Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin makes wild accusation about Alabama defense
Alabama is playing musical chairs at quarterback and now may be taking the same approach with the coaching staff. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin floated a wild theory that the Crimson Tide have secretly demoted defensive coordinator Kevin Steele while revealing that his team is preparing for cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson to call plays.
“We’ve been against Kevin a number of times," Kiffin remarked on Sept. 17, per On3.com's Ben Garrett. "Worked with him at Alabama and against him at Auburn and LSU. There seems like there’s been a change there.
"I don’t know what happened after the Texas game, but our guys watching the TV copy and schematically in this last game, certainly seems like T-Rob’s now calling the defense," Kiffin continued. "We played him before at South Carolina, so we’re preparing accordingly for him calling the defense. He’s done a good job, too, and they’ve got really good players.”
Is this a calculated move by Kiffin to poke the Bama bear?
Few coaches are familiar with Nick Saban quite like Kiffin, who served as Alabama's offensive coordinator from 2014 through 2017. It is fair to wonder if Kiffin is attempting to poke the bear by creating headlines or if the Ole Miss head coach truly believes there has been a shake-up on the Crimson Tide coaching staff.
Statistically, there is nothing alarming about Alabama's defense with the unit allowing 14.7 points per game, which ranks No. 22 in the country. The bigger question mark is at quarterback. The Crimson Tide played Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson against South Florida after benching Jalen Milroe.
Saban has not named a starting quarterback for the Ole Miss matchup. Buchner and Simpson combined for an underwhelming 107 passing yards. Now, Saban will not only field questions about his anemic offense, but Kiffin is making sure the Crimson Tide defense is also in full focus.
Alabama faces a top-10 Ole Miss offense averaging 42.5 Points per game
Regardless of who is the official Alabama defensive coordinator, the staff will need to find a way to slow down a top-10 Ole Miss offense that is averaging 42.5 points per contest through the first three games. Jaxson Dart has impressed as a legitimate dual-threat quarterback throwing for 251 yards and adding 136 yards on the ground with three total touchdowns against Georgia Tech.
Despite its struggles against USF, Alabama still finds itself as a seven-point favorite over Ole Miss. At the very least, Saban is now going to have to answer questions about Steele's status heading into this SEC showdown.
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