The biggest topic from last week in college football and one that will most likely continue into next week is Lane Kiffin and his seemingly mutual flirtation with LSU and their head coach’s overture.
While Kiffin announced he would address his future next Saturday after Friday’s Egg Bowl, his former boss Nick Saban explained why a possible transfer of Kiffin at this point in the season could present a bigger problem as ESPN’s College GameDay discussed the situation.
“Well, everyone should think about the players. Everyone should think about the student-athletes. What’s best for the student-athletes? Saban said. Players should be able to play for their coach for the entire season.”
It is quite possible that Kiffin could accept lucrative offer from LSU and Ole Miss will have a spot in the SEC Championship Game, as well as a spot in the College Football Playoff. Something Saban was weary of, especially if the CFP commission takes notice.
“Players shouldn’t be penalized if the coach leaves, because the committee has the option: If a player or coach doesn’t participate, they can drop you in the rankings,” Saban said. “So all of that could go down in the rankings, maybe miss the whole match, so players would be penalized.”
However, there is a larger issue that Saban believes should be addressed, and that is the sport’s schedule, which impacts what is done for both players and coaches.
“But we have to take a better approach to the business side of what we do in college athletics. In the NFL, you can’t leave your team until you’re done playing, Saban said. “You can’t talk to another coach during the regular season. There’s a set time you can talk to them if they’re in the playoffs.
This is how it should be. And we should match the academic calendar with the football calendar. And we shouldn’t have an early signing date that conflicts with people wanting to hire a coach early, a portal situation where you have to hire a coach early, fire your coach early. None of this is fair to the player.
Saban believes the problems are about more than just Kiffin’s desire to go to a school that apparently has a better situation.
“So it’s not a Lane Kiffin conundrum, Saban said. “It’s a college football conundrum where we need some leadership to step up and change the rules on how it’s done in terms of finding coaches and opportunities for people to lead, players to lead. So if you were talking about these players, they would say: I want my coach to coach.”
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