When my roommate came running into my room earlier demanding that I look at the ESPN homepage, I assumed a Tiger sex-tape was released or the Pistons were about to lose again. Instead, I was greeted with the misfortune of looking at Lane Kiffin's face. It's too often that broadcasters report players who are poisons to teams, but not enough that we hear about coaches who are out of their element. However, the Kiffin situation is unique, and after his two year dive in Oakland, people quickly forgot about the immaturity of the young coach as he was hired at the University of Tennessee. While I would never sit and quote Al Davis, some of his past accusations of Kiffin were certainly valid.
Lets not forget how we were greeted by Kiffin last year either. New to the SEC, Kiffin came out firing at Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators, falsely accusing Meyer of breaking NCAA recruiting regulations. Later, he went on to guarantee wins that he never fulfilled. However, for some reason, the campus took a liking to him and he continued to gain support. Even after going only 7-6, the university and students stuck by the ball coach.
And then...Surprise! Lane Kiffin leaves after one season for USC. Committed recruits are already uncommitted and the school is left coachless. Now Tennessee enters the hiring market late, as most of the preferred hires have already been scooped up by other organizations and universities. And as much as we can all feel sorry for the Vols, it's important to remember that all they needed to do was look to the Oakland Raiders, when they instructed the Vols not to hire Kiffin.
So now we will begin a whole new roller coaster. In the following month we will probably hear how Lane plans to destroy Stanford, shutout Oregon, and other bottomless promises. All the while, Vol fans can remember how they didn't get to sing Rocky Top after getting beat by the Gators.
By the way, when Urban Meyer was asked if he had a comment on Kiffin leaving UT for USC, he responded classy unlike Kiffin and simply said, "No."
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