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UT finds Fulmer's replacement
Posted Friday, November 28, 2008, at 3:43 PM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
Word coming down off The Hill from several sources has Tennessee agreeing in principal with Lane Kiffin to be the next head football coach with an official announcement coming within the next few days.
Kiffin, 33, was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Oakland Raiders earlier this fall. Prior to that he was on the staff at Southern California dealing primarily with recruiting and aiding in the playcalling. As a coach who is currently out of work, Kiffin makes sense as far as being able to get someone back in charge and assembling a staff before the cleaning ladies even leave departing coach Phillip Fulmer's office. However, I hope the braintrust in Knoxville didn't jump the gun based on those reasons. This had to be a big picture decision. Several people's jobs and livelihoods depend upon it. There's no word yet if any other coaches were formally offered the job prior to Kiffin. North Carolina's Butch Davis was one of the top candidates, but he did tell reporters more than once that he had no interest in the job. Kiffin's hiring scares me some because I don't know just how many ties he has with the south. Much of recruiting centers around relationships with administrators and head coaches of high schools. He may need to go out of his circle of trust with a couple of hires in order to get an idea of how things are done in the Southeastern Conference compared to the Pac-10. The new coach's salary is expected to exceed $2 million. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Danny Parker is sports editor of the Times-Gazette.
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So, what's the point?
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If this happens... Lane Kiffin is a good hire. I personally give him a pass for his years in Oakland, you add crazy fans with Al Davis and you have the makings of bad news. (Sidenote: Oakland Fans have no class)I think he has the tools to be a good coach... Danny you bring up good points on the recruiting front. Can he bring back the magic he had at USC... granted they got most of the kids from in state. But hey maybe a former USC grad who hangs out at LP field can get him in the door for Tennessee High School Talent. This maybe just what the Vols needed he has plenty of time to hit the recruiting trail. If they hire him on Monday he can make a stop by good ole MTSU to see the 5 State Championship Games that will be held next weekend along with the coaching clinic that gose with it! Be happy Vol Nation this is a good hire if it happens.
Good points Danny. Tennessee fans should be a little nervous about this hire. His biggest asset I think is his ability to recruit but you must also look where he was when he was recruiting (USC). USC recruits itself and gets pretty much any player they want in the state of California just becasue they are USC. What is his second biggest asset....who knows...is it his looks? He is definately not a proven head coach and being placed right in the middle of the southeast is a tuff job on even the proven ones. He MUST surround himself with coaches that are familiar with the SEC and coaches that know their x's and o's. If he can do that I think he has a chance to be successful. Personally I think they made a mistake by not hiring Kelly from Cincinatti.
I agree with mtsufan for the most part. The biggest reason Hamilton hired Kiffin was because he can begin now and hit the recruiting trail. Brian Kelly or Mike Leach may have been a better hire (who knows?) but they wouldn't be able to start for another month at least, so it makes sense to get somebody in there right away. Hopefully, he'll put together a good staff including his father. It was kind of slim pickens out there anyway so why not take a chance on a young, energetic guy. Give him a two-year contract and see what he can do. If it doesn't work, Cutcliffe is still out there a couple years down the road. This is a good debate though and a good blog by Mr. Parker.
I will reserve judgement on Kiffin until I see what kind of team he fields. I think the key things to look at beyond wins and losses are how well coached and how well discipined they are on the field and what level of enthusiasm the team plays with. In Coach Fulmer's last few years, I don't think players were playing with an intensity necessary to compete week in and week out in the SEC. I also don't think that players were being developed as they should have been. This year's quarterback situation is a testament to that. It will be interesting to see how things pan out over the next year or two.
Kiffin may not have an established relationship with Southern High School Coaches but Tennessee is not traditionally a terrific recruiting area. Anyone who took the reigns would have had to do a lot of recruiting out of state. Meyer,Saban(when at LSU) Miles and Richt are all midwest guys who had very litte Southeastern contacts until they took their jobs and that hasn't hurt them. Fulmer had all kinds of contacts and hasnt been able to produce. I think it makes a lot of people uneasy because he is young. These are the same people who don't understand why all these young fast moving whippersnappers are taking all their jobs and or promotions. I believe the recruits will respond better to someone they can relate with and see themselves learning from. Only time will tell but this is not your grandfathers SEC.
TN_Titan,
"Kiffin may not have an established relationship with Southern High School Coaches but Tennessee is not traditionally a terrific recruiting area."
Not so fast my friend... Tennessee has a lot of great players in state just ask, Notre Dame's Golden Tate from Pope John Paul II or Patrick Turner from USC, who went to school at Goodpasture,or Dont'a Hightower who is on #1 ranked Alabama is from Marshall County.. Even better how about Patrick Willis who was the 2007 Defensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL he is from Bruceton. Why Tennessee did not lany any of these young men during Fulmer's time I have no clue but I am sure hope for coach Kiffin's sake they take a look in state before he gose out of state if I was a Vol fan.
mtsufan,
I totally agree that we need to focus on all the top recruits in our own state.Nor am I saying that no great recruits come from Tennnessee. I am just saying that is widely regaurded that whoever takes over the head coaching responsibilities will not be able to just focus on intrastate recruiting like other areas i.e. Florida,Texas,California. My only point is that he will have to recruit succesfully from other areas as well as Tennessee. And you only further my point by stating a number of recruits who got away during Fulmers tenure.
DNJ.com reports that Kiffin was at Siegel talking to the Hughes kid and that he would be at the state championship games this weekend. With my Blue Raiders losing on the road to the Ragin Cajuns I hope Coach Stock can find some local talent as well.
Getting the blue chips to sign is one thing. Motivating them to get better and coaching them up is another. Its not over after signing day it has just begun.