Things like this, in one form or another, happen all the time. People overstay their welcomes. A fun party can drag. A delicious dish will spoil. Sports fans often obsess about a coach’s ability to build good things that they often overlook the most important quality of it all: Knowing when to end something, the moment it begins to turn bad.

It’s a trait that all the greatest sports minds have. Tiger Woods, for all his faults, knew exactly when to change his swing and propel his career to new heights. Manchester United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson wold often sell his best players the moment he saw them slip. And now, we find ourselves talking about Nick Saban who, a week before the National Championship game, pushed a departing Lane Kiffin out of the door.

It’s an odd move at first, a harsh one at least, but it’s a move Alabama fans should believe in.

Kiffin’s play calling throughout the season was hardly uneventful — “Run the damn ball, Lane.” came about for a reason — and he was on his way to FAU anyway. Since confirming his departure tensions within the Alabama camp were growing, becoming increasingly more public in the process, and with his play calling in Alabama’s 24-7 win over Washington a major point of contention among fans, the situation had the potential of becoming poisonous.

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And so, in stepped Saban. A less-assured head coach would’ve let things slide. One more game, they would’ve told themselves, it’ll be fine. They would’ve told themselves this risks were simply too big. That making a change would be too difficult to explain if it didn’t work.

But Saban doesn’t dance on those floors. He doesn’t just do things like this without thinking. Pushing Lane out the door is a bold move, but it’s one he knows is ultimately in his team’s best interests. Trusting in the process requires both ruthlessness and determination. Rather than risk losing a title game at the hands of in-fighting, Saban just shows he doesn’t just preach that to his players. He lives it.

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