re: Why do people assume that Kiffin without Saban's control will be a great OC?

From several years of watching them in the PAC - a sober Sark is a marginally better playcaller than Kiffin. Kiffin is probably a better offensive mind, but he calls plays like it's a Playstation game and does bizarre stuff at random. Sark's not that creative but he sets stuff up and rarely goes away from something that's working. I've seen Kiffin do exactly that several times for no apparent reason.