Nick Saban says he's been wanting offensive coordinators to open up offense
Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has rightfully been praised for his play-calling in the Crimson Tide's 42-21 win over Florida on Saturday. Not only did Kiffin have QB Blake Sims take effective shots deep (like on the first play of the game when Florida was expecting a run or short pass), but the Tide used the run game with incredible effectiveness as well.
Saban was asked on Wednesday if Kiffin, a former coach at Tennessee, the Oakland Raiders and USC, had more responsibility for the offense than previous coordinators under Saban.
Saban passionately said no.
"No, not at all," Saban said. "I've been begging the offensive coordinators around here to open it up ever since I've been here. [Current Florida State coach] Jimbo Fisher was the best offensive coordinator I ever had that ever did what I wanted to do and everyone wants to run the ball. And we've always had a very good team to run the ball. And we had a very good defense. And it was really smart to play the way we played. And now we have more skill players that are good perimeter players and I think we are doing what we need to do on offense to take advantage of that."
No returning Alabama player with previous significant playing time has benefitted more from Kiffin than WR Amari Cooper. Cooper's statline through four games is crazy. He has 43 catches for 655 yards and five touchdowns. Yes, Alabama's schedule will get tougher, but extrapolated out to 12 games, that's 129 catches for 1,965 yards and 15 scores.
While you may chuckle at the thought of Saban and a high-powered offense together given his disdain for quick-tempo offenses, a vertical offense doesn't always have to run 90 plays per game. And look at the offensive linemen and running backs Saban has had in his time at LSU and Alabama. Running the ball has been his teams' strength as he said.
But now with Cooper, TE O.J. Howard and the emergence of Blake Sims, Alabama can be just as scary throwing as it can be running. If you panned Saban's hire of Kiffin, it's an offense that you probably didn't expect. (And Saban says you didn't expect it, saying "I thought it was a good hire. Nobody else did.")
However, Saban isn't satisfied with his team's offensive performance. The Tide had seven "administration" penalties as Saban calls it (pre-snap penalties), against Florida and turned the ball over three times.
"Lane does a really good job of taking advantage of what players can do," Saban said. "And I think that has benefitted us so far this season. But there are a lot of things we need to do better on offense. The offensive line needs to play better with more consistency, we need to be a better inside running team ... We have made a lot of explosive plays, we haven't always been as consistent as we need to be. And that's what we really want to focus on doing."
"My philosophy hasn't changed at all. I've always asked for this. 'Why don't we throw the ball on this look instead of running this play where we can't block everybody?' Which is what we do now. It's a pro philosophy. And Lane's got experience as a pro coach. That's his background, that's what he does. And he does a really good job. I think he utilizes the players really well and presents problems for the defense by formation and adjustment ... but in my opinion, we have not arrived as an offense. He would be the first to tell you that. And I will tell you that too."
For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
