Lane Kiffin's less-than-hospitable split from Tennessee after the 2009 season has been well-documented, and he said Thursday that Alabama security officials wanted to take extra precautions upon his return as Crimson Tide offensive coordinator in 2014.

Kiffin was in his first year with Alabama after four years as head coach at USC, the job he left Tennessee for after just one season. Emotions were still raw in Knoxville at the time, and Kiffin -- now head coach at Florida Atlantic -- told ESPN's Marty Smith on the "Marty Smith's America" podcast posted on Thursday that Alabama officials wanted him to wear a bulletproof vest.

"It's crazy, they were literally talking, like from the bus (ride) in, a bulletproof vest," Kiffin said. "I'm like 'come on guys. This is football.' They had security with me the whole time, walking on the field and stuff like that. But I was like 'I'm not wearing a vest guys. That's a little too over-the-top.'"

Alabama won 34-20 that day in Knoxville, part of an ongoing 11-game winning streak against the Volunteers. But while there were hard feelings between him and Tennessee fans then, things have gotten better in recent years, he said.

"That speaks of Tennessee fans, and how passionate they are," Kiffin said. "They're probably some of the most passionate fans in the country.

"When I got to Alabama and went back to Neyland Stadium to play them, it wasn't 100,000 people chanting 'I love you,' that's for sure. But they're awesome now."

Kiffin was also asked about the ongoing Alabama quarterback competition between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, saying that the Crimson Tide is "in a great position." He said he recently saw Tagovailoa -- who missed much of spring practice with a broken hand -- at a camp in California, and that the sophomore "looks great, throwing the ball great."

Asked how good Tagovailoa's throwing ability is, Kiffin said he is in the "top 1 percent" of any college quarterback he's seen. He illustrated the point with the following story.

"After the camp there was this quarterback competition thing, and all the top college quarterbacks came through there," Kiffin said. "He just picked up the ball, (the target is) about 40 yards away, he's got to throw kind of horizontally like he did in the championship game. A normal guy might get one 1 of 5. He picks it up and gets 2 out of 2. That's just how he is."

Kiffin also discussed Nick Saban's leadership style, working for Al Davis and his time at USC. You can listen to the full interview HERE (the portion regarding his time at Alabama begins at about the 17-minute mark).