Lane Kiffin on Alabama: ‘The players at Alabama work harder and dedicate more of their life to football than anyone in America’

Lane Kiffin might not have loved everything about his time at Alabama but he made it very clear that he still loves and respect the players of Alabama.

In an article written by ESPN‘s Chris Low, Kiffin recounted his feelings while watching the national championship game. And he was crushed that the Crimson Tide didn’t win because he knew just how much guys like Reuben Foster gave to that program.

The hardest part was seeing Jalen’s [Hurts] face, Reuben Foster, ArDarius Stewart,” Kiffin added. “Some of those guys have come down here to see me since then. It was really difficult because the players at Alabama work harder and dedicate more of their life to football than anyone in America. … So to see the look on their faces after the game was something that sticks with you.

Kiffin left after the Washington game in the College Football Playoff and Steve Sarkisian was calling plays in the national title game defeat to Clemson. Alabama did score 31 points in the game, but Jalen Hurts struggled in the game, completing 13 of his 31 passes in the game. The Alabama offense also lost Bo Scarbrough in the third quarter of the game due to injury as well.

Sarkisian then left to become the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and Saban replaced him with Brian Daboll who was a coach with the New England Patriots. Kiffin is now the head coach at Florida Atlantic. This will be his fourth different head coaching job, as he’s coached the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans.