Rumors are swirling about Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. (Getty)
Lane Kiffin hasn’t always had a lot of fans. Combine that with a home loss for Alabama this past weekend, and you get some ugly rumors.
Although Kiffin, the offensive coordinator, was hardly the reason for Alabama’s defeat — the Tide put up 503 yards of total offense and scored 37 points — he and Kristen Saban, the daughter of head coach Nick Saban, have been the focus of some absolutely wild rumors coming out of Tuscaloosa.
Here’s everything you need to know about the unsubstantiated rumors dominating the internet:
1. The Claims Are Completely Unverified
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The “story,” which claims that Kiffin slept with an Alabama booster and with Saban’s daughter, gained steam when popular sports personalities like Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd and Clay Travis tweeted about the ongoing rumors. However, as WIAT 42’s Jim Dunaway noted, there are no legs at all to suggest these rumors are anything but that:
No confirmation on the rumors coming out of Tuscaloosa at this hour. Stay tuned.
Again, rumors are not news. We (me) will report news when its official. The rest is not worth repeating. So again, no confirmation.
The Tuscaloosa News’ Cecil Hurt was a little more direct:
Tensions are clearly high in Tuscaloosa after the Tide’s loss to Ole Miss last weekend, but claims such as these are a pretty pathetic attempt by rumor mongers to strike while the iron is hot.
2. Kiffin & Wife Layla Have 3 Children Together
Lane and Layla in 2011. (Getty)
Kiffin met Layla through his father. The daughter of former NFL quarterback John Reaves, she began working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers special events department after graduating from the University of Florida in 1997. That’s where she met Lane’s father, Monte, who was the defense coordinator of the Bucs at the time.
Two years later, she met Lane, and after three months of dating, he asked her father for her hand in marriage.
“She’s a great person. Beautiful, smart, tough and hardworking,” Layla’s father says. “And she (sic) likes people.”
Lane and Layla have three children together: Daughters Landry and Pressley, and son Monte Knox. Lane has denied that the latter’s middle name is named after the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was head coach at the time.
3. Kristen Saban Is Recently Married
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Kristen Saban, the only daughter of Nick, is an Alabama graduate and former student assistant for the Crimson Tide football team.
She married childhood friend Adam Setas in May of this year. The couple celebrated their reception at–where else?–Denny Bryant Stadium, where they enjoyed a Rolls Royce ride across the field.
AL.com provided part of Nick’s heartfelt toast, in which he said he was “gaining a son”:
I guess I’m supposed to be giving a speech up here tonight to give my daughter away, but if you know me, I don’t give anything away. We don’t give any points away. We don’t give any shots away on the golf course. I still have my high school jersey. But you know I don’t really look at this as giving something away. … We’re actually gaining a son.
4. Kiffin Has Been at Alabama Since 2014
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After his playing career ended in 1996, Kiffin immediately starting coaching, joining alma mater Fresno State as an assistant in 1997. He landed his first head coaching job a decade later with the Oakland Raiders, but after a record of 5-15, he made his way back to college to coach Tennessee.
His results as a head coach were mostly disappointing, going 7-6 with the Volunteeers and 28-15 with USC before being fired in 2013.
In January of 2014, he took over for Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator on Saban’s staff. Last season, the Crimson Tide finished 18th in the country in yards per game (485.0) and 16th in points per game (36.8).
5. Kiffin Is Also Rumored to Be Resigning
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Again, take these rumors with a pumpkin-sized grain of salt, because none of these rumors have been verified by reputable sources. If he does leave, as Adam Jacobi noted/joked, it’s more likely that he does so to fill a head-coaching vacancy somewhere:
Who knows if a school would consider Kiffin as a head coach after his stints with Tennessee and USC, but those rumors are far more conceivable than the ones currently floating around about his personal life.
