Lane Kiffin Has A New Job In Mind For Nick Saban

12/23/2024 09:31 PM

Lane Kiffin wants Nick Saban back in a significant leadership role.

On Monday, Kiffin responded to a long X post from Ken Cornia discussing the concept of a college football commissioner. The tweet ended with a poll asking if Saban, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, UAC executive director Oliver Luck, or former North Carolina head coach Mack Brown would make the best candidate.

The Ole Miss head coach endorsed his former boss for the hypothetical job.

"I vote Coach Saban," Kiffin wrote.

Kiffin isn't alone. Over 81 percent of the poll's 3,071 respondents chose Saban.

That backing comes after Kiffin's Rebels missed the College Football Playoff. Alabama, where Kiffin worked under Saban as an offensive coordinator, also didn't make the tournament with a 9-3 record.

Kiffin snarkily chastised the CFP selection committee after Notre Dame began the opening round with a 27-17 win over Indiana. The Hoosiers made the field with an 11-1 record but inferior strength of schedule.

"Really exciting competitive game @CFBPlayoff," Kiffin wrote. "Great job!!"

On Saturday afternoon, he returned to social media while Penn State blew out SMU. 

"Way to keep us on the edge of our seats Committee …. Riveting," Kiffin said.

Kiffin cheered for Tennessee out of SEC solidarity, but he must have forgotten to condemn the committee after the Volunteers got embarrassed by Ohio State on Saturday night.

While Kiffin and many college football fans like the idea of Commissioner Nick Saban, the 73-year-old doesn't seem interested in that role. 

After retiring as Alabama's head coach, Saban told ESPN's Chris Low that he wanted to use his voice to advocate for "common sense" reform in college football. However, he didn't want a new position of power.

"I'm not really looking for a job, but I do know I'd like to impact college football the best way I can, whether it's being a spokesperson or anything else," Saban said in February. "Listen, I'm for the players. It's not that I'm not for the players. I want to see the players have a great quality of life and be able to create value for themselves. But we've gone to nobody talking about education, nobody talking about creating value for their future, to talking only about how much money can I make while I'm in college."

Related: Lane Kiffin Trashed College Football Playoff Committee After Indiana-Notre Dame Game