ATLANTA -- Steve Sarkisian isn't coaching yet.

At least not in the hands-on sense.

For now, the soon-to-be offensive coordinator is stuck in his role as analyst for Alabama. As the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide prepare to face No. 4 Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinal game at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, he continues to work side-by-side with Lane Kiffin, not necessarily instructing players during practice but certainly leaving his fingerprints all over the playbook for Saturday's game.

Whether it's on Sunday or a couple of weeks from now when the national championship game has ended, the handoff from one former Southern California coach to another will take place. Kiffin will leave to become the next head coach at Florida Atlantic, and Sarkisian will move his things into the vacated office in the Mal Moore Athletic Building on the Tuscaloosa campus.

And if you ask Kiffin, the shift in leadership should be as smooth as possible.

"I think it's going to be a really easy transition," he said.

Steve Sarkisian will be a better personality fit with Nick Saban than outgoing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, according to the latter. Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports

In fact, Kiffin said this was something he considered before the season even began. When Alabama was in talks with Sarkisian about adding him to the support staff, he imagined that "I may not be here the next year, you know."

Getting Sarkisian in early to spend most of the season inside the program has been valuable, Kiffin said.

"He'll do a great job with coach [Nick Saban]. Coach talked to me about it, and I think in some ways he'll do a much better job than I do with Coach."

That little aside at the end was meant to be overlooked, of course. Kiffin, who likes to have fun with the media and seemingly can't help speaking his mind, let that nugget go until a reporter followed up with him about it in the next room.

"I said that quick and then went on to the next one," Kiffin joked. "I knew you guys were onto that one.

"The best way I would describe that without details, would be I think his personality will work a little bit better than mine with Coach Saban. I'm not saying it's bad with him it all. I would say Sark manages people better than I do."

Saban's management of Kiffin has been a hot topic since the moment Kiffin became Alabama's offensive coordinator three years ago. Earlier this season, Saban lit into Kiffin on the sideline. When he was asked about it afterward he said, "There are no arguments. Those are ass-chewings."

On Wednesday, Kiffin was asked to think of a pleasant moment with Saban and drew a blank.

"I don't recall a happy moment," Kiffin quipped. "I just recall the ass-chewings."

He added: "I won't take that part of the process with me, though."

Whether Sarkisian will be the subject of such public scrutiny remains to be seen. He's known as a more organized coach than Kiffin, and that could help him with the detail-oriented Saban.

What is clear is that no wholesale changes are expected. Personnel-wise, the core of the offense returns with underclassmen like receiver Calvin Ridley, running back Damien Harris, right tackle Jonah Williams and quarterback Jalen Hurts all back. Scheme-wise, the spread/hurry-up offense is expected to remain intact.

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In fact, before either coach joined Alabama, it was Sarkisian, not Kiffin, who was more known for spreading the field and playing with tempo.

Sarkisian, who had a tumultuous ending at USC that included a divorce and a stay in rehab to treat alcoholism, comes with baggage. But Saban has expressed faith in him at every turn.

"He's had a rough road here," Kiffin said. "To go from potentially being out for the whole year to right at the beginning of the year, after the USC game -- Coach hires him off the field. I'm sure if he were to write a script, that's how he would have wrote it. 'I'm an offensive coordinator again versus having to go be a position coach again in less than one year and it's at the best place in the country with the best head coach.' I was really happy for him.

"I think he'll do the same thing. I think he'll play to the strength of his players. He always has. He's going to have some good players to have to replace and he has some good young players, especially obviously the quarterback, that he can develop and make better."