Former Alabama defensive back Marlon Humphrey wishes that his alma mater would have hired someone different to replace Nick Saban. He expressed his support for a name other than Kalen DeBoer by repping a rival school after practice ahead of the AFC Championship on Sunday.
The 27-year-old wore an Ole Miss sweatshirt. Humphrey wanted the Crimson Tide to tap Lane Kiffin.
If you know anything about the dynamics of the Southeastern Conference, it is bizarre to see an Alabama alumnus wearing the logo of a fellow SEC West program. The Crimson Tide and the Rebels do not get along. In recent years, the latter has circled the former as its biggest game of the season (outside of the Egg Bowl).
However, Humphrey played in Tuscaloosa from 2014 to 2016. Lane Kiffin served as the offensive coordinator under Saban during the same time period.
Even though Baltimore’s 2017 first round pick will always ride with Alabama, he has a soft spot for his former coach. Apparently, it’s real enough love to wear the logo of the team that beat him both on the road as a freshman and at home as a sophomore.
Lane is my guy, but I still bleed crimson. I still bleed crimson.
— Marlon Humphrey
Humphrey’s outfit came with an additional underlying message. Not only did he want to express his support for Kiffin, he wishes that the current head coach at Ole Miss would replace his former boss — the greatest college football coach of all-time — at Alabama.
This is for my guy Lane Kiffin. I wanted him to be the Bama coach. I told him he should come to Bama. But then like an hour later, they already hired the new coach.
— Marlon Humphrey
That is quite the statement! Not only did Humphrey wear an Ole Miss pullover because he wanted Kiffin to succeed Saban, he either couldn’t remember DeBoer’s name or chose not to address him by name.
There is obviously some bias with Marlon Humphrey’s opinion of Kiffin. He has never played for DeBoer.
Still. That says pretty much everything that needs to be said about his opinion of the hire, no?