In a word, NO!!!! Louisville didn't even show much interest in Fulmer. I mean I'm sure he's had a lot of time to polish up his resume.... I thought Kiffin would jump if offered but I didn't think USC would offer so quickly. I figured a more experienced candidate would end up there. I never thought Kiffin would be at Tennessee for more than 8 years or so. I figured if he failed, he would be shown the door quickly. I figured if he succeeded, he would head to the NFL at the first opportunity. Either way I felt he would grow the program with a few recruiting classes and set up the program to succeed. Unfortunately he didn't stay long enough to build talent. I think it is good for a program to change coaches after several years as it is hard to maintain success over a long period without switching things up. It's just my theory and I think it's difficult to gauge how long it takes for a program to grow stale under one coach. I'm really not sure where you get this idea. It's true that Petersen might not be lured away for reasons that Terry referred to but Tennessee is a destination program. It isn't an easy job but it is in the SEC, is among the top 10 winningest programs in major college football history, and the facilities and commitment to winning are second to none. It's high time you get off your Gator high horse! Are you insane? This is quite possibly the dumbest strategy that I've heard in my entire life. Don't count on landing any AD jobs anytime soon. USC knew what they were doing in securing a head coach as quickly as possible. That is most likely the reason they jumped on Kiffin. They knew he would take the job and put the clamps on their recruiting class. Finally, something we somewhat agree on in that disaster of a post. It will be difficult to pull the recruiting class back together. However, Kiffin and his band of super recruiters pulled a class that last year was ranked in the 20-30 range before he was hired to a top 10 class in 2 months. I don't expect that to happen again but the class is currently ranked in the top 10. I don't think they'll slip below the top 20-25 classes but I could be very wrong about that and would not be surprised if I am.
The people Terry mentioned are all names that Gator internet people were speculating about also. I think there are some very good people out there that could be brought in. Hopefully Kiffin gets everything he deserves in California and is back on the unemployment line.
What I mean Aquila is a guy like Peterson will have the 2nd ranked preseason team in the nation next year and he himself is near the end of recruiting. The timing is very poor to woo a coach in an already successful program right before signing day. Also....don't kid yourself...I think Tenn was headed for a pretty rough season next year and Kiffin knew he would start getting some heat for it and so does a new coach coming in. I think Kiffin wouldn't have left for any other program than USC becasue he was going back to where he started, Did Peterson coach at Tenn once? Are you seeing my point? Now I heard Cutcliffe could be a candidate and that makes total sense for the reasons above....or Muschamp possibly because he is an assistant and not head coach so his exit wouldn't be viewed in Austin like you guys are viewing Kiffin's.
Quite a shock to say the least, but I think Tennessee will be better off without Kiffin! I hope the Vplunteers can find a good coach and a better fit. You may struggle with recruiting for a year or so, but I wish you success. Don
Interesting that now he is gone more are willing to share that opinion. Better now for Tenn than some messy departure 2-3 years down the road. This article sums it up quite well: http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/schrager-lane-kiffin-flees-tennessee-for-USC-011210 Now the Tenn admin knows what Al Davis was talking about and I have to say I am starting to believe Davis on this one myself. Tenn fans may be PO'd now but wait until LK starts trying to get the same recruits to USC that he lined up for the Vols. Does anyone doubt he will do this in a very aggressive manner?
There has to be NCAA rules against this!!! Not only is he trying to bring recruits with him, Orgeron is telling already enrolled student atheletes to not go to class to make it easier to transfer. Corey is right. I have a new second team... Whoever is playing the condoms!
Tom, I mean this to be light, does that mean that whoever is playing the Gators have dropped to your third favorite team? Now serious, that is classless by Orgeron. I remember when Charlie Weiss was let go he called recruits and told them to stay with Notre Dame. Like Charlie or not that was class.
Tom, I'm sorry for what has happened at Tennessee, but welcome to our club. You have lots of company among ND folks, and I believe the membership is growing rapidly with Tennessee folks as I write this.
Ditto from me Tom. I Kiffin came with some red flags (Oakland etc) but I certainly didn't think he'd pull this kind of stunt.
Sid, I thank you for the kind words but this is quite different from the ND fans' situation. ND has been put in the position to get rid of coaches that are not performing. I don't remember, at least in my time on this earth, ND having a coach come in and start things moving in the right direction and then pulling the rug out from under the university. I'm just glad that I quit drinking and don't live in Tennessee anymore. If not for that, I would probably be in jail from what I would have done last night. There was a huge conflict at the 9:30 meeting last night where a few players and fans stopped short of violence against Kiffin. I don't know if Jack, Jim, and Evan would have allowed me to stop short.
PJ, Thanks to you as well. This is a big shock for UT fans across the nation. I was getting a little complacent when it comes to college football. Now this gives new meaning to watching games next year. I'll cheer on the Vols no matter how bad we are and will be watching every USC (Ultimate Shi^^y Coach) game with hopes of seeing Kiffin auger in.
Dave, do you think that they may be more willing now because before, they were showing respect for other fans by holding it in? You might learn that sooner or later. Nah... You have to be kidding. You think this is not a messy departure??? In 2-3 years, we would have had time to be on an upswing. We could have more easily handled the loss. We are now in a situation where we have lost the top shelf of the coaching staff after one year. We will be worse off next year than we were last year.
My thoughts are to keep Kippy Brown. Name him head coach. Let him have the helm until Peyton Manning retires. We can have another 1977 Johnny comes marching home celebration but it would be When Peyton comes marching home.
My thoughts on keeping Kippy...( hey...nice ring to it )....are that he requires no real commitment for Tenn....saves money for a year in which the season may be lost anyway.....and with the interim label all recruits next year will know that Tenn is seriously looking for the next great coach at Tenn and will have him in place by next December. He will be a high dollar....high buyout kind of guy that Tenn can move forward with. Right now is not the time for a Ron Zook type hire but the situation can certainly open up that possibilty for the Vols and it's not the solution.
"the difference is....those guys had actually accomplished something" http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/01/12/kiffin.usc/index.html?eref=sihp
Tom, While I agree with you that was Coach O is totally classless, I have two thoughts: 1. I agree with you 2. No one seemed to care when Greg Mattison was calling recruits from his office at Notre Dame and telling them that he was going to Florida and they should go there too. At least Kiffin talked to the kids and didn't pull a Fran. Aside from that, I have nothing nice to say about him. While I really enjoyed his needling of Meyer, I am far more comfortable with putting him in the hated roll of USC head coach. And make no mistake folks, USC doesn't care if you hate them. They enjoy it, they really do. You're getting a small window into that USC mindset. They just believe they are better than you and there's nothing else to debate. That's why I laugh so heartily when Bill suggests that the Gators top my list. While we all have fun and games needling each other here and I really have some objections to the way Meyer and a few of his assistants have done things.. They aren't even on the same map with USC. Everything about USC should be hated. Everything. In terms of recruiting, look for them to return to what those guys built originally under Carroll. They'll attempt to repair the wall around the Southland that Carroll let slip. If probation comes their way, they'll just focus harder on kids in their back yard to come be a part of 'the family.' Jeeeez I really hate those (insert word that moderators will delete later here)!