The Iron Bowl rivalry was as intense as ever in 2013, with 87,451 Auburn fans packed into Jordan-Hare Stadium, all rooting for their team to take down Alabama. It was a tough task, considering Nick Saban’s Alabama had become a force to be reckoned with, having clinched three national titles in the last 4 years. By 2013, Alabama was rolling in undefeated, eyeing a shot at the BCS national championship. The game ended with a score of 34-28, thanks to Chris Davis’s unbelievable 100-yard field goal return. But little did Saban realize that the same game that ended their bid for a third straight national title would also usher in the arrival of an offensive genius, whose hard work is reaping rewards to this day for Alabama.

The game bolstered the idea for Saban that a change was needed. While Saban persisted with his run-heavy pro-style offense at the time, teams like Auburn and Ole Miss were spreading the field and utilizing their receivers efficiently. The stage was finally set for Lane Kiffin to arrive in Tuscaloosa.

Here’s a fun stat for you: From 2010-2015, the Crimson Tide signed 6 high school quarterbacks, who started just 2 games for the program. Now, take, for instance, the period from 2016-2023, when Bama recruited 11 high school quarterbacks, and all of them started for 217 starts combined already, and 2 of them are slated to start this year. The names? Ty Simpson, who is already being declared the starter by coach Kalen DeBoer, and Austin Mack, who will probably play a greater role than what people tout. But that’s not all.

The list also includes three 1st-round NFL picks, with one second-round and one third-round pick. Along with that, Lane Kiffin’s recruiting foundations resulted in 9 Power 5 starters, which include Jalen Milroe, Bryce Young, and Jalen Hurts. For context, the 2017 recruiting class was ranked 1st nationally, which included future stars like Najee Harris, Devonta Smith, and Tua Tagovailoa. “Lane made you believe you could be great in his system, and kids wanted to play for him,” former Alabama QB Blake Sims said about Kiffin’s recruiting impact on Bama. Moreover, the impact and the foundations are still doing wonders for Kalen DeBoer.

The switch to homegrown, first-round NFL draft pick quarterbacks didn’t happen overnight, but Lane Kiffin played a big role in it. Take DeBoer, for instance; he’s known for his high-energy offensive schemes at Washington, and he’s definitely benefiting from this change since Alabama’s roster is all about versatility now. Players like Jalen Milroe were a direct result of the groundwork laid by Kiffin with recruits like Jalen Hurts. That said, it wasn’t always a given that someone like Lane Kiffin, with his chill vibe, would end up at Alabama.

After that 2013 season, with the national title miss, it was hard to predict that Nick Saban would turn to Lane Kiffin, whom USC had recently fired. Moreover, just 5 years ago, Kiffin had left Tennessee high and dry in just one year, after promising them glory. Even Kiffin’s laid-back and free-spirited personality clashed with Nick Saban’s rigid structure in which Bama functioned. But at the time? All of this didn’t matter to Saban, as all he wanted was someone to revitalize the offense.

“A lot of people might have been surprised when I brought Lane in as coordinator, probably even here in the building. But I wanted to grow on offense. We needed to grow, and I felt like he was the best guy at that time to help us do that,” said Saban to ESPN. Despite the promise, though, Kiffin himself played pro-style offense at USC and hadn’t had vis-à-vis with the spread concepts that Nick Saban wanted to incorporate. But with some help, it all didn’t matter.

Kiffin learned the craft gradually by watching Steve Sarkisian and other coaches like Tom Herman and finally led the team to a successful 2014 season, which was the breakthrough for QBs at Bama. Kiffin developed Blake Sims, the Bama QB, from being a player destined to play free safety into a prolific distributor of passes. Sims notched up 3,487 passing yards, more than any other QB in Bama’s history. And for Sims, Kiffin didn’t just bring a new offense but championed a whole new approach for the game.

“You just didn’t see Alabama doing that kind of stuff before, but Coach Kiffin was great at getting those matchups and finding ways to get his best players the ball. He wasn’t afraid to take chances, and Coach Saban wasn’t afraid to take a chance on him … and you see what that’s led to. It was the perfect combination, Coach Saban’s structure and Coach Kiffin’s creative mind,” said Sims. The years after 2014 brought even more accolades.

In 2015, Jake Coker passed for 3,110 yards and had receivers like Calvin Ridley receiving for 1,045 yards. Cherry on top? Alabama went on to defeat Auburn on the road, redeeming their 2013 loss, and finally capped off the season with a 45-40 win over Clemson in the national title game. Coker, in that game, passed for a whopping 335 yards, and Howard received for 208 yards, making it the pinnacle of Lane Kiffin’s offense. But like every story, the combination of ice and fire didn’t last long, as the relationship between Saban and Kiffin turned ugly.

Kiffin opens up about why things turned sour with Nick Saban at Alabama

The 2016 season saw Jalen Hurts behind the center, and the hopes of a national title were burning fiercely again with Kiffin calling the plays. But this was also the time when Nick Saban was becoming increasingly frustrated with Kiffin’s antics. From getting late to team meetings to not even attending them, the ideologies of both coaches clashed constantly. Moreover, Kiffin’s controversial comments to Sports Illustrated, calling his Bama years “dog years” and showing frustration with what he was earning. It all came exploding before the national title game in the 2016 season.

Kiffin was fired before the national title game by Bama, citing “distractions,” as the now-Ole Miss head coach had accepted an offer from Florida Atlantic at the time. “I could have done much better with just, ‘Yes, sir,’ no matter what he said. That’s the majority of that building. They say, ‘Yes sir,’ no matter what. I guess my issue was that I wasn’t trained that way. I’d been a head coach and an assistant coach to Pete Carroll for six years. Pete Carroll was not a ‘yes sir’ environment at all. It was more, ‘Bring up whatever ideas you want,‘” said Kiffin about his exit. And yet, Kiffin’s legacy lives on at Bama.

Ever since 2014, when Lane Kiffin came to Alabama, the program has produced first-round QBs like Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones and receivers Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, among others. Moreover, DeVonta Smith, the Heisman winner, also reaped the rewards of the foundations that Kiffin championed. Of course, it’s not to take credit from later OCs like Steve Sarkisian and Mike Locksley. But going 40-4 in his tenure is big, and making Bama the place where top QBs and WRs aspire to come is a monumental achievement in itself. And even Kiffin acknowledged it.

“I do feel like the numbers we put up and what we started to do on offense made it more attractive for offensive skill players to come from all over the country because they always got great defensive players,” said Kiffin. Now, know that if in 2025, Ty Simpson exceeds expectations, maybe, just maybe, some of the credit will go to Kiffin for championing the new “Bama Way.”