Don’t Miss the Bus- Talent Management Lessons at its Finest from Lane Kiffin

I don’t know about you, but there has been a lot of football on at our house over the holiday break.  So much so, that as I was putting up Christmas decorations on Monday, I was silently cussing the college football season wishing my husband would get off the couch and help instead of watching more of what seems to be an endless bowl season.

Then I hear him say,  “WHAT?!?!”  and turn up Gameday.

“Babe,” he yells, “He fired Kiffin.”

“He’s (Nick Saban) is about to come on live, you gotta come listen to this.”

Despite my frustration, I stopped what I was doing and did go down there, thinking, this is going to be good.

And good, it was indeed.  And so was the commentary afterward that I’m sure will continue to go on even after the National Championship is over.   As a talent management nerd, my mind was going crazy with all the lessons gleaned from this late-breaking news.

You can watch the full clip of what Saban had to say here, but the basic lessons bowl (pun intended) down to:

1. Most people can’t do two jobs well at once. With Kiffin having accepted the Florida Atlantic job, he was in a place of trying to steer an offense to win a national championship, while at the same time, recruit a staff and a team for his new gig.   While I’m all in favor of two (or more) week notices from a professional etiquette standpoint, you’ve got to weigh the benefit of keeping someone around whose mind is in a completely different place.   Even Kiffin admitted, “Trying to do both jobs, I thought it would be easier than it was.” Kirby Smart and Jim McElwain were able to do it, but both had a level of discipline and maturity that I think Kiffin lacks.
2. Great leaders eliminate distractions for their team. Kiffin, not just this week, but previously as well, has been a distraction. He had a rant with the media before the playoff game and the media took to publicizing that he missed the bus again, literally.   How does the offensive coordinator miss the team bus, not once, but twice in one year’s time?  When it comes to a level of maturity that is needed to behave in a way that conforms to Nick Saban’s disciplined process, you can’t have your offensive coordinator being the bad example for your team and it being a focus that distracts players (and the media) from the important task at hand.   I want to say come on dude, set an example.
3. There comes a point where opposites don’t attract, they repel. Much has been said about the differences in Kiffin’s and Saban’s personalities.  In one regard, having the differences in personalities from a leadership and organizational perspective adds tremendous value.  Where one is weak, the other is strong.  But, heck, what weaknesses does Saban really have when it comes to winning championships?   I was surprised to be honest, when Saban gave Kiffin a chance and hired him in the first place.  But when you can’t get your act together and it shows up in the way your offense plays in a key game, good leaders make sure those who have personality issues that lead to on the field issues move on.
4. Yet to be seen, but great players can take direction and succeed under any great leader. Much of the commentary after Saban’s announcement dealt with how Jalen Hurts, the true freshman quarterback was going to handle a change in the voice in his head at the last hour before the most important game of his life.   I get where people are coming from on this.  Is change so late in the game good?  What is the greater distraction?  I think it came down to Saban thinking his true freshman was more mature, and therefore equipped to handle a change, than his offensive coordinator.

As I sit in a local coffee café writing this blog post and preparing for a new year to hit at work, a conversation strikes up without me even prompting it about the Kiffin news.

I silently grin to myself and listen, thinking again, this is going to be good.

“He screws around,” an older gentleman said of Kiffin.  (I wonder how literally he means this, because I think it is quite literally, true too.)

The lady making chicken salad behind the counter said, “His play calling was awful.  He isn’t cut out to be a head coach.”

As the conversation progresses, it turns from Kiffin to Saban.

“But you know they say he is hard to work for,” the chicken salad lady says.  “I wouldn’t care, I’d do it. I’d work for him,” she says.

It is yet to be seen if Kiffin will indeed make a good head coach.  And it is yet to be seen if Jalen Hurts can handle another guy being the voice in his head in the National Championship game.
But my money is on Jalen (and Saban).  Both have exhibited the discipline to not miss the bus.