Lane Kiffin Discusses Amari Cooper's Future, Joining Nick Saban's Staff In Candid Interview

Ahead of his entertaining speech at yesterday's Broyles Award ceremony, Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin did a very candid interview with 103.7 The Buzz in Little Rock, Arkansas. The full interview is available for listen here, but AL.com transcribed some of the most interesting parts. Most notably, Kiffin spilled the (expected) beans on Amari Cooper's future, and discussed his role with Alabama late last year, and how he wound up joining the staff in the off-season.

Kiffin, discussing Amari Cooper heading to the NFL:

"I don't have to worry about him coming back next year. That's pretty much done." (Cooper, a junior, is projected to be a top-10 draft pick)...

...on being around Alabama during preparation for last season's Sugar Bowl, and eventually becoming the team's OC:

"...Everybody is saying 'What the heck is Lane Kiffin going to say to Nick Saban' and I was saying the same thing. But that just shows you how he is. He's always trying to get better.

"So, each night, we'd kinda meet for 10 minutes and see what I saw in practice and film study. It was really neat that he allowed me to do that and then a couple weeks later, the job became available and he brought me out for a formal interview and it's been great. I couldn't be more appreciative of him for doing that. It wasn't easy for him to do. He took a lot of criticism for it. So I'm really proud it work out, for him especially because he took a lot of heat for that."

It is incredibly interesting to hear Kiffin speak so openly about the criticism that he knew that Saban would take for hiring him. Like so many other things, Saban's move worked out, and Kiffin was considered one of the top assistants in the country this year. He was certainly damaged goods as a prospective coach heading into this season, but not it wouldn't be overly surprising if he received another head coaching opportunity in the next few years.

[AL.com]