Alabama Football: Is Lane Kiffin to Blame for 2014 Losses?
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
By the standards of the vast majority of football teams, Alabama’s 2014 season would have been one of the best in school history. For a school that lays claim to 15 national championships and is trying to expand a dynasty, however, last year was painfully disappointing.
No, last year was not like 2010. Alabama lost three regular season games in 2010 after winning a national championship in 2009. Losing three games was hard for many Bama fans to swallow, particularly entering the year at number one. There was also Cam Newton and the 2010 Iron Bowl. No more need be said.
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2014 was disappointing for a different reason. Alabama only lost one regular season game, claimed another SEC Conference Championship, and advanced to the inaugural college football playoff. The disappointment came from losing two games (stop me if you have heard this before) that Alabama fans thought they would win emphatically.
So what happened? How did the Tide fall twice to opponents their fans did not lose any sleep over? Before we answer that, the following must be stated. Ole Miss and Ohio State were both very good teams in 2014 that played one of the best games of their respective seasons when they played Alabama. Regardless of who or what is to blame, the outcome may not have been any different the way Alabama’s opponents played those games.
But if you ask many fans, casual and hardcore alike, they will utter the name of one of the most famous coaches in football: Lane Kiffin. Do they have a point? Is it possible that the coach that was a finalist for the Broyles award (given to college football’s best assistant coach) simultaneously cost his school their only two losses of the season?
Next: Kiffin the Broyles Finalist