Nick Saban refutes Lane Kiffin, says Kevin Steele still Alabama's defensive coordinator
Nick Saban was emphatic Monday about who is running his defense.
"Kevin Steele is the defensive coordinator," Saban said. "He has all the defensive coordinator responsibilities."
Saban said the only thing Alabama football tried to improve on was gameday administration of getting the signals in quicker after the Texas loss.
"That's the only thing that we worked on together as a staff," Saban said. "The whole staff made a contribution to it, and I think it was a lot better in this game than it was in the Texas game."
The reason Saban addressed this in his opening statement is because of something Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said Sunday ahead of the matchup between No. 12 Alabama (2-1) and No. 16 Ole Miss (3-0) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., CBS) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
While speaking to reporters Sunday, Kiffin said there seems to be a change at defensive coordinator for Alabama football. He said it seems secondary coach Travaris Robinson, not defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is calling the defense for the Crimson Tide.
"I don’t know what happened after the Texas game," Kiffin said Sunday on Zoom. "But, you know, our guys watching the TV copy schematically in this last game, it certainly seems like T-Rob’s now calling the defense. We played him before at South Carolina, so we’re preparing accordingly, you know, for him calling the defense. He’s done a good job too. And they’ve got really good players."
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Kiffin was asked about those comments again Monday
"I wasn't really trying to start this big thing," Kiffin said. "We saw things on TV copy just where it was different, first off with the playbook, the calls and stuff. We looked into that further. It ain't no secret: People in these buildings know each other. We got some information that way too. It is what it is kind of like the quarterbacks. You prepare for a different quarterback and prepare for a different play-caller. I'm not sure whatever transpired after Texas, but we're going to have our hands full no matter what."
Robinson has been on staff since 2022, originally serving strictly as cornerbacks coach. With the departure of Charles Kelly to Colorado, Robinson is now overseeing the entire secondary. Saban also helps coach the secondary.
Steele rejoined Alabama for another stint this offseason. He was Saban's first defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2007. Since then, he has called defenses for Clemson, LSU, Auburn and Miami.
The Clarion Ledger's David Eckert contributed to this report.
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban refutes Lane Kiffin, says Kevin Steele still Alabama DC
