Legendary University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban was reportedly very worried about fellow coach Lane Kiffin’s erratic off-field pursuit of college girls, according to a new book.
CBS Sports reporter John Talty revealed in his new book that Saban was not at all a fan of Kiffin’s behavior during Kiffin’s stint as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at the school between 2014 and 2016, Vanity Fair reported.
Talty wrote that when Kiffin arrived at Alabama, he came without his wife and family, who stayed behind in California. The pair would eventually divorce during Kiffin’s last year in Tuscaloosa. But while Kiffin was at Alabama, he quickly developed a reputation as a would-be ladies man who was constantly seen in local bars trying to pick up the college girls. And Saban was not at all amused.
“Layla and the kids never made the move to Tuscaloosa, leaving Kiffin to go off the rails, frequenting Tuscaloosa-area bars. On at least one occasion, an Alabama staffer had to go to Innisfree Irish Pub to retrieve a golf cart Kiffin had left there the night before,” Talty writes in his book.
Innisfree co-owner Derick Purdy allegedly called the school several times telling them that Kiffin was in the bar “asking where the hotties are” and was asking the bar workers to introduce him to said “hotties.” Another person told Talty that Kiffin was in the bars so much they were afraid that he would “drink himself to death.”
It reportedly got so bad that Saban began warning his staff about the problem.
“Off-field behavior did reach Saban’s desk,” Talty wrote. “Terry Saban, Nick’s wife, had heard through friends that Kiffin, then living separately from his wife Layla and his children who were in California, was out and about on the town trying to pick up women. It led Saban to tell at least one staff member to give Kiffin some helpful advice.”
“You’ve got to keep Lane away from the girls that are in college,” Saban reportedly told his staff. “Just keep him away from the sorority girls. Make sure they’ve graduated college or are working a job.”
It appears that his antics led to his being excluded as a candidate to take Saban’s top spot as head coach in 2023.
“Multiple Alabama sources insisted,” Talty reported, “that Kiffin’s behavior during his time in Tuscaloosa precluded him from ever succeeding Nick Saban and becoming the Crimson Tide’s head coach. He had upset too many important people, and the stories were too well-known for it to be palatable for those in power.”
Talty’s book, Lane Being Lane: The Story of Lane Kiffin, College Football’s Agent of Chaos, will be released on September 15th.
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