It's a shocking move that is reverberating well beyond Tuscaloosa.

Lane Kiffin is out and Steve Sarkisian is in as Alabama's new offensive coordinator just seven days before the Crimson Tide is scheduled to play Clemson for the national championship.

Kiffin's exit comes less than 48 hours after he said he planned to remain with the team through the end of the season.

In the aftermath of the Crimson Tide's 24-7 victory over Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinal round on Saturday, Kiffin was asked specifically about his plans for the upcoming week, and whether he was going to devote any time to preparing for his new job as head coach at Florida Atlantic.

He paused a couple of times.

"Umm, umm," he said, "I will be back in Alabama."

"We do stay here tonight," he continued. "We leave in the morning. So, I will be with the team. It's a dead period and we got work. It's not like we got a month. We basically have a little bit longer of a week, so it will all be dedicated to Alabama. If there is some time tonight to make some recruiting calls or interviews, we'll work around that. But the No. 1 focus will be finishing what we started."

By Monday, something had changed.

"After going through these last couple of weeks, trying to serve the best interests of two universities as an offensive coordinator and a head coach, it became apparent that both programs would be better served by me giving all my time and efforts to being the head coach at FAU," said Kiffin.

"After meeting with Coach Saban during preparations last night and this morning, we mutually decided that it was in everyone's best interests for the players and the program for Coach Sarkisian to take over all responsibilities as offensive coordinator for the championship game.

"This was a very difficult decision, but it's a decision made in the best interests of the program. I look forward to helping Alabama win another championship, and would like to thank Coach Saban, the staff, and all the players and fans for the past three years at UA for an unforgettable time and championship run."