After arriving in Tuscaloosa, Kiffin said he got further insight into the process on signing day, as they awaited the announcement of Auburn High linebacker Rashaan Evans.
"We're all sitting there watching ESPN like everybody else, seeing where is this guy going to go?" he recalled.
"The hats are out. Is it going to be Auburn or Alabama? We're on the Internet and 88 percent of the people and the experts are saying the guy's going to go to Auburn. I'm sitting there like the rookie, new coach and I'm going, 'Wow, we're really going to lose this guy.' Well, obviously we're going to lose him. He's in Auburn, Alabama. So I go down the hall and say, 'Kirby, what do you think?' Kirby Smart's recruiting him. Kirby's like, 'I don't feel very good about it.'
"So I don't really pay attention and all the sudden the announcement comes and the whole building, everybody's screaming and yelling, the guy's coming to Alabama. I walked down the hall and coach Saban hasn't moved out of his office. And I said, 'Kirby, how come you didn't tell me?' And he said: 'Well, I didn't know. Coach Saban had the papers since 7 o'clock this morning in his office so he wasn't even watching the TV.'
"So I now know how it works. Coach Saban knows way before anybody else knows what's going on."
"We're all sitting there watching ESPN like everybody else, seeing where is this guy going to go?" he recalled.
"The hats are out. Is it going to be Auburn or Alabama? We're on the Internet and 88 percent of the people and the experts are saying the guy's going to go to Auburn. I'm sitting there like the rookie, new coach and I'm going, 'Wow, we're really going to lose this guy.' Well, obviously we're going to lose him. He's in Auburn, Alabama. So I go down the hall and say, 'Kirby, what do you think?' Kirby Smart's recruiting him. Kirby's like, 'I don't feel very good about it.'
"So I don't really pay attention and all the sudden the announcement comes and the whole building, everybody's screaming and yelling, the guy's coming to Alabama. I walked down the hall and coach Saban hasn't moved out of his office. And I said, 'Kirby, how come you didn't tell me?' And he said: 'Well, I didn't know. Coach Saban had the papers since 7 o'clock this morning in his office so he wasn't even watching the TV.'
"So I now know how it works. Coach Saban knows way before anybody else knows what's going on."
