Nick Saban pays ultimatecompliment to Lane Kiffin's dad, Monte

Nick Saban has been around some of the most talented and respected football minds in the history of the sport.

On Saturday, Alabama will host Ole Miss in a highly-anticipated reunion of two coaches that are linked in several ways, despite having seemingly different personalities and coaching styles.

Though there were plenty of doubters, Kiffin revamped the Alabama offense when he was surprisingly hired by Saban in 2014 as offensive coordinator.

There are numerous storylines focused on the two SEC coaches ahead of Saturdays matchup. But on Wednesday, Nick Saban was asked about Monte Kiffin, Lane’s father.

When asked if the legendary defensive mind’s career crossed paths with Saban, the Alabama head coach gave a strong statement considering his background and experience in the football coaching fraternity.

“I always had a ton of respect for Lane’s dad, Monte,” Saban said. “He visited here a few times when Lane was here and I just think he’s a wonderful man. His legacy as a coach, not necessarily because he won a lot of games or because he was a great head coach, but what he did to impact the game is probably as significant as anybody I know.”

Nick Saban on how Monte Kiffin revolutionized defensive concepts

It’s widely known Saban is closely tied with Bill Belichick. He’s a disciple of the Don James coaching tree and has numerous other connections to some of football’s brightest minds.

From a defensive perspective, Saban provided a behind-the-scenes look into why exactly Kiffin was ahead of everyone else when it came to scheming opposing offenses.

“I think Lane’s dad was really instrumental in a lot of things. I remember, I think he was at Nebraska, or maybe it was West Virginia, when I first started coaching,” Saban said of his early years trying to learn the nuances to thrive as a great coach.

“We went and visited him. Pete Carroll was actually with him at the time. He [Kiffin] was really the first coach, that I remember, that actually coordinated fronted coverage, where you overshift the front one way, then balance the coverage back the other way. And it tied it together in a way that was very very effective. He gets a lot of credit when he was in Tampa for Tampa 2, which I think he was the first person to do that and it caused people a lot of issues for a long time.”

Coaches now turn to Nick Saban when it comes to learning from the best, but it was interesting to hear the Alabama head coach give the highest compliment to the elder Kiffin. It’s clear Lane Kiffin was destined to follow in his footsteps.