Nick Saban reveals the advice he offers Lane Kiffin amid coaching carousel moves

Lane Kiffin is currently facing the biggest decision of his rollercoaster head coaching career. Does the sixth-year Ole Miss coach remain in Oxford and continue to lead the 7th-ranked Rebels into the College Football Playoffs? Or does he opt to accept lucrative offers to take the reins at either Florida or LSU?

It’s certainly an uneviable position to be in for any coach. Thankfully for all involved, a decision is expected Saturday after Friday night’s Egg Bowl in Starkville. But in the meantime, Kiffin’s former boss at Alabama — Nick Saban — opened up about what he’d tell his ex-offensive coordinator if the 50-year-old Kiffin ever sought out his advice with on such a life-changing decision.

“I try to give him my perspective from my experience,” Saban said during a Wednesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I’ve been in a few situations like this, whether it was when I was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns going to Michigan State – I stayed there and finished the season, hired five guys to run the Michigan State program while we finished the last four or five games of the year with the Browns and went to the playoffs. So, I think everybody has to manage their situation relative to where their heart is and what they feel.”

How substantive conversations between Kiffin and Saban have been isn’t clear, but if there’s one thing the NCAA-record seven-time national championship-winning head coach knows it’s how important it is to finish what you’ve started. And, amid speculation Ole Miss administrators might not allow Kiffin to coach the Rebels (10-1, 6-1 SEC) through the Playoffs should he opt to leave for another SEC program, Saban sympathized with his former pupil’s predicament.

Nick Saban on Lane Kiffin’s predicament at Ole Miss: ‘It is really, really hard to up and leave your team’

“I know in Lane’s situation, every coach wants to coach their team. I mean, it is really, really hard to up and leave your team (during the season),” Saban continued before doubling down on last weekend’s College GameDay rant about the untenable state of college football’s current calendar. “And I gave a big speech about this last week on GameDay about the calendar should be set up so that every coach can finish the season with his team. That’s good for the players, and it’s good for the team. And the circumstances in college football right now don’t really allow that to happen because of when the transfer portal hits, when Early Signing Day hits, and you’re still playing games and trying to get into the Playoffs and you’ve got all these things to deal with.

“Hopefully maybe we’ll take some of these changes and put them on a calendar where it’s better for the players and you don’t have all these guys getting fired five games into the season.”