Steve Sarkisian to Replace Lane Kiffin as Alabama OC for CFP Championship

The Alabama Crimson Tide announced Monday (via Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples) that Steve Sarkisian will assume offensive coordinator duties for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers on Jan. 9.

Sarkisian replaces Lane Kiffin, who accepted the head coaching job with the Florida Atlantic Owls. 

Head coach Nick Saban said Kiffin's departure was a mutual decision, per Yahoo Sports' Sam Cooper:

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This wasn't an easy decision and we appreciate the way Lane handled this in terms of doing what is best for our team. At the end of the day, both of us wanted to put our players in the best position to be successful. Obviously, we are in a unique situation here where we have our next offensive coordinator already on staff. We have full confidence that Sark will step in right away and make this a smooth transition.

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"Lane did the best he could under a difficult circumstance," Saban said, according to Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. "We had a meeting yesterday and decided it was best that he move on. It's not going to change what we do or change our philosophy. We'll just have a different guy to dial up the plays."

On Tuesday, Kiffin stated on ESPN's Mike & Mike that Alabama is checking to see if he can be on the sidelines or in the press box, according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy. "We had a great relationship. It kept getting better and better," Kiffin said about his relationship with Saban, per McMurphy.

The timing of Alabama's decision is surprising after Kiffin served as offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide's 24-7 victory over the Washington Huskies.

Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee thinks Alabama is putting a lot of pressure on Sarkisian:

The Solid Verbal argued that Sarkisian's reputation precedes him as well:

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Google “Sark” “playcalling" pic.twitter.com/0Y1hqzKMTQ

— The Solid Verbal (@SolidVerbal) January 2, 2017"

This would appear to be a direct reaction to Alabama's semifinal win. The Crimson Tide gained 326 yards, more than half of which came from Bo Scarbrough, who ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Considering Scarbrough averaged 9.5 yards per carry, many questioned why he wasn't more of a focal point on offense. Kiffin even caught criticism from Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry:

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde and McMurphy indicated bigger issues were at play in addition to Kiffin's play-calling:

Giving Sarkisian one week to prepare for Clemson as offensive coordinator seems to be an unnecessary risk for Alabama, no matter what is going on behind the scenes.

Moving the ball against Clemson will be hard enough as is. The Tigers shut out the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl and allowed 215 total yards. Now, Alabama will be putting a new offensive coordinator in the booth.

Sarkisian has been with the team all year, serving as an offensive analyst, but that role differs greatly from being the primary offensive play-caller.

However, some might argue that Sarkisian just needs to keep it simple by giving the ball to Scarbrough and letting the Crimson Tide defense do its job on the other side of the ball.

Should Alabama go on to win its second straight national title, Kiffin's ouster will only be a footnote in the 2016 season. If the Crimson Tide lose, though, Saban's decision to remove Kiffin will be a dominant storyline from the title game.