Credit: ESPN, LSU Athletics, © Butch Dill-Imagn Images
By Sean Keeley on

Lane Kiffin was officially introduced as the new head coach of the LSU Tigers football program on Monday.

In true Lane Kiffin fashion, he inserted some potentially messy drama into a situation that didn’t need any more of it.

As he discussed the reasons that he decided to leave Ole Miss amid an 11-1 season that is likely to lead to a College Football Playoff appearance for the LSU job, Kiffin explained that he received advice and counsel from several notable people, including his former boss at Alabama, Nick Saban.

“Coach Saban kinda coached at another place in this conference, so I can’t… really say exactly what he said, but,” started Kiffin, to laughter. “I’ll say I think the world of Coach Saban, and I respect him, and so there’s a reason why I’m here.”

The implication was that Saban encouraged Kiffin to leave Ole Miss and take the LSU job, a point he also strongly implied on Sunday, when he said several “mentors” pushed him toward the LSU job.

As one coach advising another coach, that sounds perfectly reasonable, ironic as it might be for an Alabama legend.

However, Saban’s current role is as a college football analyst for ESPN, specifically working on College GameDay, the premier college football pregame program in terms of viewership. And in that sense, Saban advising Kiffin about which job to take gets a little hazy. It’s not the worst transgression, but it’s not exactly kosher either.

But then, when you consider what Saban said last week on GameDay as reports swirled around Kiffin and whether or not he might leave Ole Miss in-season for another job, the conflict of interest suddenly jumps to ludicrous speed.

Using his pulpit on ESPN’s popular college football show, Saban launched into a two-minute screed absolving Kiffin of blame over the situation where he would be leaving behind all of the players he recruited to Ole Miss right as they were attempting to win a championship.

“This is not a Lane Kiffin conundrum,” Saban concluded. “This is a college football conundrum, and we need some leadership to step up and change the rules.”

Saban was also part of the chorus during this past Saturday’s GameDay, pushing for Ole Miss to allow Kiffin to coach in the CFP even if he takes the LSU job.

These were just some of the Kiffin defenses launched by ESPN college football analysts in the last few weeks that came under scrutiny in media and fan circles. And that was BEFORE we presumably knew that Saban was mentoring Kiffin behind the scenes to make the move, while essentially clearing the path PR-wise on television. Saban’s comments seemed even further out of step when Kiffin finally announced the decision, drawing overwhelming ire for the way he did it.

For the record, Saban never disclosed on the air that he was talking directly with Kiffin during this process.

As The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel noted, good luck to Saban the next time GameDay goes to Oxford, Mississippi. The treatment that Kirk Herbstreit received from FSU fans might pale in comparison.

Front Office Sports’ Amanda Christovich reached out to ESPN for comment on the situation, but ESPN declined to comment.

Some might scoff at the conflict-of-interest concerns here, just as they scoff at the Tom Brady Fox/Raiders conflict. However, the one thing both instances share is a presumption by the people involved that they are above such concerns and are aligned with organizations that seem happy to ignore them as well.

Lane Kiffin is the epitome of that kind of mentality, but it’s worth noting that it sounds like Nick Saban is as well.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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