Lane Kiffin said Tuesday that he would have returned to Alabama next season if he hadnt agreed to become the new football coach at Florida Atlantic, which offered a unique opportunity.At his introductory news conference Tuesday in Boca Raton, Florida, Kiffin said FAU will make great things happen and that he has learned from his previous head-coaching failures.He also thanked Alabama coach Nick Saban for giving him a chance when no one else would.Im very grateful to Coach Saban, Kiffin told reporters. My phone was not ringing very much at the time after USC, and that was a very humbling experience after being let go there and to go through that process. You start calling a lot of people that dont call you back all of a sudden, and you realize things about people.He also said, contrary to reports that suggest otherwise, he has a great relationship with Saban.As he says, I get my ass-chewings from time to time. Ive learned to accept those. Its been a great run, Kiffin said.Kiffin said he would continue in his role as Alabamas offensive coordinator for the Peach Bowl, where the Crimson Tide will face Washington in a College Football Playoff semifinal.It was very important to go finish what we started there and in credit to those players that are there and how hard they have worked throughout the process to get to this point to be in the final four, Kiffin told reporters. Its time to go finish that.As for building a staff at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin said its definitely a possibility he will try to lure some of Alabamas staff to join him. He also said he would reach out to local high school coaches to help fill his staff.Kiffin received a five-year, $4.75 million deal, sources told ESPN. The buyout on his contract is $2.5 million the first year and reduces $500,000 each year after that.The move to FAU represents a pay cut for Kiffin, who was making $1.4 million per year as Alabamas offensive coordinator.Kiffin, 41, has been fired at two of his previous head-coaching stints.I was so young as a head coach, I was just figuring things out one day at a time instead of having a plan, Kiffin told reporters. Coach [Pete] Carroll said hes been fired twice, and then he figured it out ... and he stopped trying to be someone else.At Alabama, Kiffin was part of a program that was ranked no lower than No. 3 in any of the past 21 installments of the AP Top 25. At FAU, he inherits a program that has won 15 games during the past four years and has never received a single vote in the AP poll.The school in the world that is trending most on Twitter in the last 24 hours is FAU, school president John Kelly said.The Owls went 3-9 in each of the past three seasons and havent been to a bowl since 2008.Kiffin will be the fifth coach in FAU history, after Howard Schnellenberger, Carl Pelini, Brian Wright and Charlie Partridge. His first home game as the coordinator at Alabama was against FAU in 2014.Kiffin went 5-15 with the NFLs Oakland Raiders in 2007 and 2008. He was the head coach at Tennessee in 2009, going 7-6 before bolting for Southern California, where he went 28-15 in parts of four seasons.Kiffin met with the FAU players Monday night, about two weeks after athletic director Patrick Chun met with them to tell them why he fired Partridge and to promise that he would deliver the best coach to lead FAU forward.Last night I was able to present to our team the best coach possible, Chun said Tuesday.ESPNs Brett McMurphy and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Wholesale Jerseys Shop . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Jerseys NFL Store . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. http://www.authenticcheapjerseyswholesale.com/ . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Cheap NFL Store . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. PITTSBURGH -- Down to his final strike and his team trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth, St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter told himself to just find a pitch he could handle.When the fastball from closer Tony Watson ended up right down the middle and not up and away as Watson hoped, Carpenter pounced. His solo homer -- a major league record 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season -- tied it and sent a jolt through the Cardinals. A home run each from Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed, and St. Louis rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.Weve got a team that I think the best way to describe it is a dangerous team, Carpenter said. Weve got a team that I dont think anybody wants to match up with, especially in a postseason scenario. Its a fun team to play on. We never quit, and tonight was a good example of it.St. Louis blew an early five-run lead and the Pirates were a pitch away from ending a seven-game losing streak when Watsons 0-2 fastball turned into Carpenters 18th home run. An All-Star two years ago as a setup man who moved into the closer role when Mark Melancon was traded to Washington at the deadline, Watson gave up as many homers in the ninth as he did during the entire 2015 season.Were not playing good ball and to go out there and (have) guys fight back and be a strike away and serve up four more runs, its tough to swallow, Watson (2-4) said after his third blown save since replacing Melancon.Yadier Molina went 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam for St. Louis. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.The Cardinals finished with five home runs in all, including Matt Adams 436-foot drive over the seats in right field that plopped into the Allegheny River on the bounce. The comeback allowed St. Louis to remain a game in front of the New York Mets for the second wild card in the National League.Im speechless, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. Just, I love how this team competes, right down to the last out. Having a guy like (Carpenter), who hadnt felt quite right, to be able to come into that situation, and then rigght after that .dddddddddddd.. Im at a loss.Jung Ho Kang had two homers for Pittsburgh and Jordy Mercer hit a two-run double in the fifth as the Pirates took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Cardinals to overcome an early five-run deficit. Watsons implosion, however, sent Pittsburgh to its eighth straight defeat.The Pirates came in reeling during their longest skid in two years, one that dropped them to the fringe of playoff contention. Opponents have outscored them 47-22 during the slide, including a 12-6 setback on Monday night in which the Cardinals simply overpowered Pittsburghs struggling pitching staff.It looked like more of the same early on Tuesday. The Cardinals loaded the bases against Ryan Vogelsong and Molina cleared them with his first grand slam since 2012, the 25th straight game the Cardinals have homered, a club record.MARTINEZ FINALLY ARRIVESSt. Louis rookie outfielder Jose Martinez made his long-awaited major league debut when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The 28-year-old son of former major leaguer Carlos Cafe Martinez grounded out to third in his first plate appearance after more than a decade in the minors.It was good to see him get that chance, Matheny said. This is a good day for him. Long time coming.TRAINING ROOMCardinals: RF Stephen Piscotty was initially held out of the lineup to give his aching left wrist a breather. Piscotty took a pitch off the wrist on Monday. Postgame X-rays were negative and Piscotty doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Pirates: Pittsburgh held C Francisco Cervelli out of the lineup a day after he experienced discomfort in his left hand trying to block a pitch.UP NEXTCardinals: Mike Leake returns to the rotation after a stay on the disabled list while battling a case of the shingles. Leake is 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh but is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA this season.Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon will face the Cardinals for the first time in the series finale. The 24-year-old has a 2.80 ERA over his last 10 starts and pitched six innings of one-run ball last week against Milwaukee. 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