a freaking Heisman last year in between Kiffin dialing up touchdown tosses. Alabama totes the rock with lethal efficiency after spending much of the game lacing ice skates on defensive linemen and wearing them out sideline-to-sideline. It is a strategy that works, people. Embrace change instead of RTDBing it every time the Tide goes five-wide.

Who really knows what wrinkles Sarkisian would ultimately bring to the Alabama offense, but the smart dinero is on “not much will change”. Alabama runs what Nick Saban runs, plain and simple. Kiffin went off-script during his Tuscaloosa tenure about as often as president-elect Donald Trump stayed on script during the three-ring 2016 lollapalooza of a campaign.

Next: Tweets of the game - SEC Championship

Here’s the deal, Alabama Nation. Offer the virtual handshake and hat tip to Lane Kiffin as he attempts his FOURTH head coaching gig. Because Saban has already moved on – and you should, too.

Next.