Unless you've been under a rock all weekend, you've probably heard that this morning Lane Kiffin has been introduced as the new head football coach in Knoxville. I would imagine that a majority of UT fans are elated by this because they were searching for a sexy name to head up their program. Phil Fulmer was a solid head football coach but sexy he was not. Some fans are taking a more realistic approach such as Clay Travis over at Deadspin which you can check out here. I agree with Clay in that there is no middle ground in this hire, it will either work or it won't. I just don't see this going well.
For one thing, Kiffin is 33 years young. Would you hire a 33 year old to run a corporation with about $70 in annual revenue? That's basically what this situation is. Also, Kiffin has an alarming lack of experience. He was a grad assistant at Fresno State and Colorado State, then in charge of Defensive Quality Control for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Honestly, I have no idea what that means, if it does mean anything. Sort of like Assistant to the Regional Manager (Dunder Kifflin). After that he went on to be co-OC at USC. He never was given the sole opportunity to call plays. Then he was hired by Gargamel.
Word has already trickled down about Kiffin bringing along his father, renowned defensive guru Monte Kiffin of the Tampa Bay Bucs, to be his DC in the land of all things orange. I think this could be huge mistake. UT's defense was the best part of their team this year. I know that is sort of like being the tallest midget, but still, I can't recall the last time UT's defense has been outright bad. That's because DC John Chavis has been there 20 years and is a UT alum. Kiffin is a west coast guy, and coming into Knoxville replacing Fulmer will be tough enough. If he also boots Fulmer's long time right-hand man, it may set him off on the wrong foot with boosters. Also Kiffin may bring along Ed Orgeron, former Ole Miss coach and one of USC's top recruiters. I'm not sure how hard it is to recruit kids to Los Angeles, but Coach O did a heck of job there and in Oxford.
It'll be interesting to see if this young kid can coach with the likes of Saban, Richt, Meyer, Miles, Spurrier, Petrino and Nutt. Either way it works out, I was surprised by the absolute ballsiness of this hire. Let's just hope Oakland wasn't a fluke.
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