Espn reports Lane Kiffin to coach the vols

[Possum]

Well excited to know, we have new coach, I will back him win or tie. emoBeer

 

[drumking]

Probably the best hire especially if he gets Orgeron and/or his dad to come with him to work with the defense. It will be interesting to see if he keeps any of the present staff. This should stop the bleeding as far as recruiting is concerned. Getting the current players to buy into the new staff is my only concern.

Coach Fullmer is a fine man as far as that goes, but I have been waiting since 1996 to see him replaced. I wish him well in whatever he decides to do. He will be making 4267 dollars per week for the next 4 years, so I guess that he can make it. Do you think that he will go to Clemson as HC?

 

[JDK]

hopefully Fulmer just retires.. I know coaching is in his blood but i dont want to see him anywhere else..He is pure Tennessee born and raised seeing him in other colors wont be right..
As far as Kiffin goes Im not so sure of him now if his dad comes look out.. but he is going to be our coach Im excited about a young exciting coach but who am i to say if it is a good hire only time will tell us if it was a good hire..His resume just does not excite me one bit..good recruiter yes but as far as X's and O's Im not confident he can compete with Meyer Richt Saban and the other big boys

 

[Possum]

At that level, just how much does the hc really play into the x and o's. I think it a matter of creating an identity and getting coaches in there that are going to fit that mold of what you are trying to achieve, and keeping them there. It really boils down to this, a head coach is only as good as his players and assistants.

 

[JDK]

Possum - 11/28/2008 8:00 PM

At that level, just how much does the hc really play into the x and o's. I think it a matter of creating an identity and getting coaches in there that are going to fit that mold of what you are trying to achieve, and keeping them there. It really boils down to this, a head coach is only as good as his players and assistants.

the head coach plays into a ton.. who you think makes the calls when it comes to going for it on 4th.. trying a trick play etc etc... The head coach always has finally say in the big spots.. but yes you are right assistants will be huge and they do make a lot of the calls.. but ultimately it falls on the HC shoulders..I hope he does well and I will back my team through thick and thin but i am just skeptical if this is the right move..we can all speculate but until it plays out on the field next year thats all it is .. speculation

 

[Guest]

You know I don't get into football much. I do somewhat keep up just so I'm not totally ignorant if I'm in a group of folks that like it and are talking about it. That said how could a losing coach that just got fired because he is a loser be a good choice for Tennessee. Someone please enlighten me.

 

[Bprice]

Cheez, very good question. a lot of very good college coaches have done semi-poor to poor in the NFL game. Spurrier, Pete Carroll, and Nick Saban are examples. THey are all national championship coaches in colleges, and unsuccessful or losers per say in the NFL. The game is just different as far as player control. Those men above excell in recruiting which is a talent that has no effect in the NFL. Lane Kiffin was the leading force in the USC recruiting torent that we saw from 2001-2006, in which the team one two national championships.

Also, Kiffin was delt a very weak deck in Oakland. The cupboard was bare, and only had a year and a half to right it. He made the Jamarcus Russell and Darren McFadden drafts, and I think that will pay dividends in the future, but he'll never get to coach them again. The NFL game is to competitive to have the lack of talent he had at Oakland.

That is just my opinion though... I am excited and optimistic about Coach Kiffin.

 

[Fishin' Junkie]

You are right, Brandon. No coach will ever stay long in Oakland as long as Al is there. And I think Kiffin was the O-coordinator for Pete Carrol at USC as well. I think its a great hire for Tennessee, but I'm just not sure that he wouldn't jump back to the NFL if he gets the opportunity.

 

[JDK]

Fishin' Junkie - 11/28/2008 9:47 PM

You are right, Brandon. No coach will ever stay long in Oakland as long as Al is there. And I think Kiffin was the O-coordinator for Pete Carrol at USC as well. I think its a great hire for Tennessee, but I'm just not sure that he wouldn't jump back to the NFL if he gets the opportunity.

the two years he was O-Coordinator they were not as good as they were before
he is an interesting read on Kiffin

This is from the Commercial Appeal by Ron Higgins

f Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton hires unemployed 33-year-old Lane Kiffin as the Vols' next football coach, he's basically sending the following message to Tennessee fans:

"I'm cheap and I'm easy."

Cheap because Kiffin, fired by the NFL's Raiders earlier this season as their head coach, has no buyout. Easy because Hamilton doesn't have to sweat during the Christmas holidays about making a hire to replace the departing Phillip Fulmer.

I've seen this head coach search before, circa Ole Miss in December 2004, when the Rebels were sweet-talked the week before Christmas into hiring the disaster known as Ed Orgeron.

We know how that horror movie turned out, don't we? Three seasons of players being verbally abused, a third of Coach Ohmygawd recruiting classes quitting or becoming ineligible, and the rest of the SEC wondering what the Ole Miss administration was smoking the day they hired Coach 0-for-the-SEC.

Of course, Hamilton is denying he's offered Kiffin the job, though sources close to the situation are leaking more information than grounded oil tankers gush bubbling crude.

There are a few reasons why Kiffin isn't the right hire, and they are more than enough for Hamilton to look elsewhere.

Kiffin has never accomplished anything as a head coach. All his rep comes from his time as Southern Cal's supposed offensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, but USC didn't win the national titles in those years as it did the previous two seasons.

Also, play-calling was shared with quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian, with USC head coach Pete Carroll having veto power.

So just how brilliant is the boy wonder Kiffin? Consider that the University of Washington, a Pac-10 school, has an opening, and they haven't even given Kiffin, someone who knows the league, a sniff.

You know the rest of the SEC is hoping Tennessee hires a 33-year-old, who just happens to be just a year older than former Vols quarterback Peyton Manning (Hey, can we get Peytie Pie to be the next coach?).

Sticking Kiffin in the SEC's all-star lineup of coaches that includes four coaches who have won national championships (Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Les Miles, Urban Meyer) and another with an unbeaten season (Auburn's Tommy Tuberville) would be like tossing a goldfish into a pool of piranhas.

Hamilton's hiring Kiffin would be an admission that Tennessee is a second-rate program, not on par with Alabama and Florida, the SEC's powers du jour.

When Alabama was shopping for a coach after firing Mike Shula (in some respects a Kiffin clone), Alabama athletic director Mal Moore knew his job was on the line if he didn't sign Saban. Moore, with an open checkbook, knew he couldn't come home to Tuscaloosa if Saban, then the Dolphins' coach, wasn't on the plane with him from Miami.

When Florida was seeking a coach after firing overmatched Ron Zook, Florida outbid mighty Notre Dame for Urban Meyer, coach of the unbeaten University of Utah.

So if I'm Hamilton, I'd make either Texas Tech's Mike Leach or North Carolina's Butch Davis write in blood that they wouldn't want to coach Tennessee before giving up on them.

They are the type of innovative and proven coaches Tennessee deserves, not a 33-year-old who supposedly wants to hire (are you ready?) old USC staff coaching pal Orgeron.

Thirty-three years old? Phillip Fulmer probably has jockey shorts that age.

 

[hl&s]

Add me to the skeptical list. Why replace a coach that has won 3 out of 4 games over 17 years and a NC with a coach that has won 1 out of 3 games as HC in 2 years and no championships. DUH ! No HC will keep a job long with that record, at Oakland or not. The responsibility of winning lies on the HC's shoulders and requires a lot more than recruiting knowledge.

I thought we would go for an experienced, proven winner. Looks more like we just wanted someone young, period.

Good Luck to Fulmer, a fine guy. Tn has released one of it's own.

Go Big Orange !

 

[beetlespin]

I think he is going to surprise some people. I believe he will do a good job. Say what you want about the outgoing organization but how can you excuse an orhanization at a top tier program that hasn't even recruited a quarterback? Crapton and Stephens are horrible. Coleman looks decent and the entire team plays better when he's in but the great pumpkin doesn't want to play him.

I would have taken fishinvol as coach over Fulmer!!!

BS

 

[drumking]

I remember that Hamilton got a ton of grief when he first hired Bruce Pearl as Head basketball coach. Remember he is the guy that nobody else would give a chance to coach. Now just how is that working out???

Mike Leach's #2 team losing to Oklahoma 65 to ?????. Just how much of a genius is he? He was on the Ky staff when Hal Mumme was HC and look at all the garbage that came of that. Probation, limited schollies, etc.

Butch Davis has stated emphatically that he is staying at NC. Anyone who would pursue a coach with an open pocketbook in these times of economic conditions is an idiot in my opinion.

Mark May made an idiotic statement on TV last night in saying that there were much better choices for Tennessee to hire than Lane Kiffin. Coaches that could come in and beat Meyer, Saban, Miles, and Spurrier, but I noticed that he didn't name any names. He is an idiot just stirring up the pot to make Tennessee look bad. The only thing that makes Tennessee look bad is waiting for so many years to make the change that they are making this year. I for one have been looking for this day for many years. Perhaps we will finally get to see a team play that knows how to block and tackle other than billy goat tackling that has been going on for 15 years.

I believe we will see a team in the future that knows that the tight end is an eligible receiver and will cover them on 3rd and long. I believe that we will see coaches that will whip those kids up there into shape and you won't see the same player creating a false start about 4 times per game like our current 5 star lineman from Georgia and not getting a lot of "pine" time for it.

If we get a disciplined coach to come in whether it is HC or position coaches who will demand excellence from these 5 star highschoolers who can lift a mountain and can't block a 250 lb defensive tackle, and they play really smart football. I would rather see them lose and play well than to look like they have for the past few years and squeak out wins over Vandy, Kentucky, Rutgers, and the like and still get blown out by the Floridas, Alabamas, LSU's of this league.

I am not of the win at any cost position, but I am of the position that if you don't play your best every game, then your butt belongs on the bench. That's the way Tennessee football was years and years ago and it is high time that the Vols returned to their roots.

Kiffin hasn't been signed yet. That may just be a formality, but the Vol nation should unite and back whoever the coach will be and shut up these idiots who know very little about football. I had rather hear a donkey brayed in a tin barn at midnight as to listen to some of these idiotic statements.

If the new coach comes in and doesn't bring discipline with him, then I will be the first to get on the wagon to rid the Vols of him. "That's all I have to say about that." emoBigsmile emoGeezer

 

[Fat Albert]

<font face="comic sans ms,sand" color="#ff0033" size="4">Well said, DK...........hopefully, he can get his dad to come too.....but not all of his family.... two is enough.....FAemoGeezer </font>

 

[Pointer 78]

Fulmer is forced out and we hire a nobody with all the money Tennessee has? Look for 7 wins at most for the next few years.

 

[drumking]

7 wins would have gotten a bowl game this year, but the Vols are staying home. HUMMMMM.

 

[Pointer 78]

7 wins at most. Expect 6-6 or 5-7 records for the most part.

 

[Kirk]

I think they could have hired a bigger name coach with the dollars available. However, Kiffin has the NFL ties that blue chip recruits like to see in a head coach. They also will know they will have a chance to play quick at Tennessee. I don't expect much better than .500 in year one and .750 in year two but do expect to see great strides in year three. The rule of thumb in big time college football is your starting team needs to be sophomore and junior heavy. If your playing a bunch of seniors your recruiting sucks.

Saban came to Alabama and had Shula's recruits to work with. We won't really see Saban's recruiting results till next year. Same thing happened with Les Miles at LSU when he took over Sabans recruits. Urban Meyer is just now showing his recruiting ability.

 

[Possum]

There were alot of people that would have taken the job if it were not for the fact that they would be following a coaching legend and every thing they acomplished would be compared to coach Fulmer. If Kiffin does not work out, hope they do, odds not in his favor. If they don't there will be alot more people willing to take the job, next time around. I think there are some plans in place if Kiffin does not pan out, to include some of the folks they might have wanted to pursue, if not for the fact they are under long term contract.

 

[drumking]

If Kiffin doesn't work out, then the next replacement will be the AD along with the HC. JMHO.

 

[fish4thepeck]

ESPN just announced Monte Kiffin the father of Lane Kiffin will join his son at Tennessee. Monte Kiffin is considered one of the best if not the best Defensive minds in the country.