Lane Kiffin leaves Tennessee for USC

[usckk]

Wow.

[IronMexican]

Already a thread on it.

[CubanSucks]

GOODNESS GRACIOUS. I'm not sure I would like this hire if I was a usc fan.

[usckk]

There's a huge riot going on right now on UT's campus. LOL!

[CubanSucks]

There's a huge riot going on right now on UT's campus. LOL!

u there?

[IceColdBrewski]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zKkcfq3gec

zKkcfq3gec

[IceColdBrewski]

http://i47.tinypic.com/148ksw1.gif

[mookie2001]

i love this hire, kiffin has all that winning experience PLUS a last name AND youth


dynasty maker

[CubanSucks]

Damn I hate that no lips bird looking motherfucker

[symple19]

Schlabach slams Kiffin


Kiffin's decision a blessing for Vols
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By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
Archive

A former assistant at USC, Lane Kiffin understands the Pac-10 landscape.
The first day of 2010 ended with four members of Tennessee's nationally ranked basketball team sitting in a Knoxville jail, facing drug and weapons charges.

What a way to turn the calendar.

Finally, there was good news on Rocky Top on Tuesday night: Lane Kiffin is gone.

After only one season as Tennessee's coach, Kiffin is no longer the Volunteers' problem. The 34-year-old wonder boy is going back to Southern California, where he'll replace Trojans coach Pete Carroll, his former boss. Kiffin's 12-21 record in two-plus seasons as coach of the Volunteers and NFL's Oakland Raiders was enough to convince USC athletics director Mike Garrett that he should be handed the keys to one of college football's premier programs.

While losing Kiffin to USC might sting the Volunteers for a few days, they'll be much better off in the long run. Now they can hire a coach who can actually beat teams like Alabama and Florida, instead of only boasting about the possibility of defeating them.

In 14 months in Knoxville, it was hard to take Kiffin seriously. He argued with rival SEC coaches like a preschooler on the playground and spent more time drawing attention to himself than he did studying the NCAA rule book.

As soon as Kiffin's two-minute press conference ended in Knoxville on Tuesday night, Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton's first telephone call should have been to Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Muschamp was named Longhorns coach Mack Brown's eventual successor last year. But Brown recently was awarded a new contract that will pay him $5 million per season, and he doesn't seem ready to walk away from the sideline anytime soon.

Muschamp played at Georgia and worked as defensive coordinator at LSU and Auburn. He knows the SEC. He'd get more pleasure out of the challenge of beating teams like Alabama and Florida than he would from trouncing Notre Dame and UCLA every year. Oh, and his agent is Jimmy Sexton, who somehow got Kiffin the USC job.



Texas' Will Muschamp is likely on Tennessee's wish list.
If Tennessee can't pry Muschamp away from Texas, TCU's Gary Patterson and Connecticut's Randy Edsall should be high on the Volunteers' list, too. Ole Miss' Houston Nutt would be another good choice. At least he could win with star recruiter Ed Orgeron's players again. Regardless, they're all better coaches than Kiffin, who is more about style and flair than substance.

From the day Kiffin arrived on the Tennessee campus as Phillip Fulmer's replacement, he seemed determined to turn the SEC upside down. In his introductory news conference, Kiffin told fans he couldn't wait to sing "Rocky Top" after beating defending national champion Florida in the Swamp. He accused Gators coach Urban Meyer of cheating to sign a recruit, but later apologized to Meyer because he didn't understand NCAA rules.

Kiffin is so confident he probably believes Meyer's self-induced leave of absence ended when he boarded a plane and left for Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

In fairness, Kiffin's only season at Tennessee wasn't a complete disaster. The Volunteers finished 7-6 and were surprisingly competitive in narrow road losses to Florida and eventual BCS national champion Alabama. At least Kiffin kept one promise to Tennessee fans. He vowed the Volunteers would never lose to rival Georgia during his watch. The Vols blasted the Bulldogs 45-19 in Kiffin's only game against them.

The Volunteers did better than expected under Kiffin because their defense was so well prepared. Kiffin's father, Monte, directed the Tennessee defense after a stellar career in the NFL. But Monte Kiffin, who will join his son at USC, turns 70 next month and isn't going to coach forever. At some point, Lane Kiffin won't be able to ride his father's coattails anymore.

During Kiffin's only season at Tennessee, it was hard to determine what he would accomplish first: leading the Volunteers to an SEC championship or putting them on NCAA probation.

In only 14 months, Kiffin committed more lane violations than the aforementioned Tennessee basketball players. In his short time in Knoxville, the Volunteers skirted the NCAA rule book at least a half-dozen times. Kiffin improperly mentioned recruits by name on radio shows and then talked about them committing to the Volunteers on his Twitter page. His coaching staff simulated game-day experiences during recruits' visits to campus, another NCAA no-no.


In November, three Tennessee players, including freshman receiver Nu'Keese Richardson (the prospect at the center of Kiffin's cheating allegations against Meyer), were arrested for allegedly trying to rob two men with an air-powered pellet gun outside a Knoxville convenience store.

But the most damaging charges came near the end of Kiffin's only season with the Volunteers. A New York Times investigation revealed that female recruiting hostesses had crossed state lines to entice recruits to come to Tennessee. Kiffin claimed to have no knowledge of the women visiting prospects in South Carolina, but the school opened an investigation into the allegations.

If Kiffin could recruit like that at Tennessee, imagine what he'll do with USC's sun-baked coeds helping his cause.

There was doubt the "Lane Train" was headed for derailment in Knoxville -- until the Trojans saved the Volunteers.

Apparently, Kiffin couldn't get the Volunteers on NCAA probation fast enough, so he decided to go to a school that's also caught the interest of NCAA investigators.

The NCAA has been camped in USC's backyard since April 2006, investigating allegations that former Trojans star Reggie Bush received improper benefits while playing at USC. This past season, running back Joe McKnight was suspended from playing in the Emerald Bowl because of concerns he was improperly driving an SUV owned by a marketing executive.

USC's basketball program is under NCAA investigation, too, because former star player O.J. Mayo allegedly received improper benefits. Last week, the school banned its basketball team from playing in the postseason and reduced its scholarships.

With Kiffin coming to the USC campus, the NCAA can swap its tents for permanent office space in L.A.

Apparently, Garrett missed the negative headlines surrounding Kiffin -- or, worse, simply ignored them.

"Lane brings a lot to the table," Garrett said in a statement released by USC on Tuesday night. "He has a coaching background both in the pros and in the best collegiate conferences. He has a great command of the X's and O's. He is familiar with the Trojan landscape and will be a great representative of our university. He keeps the game fun. And, very importantly, he has proven to be one of the finest recruiters anywhere."

With only three weeks left before college football's national signing day, the Volunteers are left scrambling for a new coach.

Chances are the Volunteers will find one who is better than the one that just left.

[Blake]

everyone is slamming Kiffin and his resume....

great hire!

a virtual all star cast!

[ClingingMars]

LtbLLnDR4ps
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OPEt6MfcLm8
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n7Xx52YrR04

Prophetic.

[jag]

http://i47.tinypic.com/148ksw1.gif

:lol too good

[symple19]

Just a matter of time before LSUFreek got involved.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/nursetpd/TSB/The_New_Beverly_Hillbillies.gif

[gift of gab]

Schlabach slams Kiffin

i agree completely with this article. kiffin is an effin idiot. there is only one team in the country i hate and that is Tennessee. it was fun watching him embarass himself and the UT program this year.

the question i have is this? does he really have shit for brains? usc is a great program but the ncaa is about to come down hard on them most likely. so he is just came into a situation where they most likely will be on heavy probation. i think carroll left because of the ncaa sanctions about to be dropped.

[symple19]

does he really have shit for brains?

There's no way a guy who has parlayed a 12-21 lifetime record into the head coaching gig at USC is that dumb.

BUT...

A fat dose of humility and more respect for his coaching brethren is certainly in order. If he continues to shoot from the hip and tiptoe around the NCAA he's eventually going to get burned, and it won't be pretty. USC has no room for error anymore, and it's imperative he runs a clean ship while he's there. I've already watched him shit on one schools hopes, traditions, and ideals. Hopefully I won't see it again. (I won't be holding my breath)

[TFloss32]

Heard this story on the radio and thought it was very generous, but also hilarious. Instead of burning and ripping up their Lane Kiffin shirts, Tennessee fans are donating them to the relief effort in Haiti.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/01/13/kiffin-shirts.ap/index.html

Even funnier, someone joked that the 2009-2010 Dallas Cowboys Superbowl Champs shirts will be on the next flight out.

[symple19]

Heard this story on the radio and thought it was very generous, but also hilarious. Instead of burning and ripping up their Lane Kiffin shirts, Tennessee fans are donating them to the relief effort in Haiti.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/01/13/kiffin-shirts.ap/index.html

Even funnier, someone joked that the 2009-2010 Dallas Cowboys Superbowl Champs shirts will be on the next flight out.

:lol

[romad_20]

I think Tennessee will be better off without him in the long run. Check out this article.

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/01/12/volunteer-sources-say-kiffin-never-embraced-tennessee/


Volunteer Sources Say Kiffin Never Embraced Tennessee





In February of 2009, just a few months after Lane Kiffin's tenure began at the University of Tennessee, Vols senior center Josh McNeil walked into the Neyland-Thompson sports complex on the university campus. He paused alongside the Vols 1998 national championship trophy and shook his head in disbelief.

"They'd replaced our highlight video from the past season with Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Dwayne Jarrett from USC. I was like, 'Man, I know we were 5-7 last year, but this is Tennessee. Right beside our national title trophy? Come on, man.'"

Walking up the stairs, McNeil, a 6-foot-4 280 pound offensive lineman, says that all the televisions in the complex, at least 20, were tuned to still photos of stellar plays featuring USC athletes. In particular, McNeil paused in front of one photo of Reggie Bush diving into the end zone on a sunlit California field.

"I was thinking, 'Damn, Jamal Lewis went here. Travis Henry went here. It ain't like we never had any running backs of our own.'"

Within a day the pictures and video were down, but the message had been sent. A new era had dawned in Knoxville.

A few months later after witnessing what McNeil said he believed were affronts to the Tennessee tradition that upset him, the player confronted Kiffin. "Coach," he said, "I feel like you're intentionally not embracing UT's traditions."

Kiffin smirked. "Well, whatever Tennessee's been doing isn't working anymore, so we're coming up with something new. Get used to it."

When Kiffin said, "something new," he meant exactly what USC had already done before, McNeil told FanHouse. Multiple team sources confirmed McNeil's claims.

By Junior Day, March 2, 2009, Kiffin had his first crop of potential players, hundreds of then-high school juniors on Tennessee's campus.

The players were divided between offense and defense and placed in front of highlight videos that were designed to show them the Tennessee way of playing football.

As the offensive players sat down on the field, a video flashed on the screen with a word in bold:

DETERMINATION

Josh McNeilMcNeil watched. "I was thinking, maybe we're going to see Dan Williams block against Kentucky that got us into the SEC championship game (in 2007). That was a pretty huge play."

Instead a USC play featuring Reggie Bush opened the montage.

Another word flashed on the screen.

EXPLOSIVE

More USC highlights followed.

"All the way back to Carson Palmer," says McNeil. "I mean, really, Carson Palmer is explosive?"

At the end of the video, Lane Kiffin addressed the recruits.

"We're going to make this the USC of the South, and the USC of the East Coast," said Kiffin.

McNeil did not hide his disgust. "I was sitting right there and it broke my heart. I came to Tennessee because we were Tennessee, not because we were pretending to be somebody else."

McNeil paused.

"And you know what else? Out of all those clips there wasn't one Oakland Raider highlight. Not one. Now [the Oakland offense] is the same offense, you know? You ever think maybe it has something to do with the players?"

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A drum begins slowly beating in the back of a Tennessee meeting room.

Ba-dum, ba-dum

Coach Ed Orgeron, UT's recruiting coordinator, steps to the front of the room.

"One heartbeat," he growls.

The drum beat gets louder and faster.

"I'm about to teach y'all our special team cheer," Coach Orgeron said to a gathering of Tennessee players.

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.

"We're going to be crazy about special teams here."

"Now when these two Bushwackers run through the door, you rip your shirts off and scream as loud as you can. One side of the room yell, 'ST,' and the other side yell, 'wild boys.'"

The doors burst open, and two graduate assistants on the football team, walking like the Bushwhackers from the old WWE wrestling days, arms gesticulating awkwardly in front of them, begin madly stomping about the room.

Coach Orgeron screams, "What's the first thing you do before you get in a fight?"

No answer.

"You take your shirt off!" he screams.

Then Coach Orgeron rips off his shirt in front of the team. :rollin

The drumbeat is incessant, loud. Players stare at one another.

Coach Orgeron begins to lead the cheer.

"ST!" he screams.

"ST," the team responds.

"Wild boys!" Orgeron screams.

"Wild boys," the team responds.

"Damn, I felt like an idiot with my shirt off," McNeil says. "So did lots of the older guys."

But some of the younger players believed the chant was very cool, McNeil said. It fired them up.

At least it did until they realized that the "new chant" the UT coaching staff introduced to the players was a retread.

"It was a USC thing," McNeil says, "I took an official visit there. They used to say, 'SC', and the other side would say, 'wild boys.' They came to Tennessee and they changed SC to ST for special teams. How lame is that?"

Eventually the shirtless drills fade out.

"We didn't get as hyped up as they wanted us too, everybody would just laugh," says McNeil, "We just all kind of thought it was weird."


That year for spring practice, Lane Kiffin instituted a new rule, profanity was permissible in the songs they would play as the players stretched.

As UT players got loose and children visiting practice ran along the sidelines, hardcore rap lyrics blared alongside Kid Rock anthems.

The current players had no issue with the cursing, some liked it.

But several former UT players were offended when they brought their young children to the practice and heard the music, according to team sources interviewed by FanHouse.

Kiffin didn't care.

"He told me that's how they did it at USC," McNeil says.


As the start of a new season neared, Kiffin and crew focused on their continuing makeover of the Vols.

It was time to practice their team chants.

Kiffin said, "When we're on national TV about to come out of the tunnel, we've got to make it look good."

The entire team lined up in the end zone as part of fall camp.

One side would yell, "It's war time," while another side chanted, "Let's take it outside."

Tennessee players embraced the new tradition. They believed it was theirs and theirs alone.

Until one of the players found it on YouTube. (A similar video can be found here)

Another USC chant.

This time verbatim.


As the season neared, a new controversy arose: Kiffin did not want to say General Neyland's Game Maxims. The tradition, in which the Volunteer players chant the seven maxims beginning with:
"Coach Kiffin cared about Tennessee traditions less than the worst Vol hater in the state in Alabama. That man's a snake."
- Josh McNeil, Former Vols Lineman
"One: The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win."

And ending with:

"Seven: Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for sixty minutes."

The maxims trace back to the legendary General Neyland, the all-time winningest coach in Tennessee history and the man the stadium was named after.

Kiffin didn't like the maxims, didn't want to do them. For decades they'd been the final words uttered by every Tennessee player as he left the locker room and rushed onto the field.

Always the head coach led the chant.

No longer.

Kiffin brought in past players and had them lead the team in the chant instead.

Often he was in the coaches' locker room during the chanting. Later, in a departure that altered 70 years of Tennessee tradition, Kiffin didn't take the maxims with the team on the road.

Not a single coach ever said the maxims either, according to team sources.

For McNeil, this confirmed his worst suspicions. "Coach Kiffin cared about Tennessee traditions less than the worst Vol hater in the state of Alabama," he said. "That man's a snake."


But everything wasn't bad at Tennessee.

For instance, there was Lane's dad, Monte, the team's defensive coordinator.


"Monte was loved by everyone," says McNeil. "He was a great guy, a great football coach, but a better guy."

McNeil pauses for a moment, thinks.

"He and Lane had absolutely nothing in common."

[symple19]

I read that too Romad, an interesting read for sure --- It looks like Lane is back where he belongs...

[Blake]

it would be a nice gesture if UT Longhorn 2009-2010 National Champion t-shirts were donated as well.

[romad_20]

I read that too Romad, an interesting read for sure --- It looks like Lane is back where he belongs...

I just can't imagine Ed Orgeron ripping his shirt off, acting like the f-ing bushwackers:lmao

[symple19]

I just can't imagine Ed Orgeron ripping his shirt off, acting like the f-ing bushwackers:lmao

I would have died laughing too

[dirk4mvp]

The guy from Lousiana Tech got the Tennessee job supposedly.

[symple19]

The guy from Lousiana Tech got the Tennessee job supposedly.

Interesting. Good coach. Auburn beat them last year but it wasn't because Dooley got out-coached. He had some prolific offenses while there for sure. On the surface, looks like a safe, solid hire, especially since he's Vince's son and has deep ties to the SEC.