Lane Kiffin may have been shown the door from the Alabama football program after accepting the job of head coach at FAU, but that has not stopped Kiffin from attaching himself to the Jalen Hurts bandwagon.
After Hurts and Alabama improved to 4-0 in dominating fashion with another blowout over a SEC opponent, Kiffin went online to share his support for Hurts as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
I cast my Heisman ballot for Jalen Hurts! Click the player you think deserves the @NissanUSA #HeismanHouse vote! https://t.co/EB1m7Dl1CC
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) October 2, 2017
Jalen 4 sure. #0turnovers https://t.co/ImHzR0MQbX
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) October 2, 2017
This is hardly surprising, as Kiffin stands to benefit from any success Hurts has even at a different school. Kiffin was a key recruiter in Alabama’s pursuit of signing Hurts out of Texas (Bo Davis was reportedly influential in the recruiting process as well). If Hurts thrives, Kiffin is able to ell the idea he landed a top-tier player when he is on the recruiting trail looking for his next recruit. Of course, to be fair, Alabama was already a powerhouse before Kiffin’s arrival in Tuscaloosa under Nick Saban and they remain a dominant force without him so far. But for a coach looking to make some noise at FAU, you look for every edge you can get, and playing a role in luring Hurts to Alabama is an easy sales pitch to make.
Hurts is the SEC’s third-leading rusher with 461 yards and four touchdowns. He is also the only quarterback in the SEC without an interception thrown this season. Although his passing numbers have not been overly impressive at a glance, it should be recognized Alabama has not needed much out of the passing game. Alabama’s rushing offense is the top running game in the nation that doesn’t run an option-based offense (Navy, Georgia Tech, and Army lead the nation in rushing offense) with an average of 315.6 rushing yards per game.
Meanwhile, FAU is off to a 2-3 start and 1-0 in Conference USA with the conference’s second highest-scoring offense.