This Auburn football head coach hire would make Iron Bowl the Super Bowl of the South
AL.com’s Joseph Goodman published a Lane Kiffin deep-dive on November 11 ahead of his Ole Miss Rebels’ home matchup with Alabama on Saturday, and looming over the talk of his long history with Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban was the possibility of Kiffin becoming the next Auburn football head coach.
In the immediate aftermath of Bryan Harsin’s dismissal from the Auburn football head coaching seat on October 31, Kiffin was linked to the job and he was called the ‘name to watch’ in the coaching search.
This Saturday could be a game Tiger fans cheer for Alabama in since the more the losses pile up in Oxford, the further away Kiffin may drift from a program he may have already peaked with last season.
If Kiffin could decide that Ole Miss is not the job that’ll bring him closest to what he’s after — including a national championship and/or a return to the NFL — the Lincoln native could make the Iron Bowl rivalry with Saban’s Alabama the Super Bowl of the South year in and year out according to Goodman:
"“As the entertainment business goes, football considers itself serious stuff. If there is no crying in baseball, then there is no laughing in football.”“Kiffin laughs loudest of all either with Alabama or at Alabama. It’s hard to interpret which one it is sometimes, but know this. With Kiffin at Auburn, the Iron Bowl would be like the Super Bowl of the South.”"
Alabama-Auburn football arguably already Super Bowl of the South but Lane Kiffin would elevate it further
The rivalry between Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin that developed during their three seasons together in Tuscaloosa when the latter was the former’s offensive coordinator is very real and personal — so much so that at one point Saban snapped at Kiffin that ‘dumb offensive coordinators call dumb plays’ after Lane had blamed Alabama defenders for a busted play.
While the Iron Bowl is arguably already the Super Bowl of the South, and if you don’t believe me you can check the secondary market for ticket prices, adding the personal rivalry element would