Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin recalls Alabama days with 3-word message on family’s heartwarming snaps

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has taken to Instagram to reminisce over family memories and his time with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

On Saturday, Kiffin posted a picture of his family on the Alabama sidelines, and this was accompanied by the following caption:

"What great times"

Picture Source: Instagram

After being fired as the coach of the USC Trojans in 2013, Kiffin found his next role in college football a year later, where he would become the offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Kiffin was with the Crimson Tide for three seasons, leading the offense to three consecutive SEC Conference Championships and two appearances in the national championship game. However, Kiffin would only be with the Crimson Tide for one of these.

The game in which he was on the sidelines with Alabama head coach Nick Saban was the 2016 National Championship game. This was against the then-unbeaten Clemson Tigers. Both teams would play out a thrilling, high-scoring match, with Derrick Henry's one-yard rushing touchdown enough to give the Crimson Tide a 45-40 win.

Alabama would return to the national championship game a year later, but Lane Kiffin would not be there.

Coming into the 2017 College Football Playoffs, Kiffin announced that he would be becoming the next coach of the Florida Atlantic Owls. However, he would be staying on as the offensive coordinator for the rest of the Playoff run.

That was the plan. In reality, Kiffin was removed from his role a week before the national championship game and replaced by Steve Sarkisian, now the coach of the Texas Longhorns. Sarkisian also replaced him after he left Southern California.

Reflecting on his time with the Crimson Tide, Lane Kiffin is reminded of what was statistically his most successful coaching role. This is something he'll want to replicate with the Ole Miss Rebels, a feat he has yet to achieve.

Lane Kiffin on how Nick Saban spoke after a defeat

Lane Kiffin also reflected on his time with Alabama in an interview with Theo Von. He spoke about how Saban responded to the small number of losses the program had in this time:

“I do remember the three losses over the three years, He, actually, after those, was calm. That’s when we didn’t get ripped. Cause he’s like, ‘They’re going to get ripped anyway, I don’t need to.’ I need to when they’re feeling good about themselves. [Then, I can] bring them down. I didn’t really understand that at first, now I look back, man, there’s a reason he’s the greatest.

Alabama only lost three times during Kiffin's three years there. Coach Saban was reportedly calm with the coaching staff after those losses. This was likely because public criticism from the media and fans would be more damaging to the program than any reprimand from Saban.