I can’t say I know an awfully lot about Lane Kiffin. But I do know two things. He is the new coach at Tennessee and he will earn over $2 million dollars a year at Tennessee. He has somewhat of a name value for a school that has sought mightily to be a National Power. I can’t say they have really obtained that lofty status that just about every other school in the south seeks. One could hardly classify Tennessee as a championship factory. They have only won two championships and they were years apart. How about 47 years, 1951 and 1998?
So it only stands to reason that they will follow that pattern. It has been 10 years now since they last won a National Championship in college football. Yet they have been known to fire coaches for not producing and have even sent moving vans to speed up the departure of a failing coach.
I don’t see Lane Kiffin working wonders at Tennessee, a school that has a long history of hiring in-house people with Tennessee Volunteer connections. Their last two coaches grew up in the program, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer spent much of his time throwing Johnny Majors under the bus to get his job. But that’s politics in Tennessee. By the way Kiffin is only 33 years old.
Kiffin does not bring much to the table other than a few years of “Just lose baby” instead of “Just win baby” for Oakland’s Al Davis. Eventually he was fired as the Raiders head coach after going 5-15. Kiffin claim to fame is being a glorified offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, but colleges have a habit of throwing large sums of taxpayer money around; so as in Tennessee’s case, they can find someone to beat Alabama. Believe me it will not be Kiffin.
2 responses so far ↓
volzilla // December 11, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I am not sure where you have gotten your info regarding Tennessee, but it is not very good. UT has had 2 coaches in the last 31 years. We generally don’t run off coaches. Up until about 2002, we were as big a National power as any other school. Through the 90s and into the early 2000s we were one of the winningest programs of the past 10 years. So….. National power reached. Fulmer allowed the program to begin slipping in 02 and never brought it back to prominence, hence his “retirement”. UT actually has 6 recognized National Championships 1938, 1940, 1950, 1951, 1967, 1998. I hardly think giving Johnny Majors 14 years and Fulmer 17 years to win Championships makes Tennessee known for running off unproductive coaches. That would be Alabama in the SEC. Everyone has to start somewhere right?
cards6 // December 11, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Thanks for your comment, but when you look at a span of 31 years between 1967-1998 when Tennessee failed to produce a national championship, they cannot be considered a National Power. To correct you, Tenneseee had four coaches between 1967 -1998. So your information is more than little wrong. It is way off. I will give you this much, Tennessee does have a winning program; but they certainly are not a national title producing program.
The Associated Press writers poll along with UPI and other polls, selected the Collegiate Football National Champion up until 2006. At which time the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was initiated. Prior to that time, the most respected and recognized Sports writer’s poll,AP and UPI, determined the National Champion from 1936-2006 (source: The World Almanac Book of Facts- 2008). According to the recognized and accepted coaches poll, Tennesee won two Championships 1936 and 1998, a span of 62 years, this hardly qualifies Tennessee to be in the top echelon of National Powers.
By the way, Tennessee had four coaches between- 1967 and 1998, you omitted two coaches in your post; Doug Dickey and Bill Battle. Battle replaced Doug Dickey, who became Athletic Director. Johnny Majors came after Battle and Phil Fulmer undercut Majors for the job in the early 90’s. By the way Battle was the youngest Head Coach ever in Tennessee History. He was 28 years old when he took over in 1970. He coached from 1970-1976 and ranks as the 13th SEC coach with the most wins. The biggest folklore about the Battle reign is that it was reported that an overzealous fan actually sent a moving van to Battle’s House; sort of subtle hint for him leave. Maybe someday, Tennessee will be a National power and win their championships on the field. Perhaps if you go to the library and get a book on the history of the Vols, you can brush up on the real story of Tennessee Football. Better yet read the excerpt and link I left in this post and it will give you quite a story on Bill Battle and the moving van incident.
For the record, Bill Battle, was run off by fans, media and the like. Johnny Major was undercut and thrown under the bus by Phil Fulmer. I guess Fulmer got what he dished out.
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