Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin Provides Clarity on Relationship with Nick Saban

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is set to enter his sixth season as the shot-caller for the Rebels with all eyes on the program heading into the 2025 season.

For Kiffin, the opportunity to be a head coach in the SEC has been a dream, but one that took time to achieve.

The Ole Miss decision-maker often reflects on his time coaching under football icon Nick Saban while the two were on the sidelines together with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

During an appearance on This Past Weekend w/Theo Von, Kiffin dove into his relationship with Saban and how the two remain in communication.

The Two Remain in Touch, Saban Still Evolving With Texting

“No, you got to call him. He did just learn how in the last like two years to text. He had never texted before. Ever. Like when I was an assistant coach there, he was just like, ‘I’m not texting.’ He just refused.

"It was like that old school. Like he’s got those old school things that aren’t changing. Then I got a text like two years ago from him that said ‘good luck’ or something like that,” Kiffin said. “And I was like to the group, ‘Dude, I got a Saban text.’ This is amazing. This is Vanderbilt beating Alabama.

"Like, this isn’t supposed to happen. Never thought I’d see this day, and then  is like, ‘Yeah, I got one earlier this year too.’ He’s learned how to text.”

Saban's Coaching Philosophy Taught Kiffin

“You get one or two words,” Kiffin said. “But that relationship is almost in a wake like how you can struggle sometimes like maybe when you’re in it with a parent and then you get older, you get out of the house.

"And then you’re like, ‘Dang, man. He was onto something. He was right on those things.’ So, I look back, I was there for three years. There was friction initially. I look back, it was all my fault. I’m the assistant. He’s the head coach. Whatever he says goes… his way is very like this is the way.

"There’s not open discussions about it and stuff and I’d worked for Pete Carroll as an assistant. So, that’s all I knew, and it’s just totally different.”

Saban's Workhouse Mentality Taught Kiffin the Way

“So, you’d come in you’d have an open conversation. Then you’re questioning the process. No, I just was asking. So, I didn’t really know how it worked right away. So, it took a little time… It was just something I wasn’t used to, that way. So, it took a little bit of time,” Kiffin said.

"But now that I look back, he was so strict on everything kind of in a parent way, like with his team, with the players, with the coaches, nothing changed. He wouldn’t — we won a national championship and there was a 7:30 staff meeting the next morning.

"I’m like, ‘What are we meeting on?’ He’s like, ‘We’re behind.’ Because we won the championship and everybody else was recruiting, we’re behind… It’s why he is what he is. It’s why he was so great because it was like the standard never changed no matter what.”

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