Tennessee makes it official, announces Kiffin hiring

He was exposed to the game of football at an early age.

"What I remember is not what most of you guys are used to remembering when you were little. I remember a green chalkboard and the white chalk on the ground and just plays everywhere."

He even said it was "neat" to sit in pregame meetings while other kids were skipping rocks across a pond or learning how to ride a bike.

Football is in the blood of Lane Kiffin, which is part of the reason why athletic director Mike Hamilton introduced him as the 21st head football coach of the Tennessee Volunteers today.

His contract averages $2.375 million over six years and has bonuses built in.

"I felt really good about Tennessee and felt really good about the relationship with Mike early on, after the first meeting. I felt like this was something that was probably going to happen," Kiffin said.

He told Hamilton to exhaust the interview process so that Tennessee made sure they were getting the right guy and "never looked back and missed something."

The 33-year-old, who was the youngest head coach in NFL history with the Oakland Raiders, noted how he's been influenced over the years by a number of well-respected football minds -- Pat Hill (Fresno State), Jeff Tedford (California), Pete Carroll (Southern California), Tom Coughlin (New York Giants) and Dom Capers (New England Patriots). Of course, worth mentioning is his father Monte Kiffin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), who is one of the premiere defensive minds in the game today.

Rolling up the sleeves

The baby-faced whistle blower might as well of had a hard hat on when pleading to Vol Nation about his plans for clocking in to make sure they get UT back on top of the Southeastern Conference.

"No one's going to outwork me as a head coach. No one's going to outwork the staff that we put together. That's the promise I'm giving ya. The wins will come after that. You're going to fill it throughout the state. It starts today."

Despite having been born in Minnesota and residing in several states across the country, Kiffin admitted that Tennessee has its seat at the table of college football. Now, it's up to him to make sure they are in the head chair for the firs time since 1998.

Off and running

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin said he was flying to Memphis immediately after his first press conference to see the state's No. 1 recruit, whom he likely meant was Harding Academy's Marlon Brown (pictured). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Kiffin, a former Fresno State quarterback, wasted no time getting to know the returning players, meeting with them for 41 minutes on Sunday night. Then, he went to the phone to get in touch with several prized recruits and said Tennessee would continue searching nationally for players.

"There will not be anywhere that we're not supposed to go. We will go everywhere to find the best players in the United States."

Good news came for in-state talent like Marlon Brown (Harding Academy), Eric Gordon (Hillsboro), Marsalis Teague (Henry County) and Zach Rogers (David Lipscomb) to name a few.

"We've got to put a fence around the state of Tennessee. We've got to make it so there's no reason a player from Tennessee should ever leave this state to go anywhere else. They need to be here playing for us, winning championships for the University of Tennessee. That will be our No. 1 goal in recruiting, as well as going nationally."

In fact, Kiffin said that after the press conference he was "getting on a plane" and "going to Memphis to see the No. 1 recruit," which is presumably Brown.

His having recruited and coached a pair of Heisman Trophy winners -- Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush -- is already putting daydreams in the heads of high school athletes.

Building a staff

Kiffin made it clear that he didn't want to get into names as to who all has been hired for his staff given contracts that several the coaches are under presently. He did say that defensive coordinator John Chavis is not being retained but four coaches would be, at least for the time being.

"There was a direction with some of our staff where I know where we're going to go," Kiffin said. "I wanted to make sure I handled that with class. The last thing I wanted to do was keep those guys from knowing where I was going to go."

Those four assistants being retained on an interim basis are candidates for positions and are going on the road with Kiffin to recruit. That will serve as their time to prove that they deserve to stay in Knoxville.

David Reaves has already resigned from his post at South Carolina as recruiting coordinator to come to Tennessee. He is one of few names that admittedly will definitely be on the sidelines next fall.

"When it's all said and done, you'll be extremely happy with the staff that comes here," Kiffin said. "It's most important that we do it right, not that we do it fast."

He's keeping a "doors open" policy in regards to former coach Phillip Fulmer.

"I'm extremely honored to follow him. I'm not trying to be him. All I'm trying to do is carry on some of the things he's done.

"He's a special part of this university, and someone who there's no way it would be here today without him."

Calling the plays

Kiffin, who first worked with the Trojans out in LA in 1999, worked as both offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator while at SC, which was no small feat. That stress that Carroll placed on him only made him better for a job like this one down the road, Kiffin admitted.

Obviously there is some confidence in his playcalling, but will he continue to do that as a head coach in college?

"As the staff comes together I'm going to figure that out," he said. "It's going to depend on who we get on the staff. The only way I'm not going to call plays is it's got to be somebody that I feel great with and have a relationship with already that I can really trust that I can still manage the offense and manage the gameday operations but allow that guy to call plays and intervene at times."

He admitted allowing an assistant to call the shots at Oakland in preseason games. So, he has a taste for it.

The great SEC

The challenge of having to play Georgia, Florida and Alabama every single year may or may not have scared off other candidates. Not Kiffin. He said he embraces what lies ahead.

Kiffin would gladly welcome the opportunity to sit down with former coach Phillip Fulmer whenever the Knoxville legend is ready. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"I could never understand that mindset. That would never enter the way that I think that since there's good teams in a conference you wouldn't take a job. I don't know how to think like that.

"I know this, we're playing in the best conference in football, the SEC. To me, there's no comparison."

Putting on his pole vaulting shoes, Kiffin appeared ready to enter the lion's den of expectations that come with a leading a program that just dismissed a coach whose career record was 152-52.

"The bar here is extremely high, and I love it. If the bar wasn't there, I wouldn't want to be here. As I said before, coach Fulmer did an unbelievable job, remarkable, one of the greatest runs in the history of college football. That's the truth. I'm here to continue that."

What happened?

Even though he got the job in Oakland under heavy praise from owner Al Davis, Kiffin was fired in less than two seasons.

UT's new man called it a great experience even though Davis made several public accusations about Kiffin and dishonesty in Oakland.

"To be able to deal with that in that environment, it makes everything you do from that point easy. I'm very glad I did it. I never regretted for one day taking that job. Was it fun everyday? No, it wasn't. But what it did was it allowed me to sit up here today and be in a better position to get this thing done right when I'm here."

All jokes aside

Kiffin is not going to come in and try to change tradition. He has no problem with the Vol Walk, running through the 'T' or "singing 'Rocky Top' all night long after we beat Florida next year."

"It's going to be a blast, so get ready."

The dry sense of humored youngster quickly turned the claps to laughter.

"That line was Mike's idea by the way, all right (Florida coach) Urban Meyer."