Nick Saban: 'Kevin Steele is the Defensive Coordinator'

Saban fired back about Lane Kiffin's comments regarding Alabama's defensive play-calling.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin made statements regarding Alabama's defensive play-calling during an unusual Sunday media availability.

Kiffin, who's been around the SEC for a long time, felt that Kevin Steele was no longer in charge of the Crimson Tide's defense, but it was secondary coach Travaris Robinson instead.

"We’ve been against Kevin a number of times," Kiffin said on Sunday. "Worked with him at Alabama and against him at Auburn and LSU. There seems like there’s been a change there," Kiffin said during Sunday's media availability. "I don’t know what happened after the Texas game, but our guys watching the TV copy and schematically in this last game, certainly seems like T-Rob’s now calling the defense. We played him before at South Carolina, so we’re preparing accordingly for him calling the defense. He’s done a good job, too, and they’ve got really good players."

Saban made a statement regarding Kiffin's claims during his media availability on Monday afternoon.

"On this other thing I’ve seen floating around out there — Kevin Steele is the defensive coordinator," Saban said. "He has all the defensive coordinator responsibilities. The only thing we tried to improve on from an administrative standpoint was game day administration of getting the signals in quicker. That’s the only thing we worked on together as a staff. The whole staff made a contribution to it, and I think it was a lot better in this game than in the Texas game."

Alabama and Ole Miss go head-to-head on Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.

This story may be updated.

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