Kiffin who?

Just under a month ago Lane Kiffin dropped the bombshell that he was leaving the Vols. I don't even think he was around long enough to hear the chorus of Rocky Top. Everyone(including myself) was mad at Kiffin. "He did us wrong...what a weasel...he killed us...traitor." Now that we have all of that out of our system let's look at the positive with Kiffin leaving and why we should have seen it coming.

First he is a young head coach. Let's be honest he was a "wonderkid". He skipped rungs of the ladder on his climb to the top. First as the Raider's head coach and second as the Vols head coach. Because of this he was cocky and arrogant. Without the hard work and paying dues you will become that way. Not just in football but in any career. But that cockiness is what drew us to him. We loved the quotes about singing Rocky Top in the swap as we think to ourselves Phil never talked like that. Wow we like this guy! But he also brung us multiple NCAA infractions, bet you forgot about that. If there is one thing Vols fans pride themselves on is tradition. What will infractions do for our tradition? Ask Bobby Bowden, he had two seasons 06 and 07that were wiped from the record books for ineligible players. Phil never did that did he? He upheld our tradition.

Second, It is part of the cycle. We are spoiled. We are used to a coach staying. We are used to long tenure coach like Phil or Majors. We consider all the SEC coaches are loyal to the programs they coach. Here is a little history that may change your mind. Urban Meyer- 9 programs in 24 years. Steve Spurrier 8 in 32 years. Les Miles 7 since 1980. Nick Saban 14 since 1972. Houston Nutt 9 in 29 years. How about our beloved David Cutcliffe who we consider a Volunteer tried and true 10 since 1976. I will put Pete Carroll in the mix because he plays a part in our story 12 since 78. If you look at the numbers the coaches listed about average 3.17 years and they are off to bigger and better things. That is natural progress. Think of it as a job. Tennessee is a big job. USC was Kiffin's dream job and as bad as I hate to say it is a better job. Their recruiting stage is national. As for the long tenure coach, you better produce winning seasons. We kick Phil, who has been with Vols since 1980, to curb for a few losing seasons scattered in with a winning season or two. Joe Paterno he is loyal, but he has been with Penn State since 1950 with only four losing seasons. Same goes for Bowden at Florida State since 76 with only four losing seasons included the two wiped from the record books. Even those coaches jumped jobs every one to three years early in their career, always moving up.

Here is the positive. Derek Dooley. Dooley the new head coach has paid his dues. He spent his time in the pits. He did not have the best record with Louisiana Tech but when you have LSU down the road pulling all the local top recruits it will make it tough. Think of it as Vanderbilt recruiting versus Tennessee recruiting, who do you think will sign the freakishly talented quarterback or linebacker. Don't get me wrong Dooley can recruit and do it without infractions. While he was at LSU he was the recruiting coach under Saban. He had the top recruiting class in two of the four years he was there. As in top in the nation. Not in the state, not in the region. In the nation. Tennessee is his big job. He will be around for a while. Unless someone calls him back to death valley to be the head coach. That is probably his dream job.

Hope this gives you a little something to think about. Kiffin leaving did suck. It put us in the dumps because he sold us a line and we bought it. He was a good recruiter, but he flirted with the boundaries and got our program in trouble. I think his actions against the players who robbed a dude at a 7-11 also jeopardizes our rep. I would rather lose a recruiting class and save our dignity. For me it is so long Kiffin, hello dignity and tradition. I do hope we get the chance to see Kiffin in a bowl game only this time I hope he hears the chorus of Rocky Top in his sleep.