Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Hannan / Sports Lane Kiffin Overcomes Rocky Start, Pun Intended
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin was only on the job two and a half months before enraged columnists started calling for his ouster. After falsely accusing Florida's Urban Meyer of recruiting violations, then getting slapped with two himself, then reportedly lying to Sports Illustrated about axing a few secretaries, Kiffin quickly earned himself the tag of the SEC's Enemy Number One.
But that was last month. This month Kiffin scored a Top 10 recruiting class including Bryce Brown, a running back out of Kansas ranked eighth in the nation. And last Friday, Kiffin got what may have been the greatest gift of all: a public shaming from his old boss Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders.
In a five-page letter sent to Tennessee administrators, Davis's lawyers claimed Kiffin undermined their team by, among other things, making fun of them too much when he accepted the job in Knoxville. This would be an appropriate time to point out that Davis's skin appears to be too thin. But because the guy is older than Methuselah, and probably not long for this Earth, that comment, taken literally, is uncomfortably close to the truth.
A public tell-off may not seem like a good thing. But coming from the Raiders, it's like an anti-jinx.
Along with Kiffin, Davis famously ran off two other young coaches, Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan, who went on to win three Super Bowls between them. In other words, you should only start to worry if he's vouching for you. It'd be like Jim Cramer labeling your company a "buy"; everyone knows you're doomed, it's only a matter of when.
Comments (6)
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I can't believe someone actually thinks this is a win for UT. Sure he's managed to talk some highly rated recruits this year. That's because this year he's promising that he can better prepare you for the NFL than the next guy. His entire mentality is self centered. He's only going to be at UT for 3 years most. He will either be fired, quit, or head for the NFL again. Mark my words, the NCAA will begin an investigation about recruiting and UT will be GUILTY. Also if he loses an arbitration against an NFL team I would think that would pretty much end any NFL aspirations he may have, and detrimentally affect his players NFL chances. Lane Kiffin does what's best for Lane Kiffin. Everyone keeps comparing him to Spurrier, which I don't get. Spurrier never ran his mouth at Duke (this is Lanes first college head coaching gig) By the time Steve got to UF he had proven himself enough, and was familiar enough with the SEC to speak his mind. Kiffin is just arogant, with NOTHING to back it up. NOTHING. Out of Mullen, Chizik, and Kiffin, Kiffin is gone first, Mullen has the best record over the first 3 years. UT is going to get hammered this year by EVERYONE. Bryce changed his mind at the very last minute, and basically had an agent....NCAA...some phone calls please....
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Jeff, your comment about Brown is valid. The dude comes with baggage, including his handler/quasi-agent who's positioned himself as a middle-man (read: thief) between talented teens and college programs. But if UT were to shun every kid with an ego or shady associations there'd hardly be anyone left to recruit.
I think the main point is that there was a bit of an overreaction right after Kiffin's hiring (brought upon, mainly, by his own actions) that now appears to have been replaced with some positive news. And yeah, I'm still counting an angry letter from Al Davis as positive. That man is insane.
Jeff I disagree w/ your assessment. Let me guess UGA or BAMA fan. Do you think LSU should also be investigated as well? Bryce Brown took an official to LSU after his official visit to UTK. You do realize his position coach @ UT has coached 9 NFL backs. Would you not want to be mentored/coached by someone w/ a resume as impressive as his? There is no cheating involved. UT recruited brown through his parents, NOT his "handler" unlike every other school. They purposely bypassed the trainer, rightfully so. It's called hiring the best recruiting staff in the country. If you don't like the fact the SEC just signed the #1 overall player & 6 out of the top 10 recuruits in the country, then watch someone else play on Saturdays. Either your a UT hater or just plain do not like BB.
I feel sorry for anyone that believes MSU will have more wins than UTK in the next 3 years. They beat MSU during their worst year in a very long time. The staff Tenn put together is far more superior to the staff @ AU & MSU, easily. Monte Kiffin is their freaking DC. I guarantee their D will be more than solid, if not excellent.
Thats the difference, SS came from Duke, in which who runs their mouth @ Duke?? Nobody! LK came from the NFL & USC Trojans @ 33 yrs old. Of course he's cocky, so what. If it puts his team in the media good or bad, so be it. That's what he wants. With the talent UTK is about to bring in the next 4 to 5 years; I guarantee you LK lasts longer than 3 years as you say. Typical talk from rival UT haters. At least he'll give you something to complain about for the next 3 years.
I don't know a whole lot about Lane Kiffin except he went 5-15 in the NFL. Ron Zook was also an impressive recruiter. Urban Meyer won his first national championship with Ron Zook's players. I see some parallel's here.
Regarding Monte Kiffin, how do you defend the spread? I don't think you can play cover 2 with against the spread.
Lane Kiffin is going to install an NFL styled offense for UT. Bad move. All of the high schools using a spread based attack these days, and NFL teams are using a spread based attack.
All I can say is we'll see how good UT is on 9/18 because we have a guy who can really coach, recruit, and motivate.
Gatorquest, Florida won it's first SEC Championship in 1991 and you make them sound like they invented football. I think everyone is just nervous about our killer coaching staff and our great recruiting class because we haven't had any of those things in a long time. Can't wait to teach Bama and Florida the meaning of Tessnessee Football.
I am a UT fan, but I disagree with defending Coach Kiffin's actions by saying "any press is good press." By contrast, both FL and LSU have excellent recruiting classes, and recent championships, yet their coaches aren't mouthing off in the press.
IMO, Coach Kiffin and his staff should prepare the team mentally and physically for battle and make their "statements" on the field with strong wins.
I am curious to see how well he can maintain discipline in the offseason, which is a leading indicator of what this year's product will look like.
