After Tennessee, a top 25 pre-season pick, lost its third game of the season and posted a record of 1-3 the long time Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer's job security came in question. To me this was hard to hear because the guy is a loyal coach who loved Tennessee football spending nearly his entire career there.
Fulmer was the face of the program for so many years that to see his losses stack up was sad. I do not think this was an obvious fire, as I do not think Fulmer is solely to blame for the lack of success in this years team. However, the Vols were looking to make a change for the future of their program and that is understandable.
So with that being said most Tennessee fans were anxiously waiting on who the University would name as its next Head Coach to replace the highly successful 152-52 Phillip Fulmer. The anxiety and excitement quickly faded as the University of Tennessee announced that Lane Kiffin was their next Head Coach.
If firing Fulmer, who had a 75% winning percentage in the most competitive leagues in college football, was not questionable enough they go an hire a Head Coach who was fired from one of the worst teams in the NFL. Granted the Oakland Raiders have many more problems than the Head Coach, Lane is not a proven coach in any respect.
The man was an offensive coordinator at USC when they had top flight talent that any college coordinator would drule over and then he heads to Oakland and was a bitter disappointment. At the end of the day the Vols got rid of a hall of fame coach for a young, inexperienced, unproven coach who has a lot to learn.
To me the move is illogical at best, and in time will prove to be a great mistake.
The Vols should have kept Fulmer for one more year and spent the entire year taking interviews behind closed doors to find a new Head Coach. That way recruiting would not be effected as much and the University could be patient and find a high level coach like the one they just got rid of. Bringing in Kiffin clearly shows that Tennessee took what they could get and that is not good news if you are a Vols fan.
Other teams and fans that see what has happened here should take a deep look at their program and if they are frusterated with their coach then they must ask the question who is better for the job? Because this example demonstrates that the replacement can be even worse than the original! Beware what you wish for.
24 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Patrick Collins 7 months ago
I was shocked when they named Kiffin as Head Coach. I am a Notre Dame fan, but the fact that they would toss Fulmer and bring in a guy who got fired at Oakland. Doesn't add up. Good luck I guess, but I agree this was a bad move.
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Keith S 7 months ago
'bring in a guy who got fired at Oakland". So I guess Shanahan or Gruden (not technically fired, but ...)would have been bad choices too?
Kiffen was actually turning things around after the misery of Art Shell, but he just wasn't deferential enough to big Al - nothing to do with coaching ability.
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geoff prentice 7 months ago
this was not a bad move the guy is one hell of a recruiter and the numbers those usc teams put up when he was there was great...face it this guy knows football...yea he didnt do well at oakland but heck look who the owner is...not exactly an easy guy to put up with.....when he was at usc they earned 2 national titles and were always in the top 5 in offensive categories...and people wanna complain about him bein there....plus he is bringin his father there to be the dc who may i add is one of tha greatest dc in nfl history....his defenses are always up there with the best...so before people complain check all the stats and do your research first
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Michael Shibley 7 months ago
One thing that is keeping our hopes up in Tennessee is if Lane will bring his dad Monte on board. If Tennessee can keep up a powerful defense like Chavis had all those years, the offense has to get better at some point.
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Jeff Smith 7 months ago
big brendan c....this isnt xbox ncaa football! it would be nice to have an entire year or even 6 months to interview coaches behind the scenes but that isn't how college football hire coaches these days....maybe we should have tip toed around the issue by hiring a coach, making him a coordinator and announcing he is the succesor when phil leaves ala Florida state, Oregon etc....that approach is lame and waiting 6 mos to an entire year to hire a coach isn't feasable...tennessee wasn't trying to fill the seats of a measly litttle 70k seat stadium but a big a$$ 104k seat behemoth revenue generator....the fans were apathetic and were one inch from not showing up at games....not considering we are going thru a $200m upgrade of Neyland A$$'s must be in the seats to make it work....we made a coaching change, we made it quick, hired the right guy in my opinion addressing a need that obviously was missing this year...the guy has hit the recruiting trail earning his paycheck and re-energizing the apathetic fanbase....a$$'s will be in the seats....I think I speak for most Vol fans, the best thing about Tennnessee football is the tradition and Neyland Stadium; full of rowdy Vols singing Rocky Top! Good luck Coach and Go Vols!
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Those are valid points Jeff. Thanks for your comments.
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Roberto Arquero 7 months ago
Mr Collins you lack somewhat in your ability to analyze individual coaching abilities. Coach Kiffin has proven himself as one of the best offensive/recruiting coordinators in the country. He was responsible for 49 states while Coach Carroll had CA. Coach Kiffin has an established blueprint for his recruiting process and has made invaluable contacts with high school coaches throughout America. His ability to recruit the best players while at USC can not be questioned. He has indicated that he will use the same blueprint while at UT and with his Dad coming on as defensive coach, any high school player would be ill advised to not put UT in their top two schools to attend. As far as the situation in Oakland played out it was clear that Oakland had and still has a disfunctional organization thanks to the owner. Give Coach Kiffin three years and UT will be in the hunt for the national championship.
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Roberto, thanks for your comments but I think recruiting at USC is one of the easiest jobs to have for a college football coach. I do not at all think that his tenure there proved anything. He was loaded with talent at a school that any high school football player would dream to play at. Thats my opinion
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Keith Johnson 7 months ago
Brendan, how do think USC got there? Recruiting top-level talent didn't just majically appear overnight. It was the hard of all the coaches including Kiffin over a period of time. You act like Kiffin was a nobody at USC....and he wasn't. Pete Carroll was on KNOX radio yesterday and he thinks we have a good one. I think I trust Pete.
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Keith if you are implying that Lane Kiffin is the reason USC was loaded with talent and that he put them on the map than you are sadly mistaken.
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Keith Johnson 7 months ago
As I said in the previous comment it was the hard work of all the coaches including Kiffin.
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Donald Fincher 7 months ago
As an Arkansas fan, I can tell you first hand that hiring a coach to get some players or another coach (in the case of Tennessee) is a bad move. Arkansas hired Gus Malzahn to bring in the Springdale kids (Mitch Mustain, Damian Williams, Ben Cleveland) and now Malzahn and 2 of the 3 kids are at other schools. It was because they weren't told that Malzahn was being used and that Nutt and his unjustifiably inflated ego would never let him really be the offensive coordinator. It ended up making for an ugly divorce and eventually cost Nutt his job.
In Tennessee's case, Kiffin is a mere kid. He will have it handed to him by the likes of Meyer, Sabanr, and Miles (most years) and Tuberville (if he gets to stay and gets it together). Before you throw sand on that statement, remember that Auburn and Tubs are the proud owners of a 4 game win streak against Tennessee. The reason Tennessee wants Kiffin is because they really want his daddy. That's a shame to hire someone for his daddy. And daddy will probably oblige because he doesn't want his son to fail. But this marriage will end badly as most arranged marriages do.
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Jeff Smith 7 months ago
Donald...Tennessee didn't hire L Kiffin solely for his dad, it's definitely a perk but not the only reason.
We hired him for exactly what he's doing, re-energizing the fan base through recruiting and exposure in a way that only a young coach with a recognizable name, tied to some of the greatest coaches and programs in football can do. In football, they call it "Upside".
You're already making predictions about the future....tell me who do you think Tennessee should have hired?
I wouldn't count Tennessee out yet...
History says otherwise, Tennessee 111-98 vs UA UAR AU UF & LSU
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Keith Johnson 7 months ago
It is apparent now that just about everyone that submits an article under the TN Vol banner on this site really has no idea what is going on in KNOX. Anyone who has truly followed UT football understands that something has been missing in the program for quite some time. The talent level has dropped off, there is no discipline on the field, the fan base had become apathetic, and donors were drying up. To suggest doing a "behind closed doors" coaching search for one more year is really an unintelligient statement to make. You don't do "behind closed doors" interviewing for coaches while the current head coach is still employed. Remember Auburn?
Everybody keeps bringing up Kiffin getting fired by Oakland. Who cares! Just about everyone that's coached there has gotten fired. And on top of that, just about every coach in the NFL has gotten fired at one point in their career. So to say that Kiffin is unqualified due to the fact he got fired by the Raiders is "weak".
This guy has been around football is some capacity for 25 years. He's worked with some great coaches. If Monte comes, that's awesome! If my son asked me to be there by his side I'd do it in a heartbeat. Kiffin is going to make some mistakes but every coach does. He'll do just fine at UT.
Stick with sports in the north Brendan, the SEC is out of your league.
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Wow Keith. Arrogant Much? SEC is out of my league? haha. I dont even have a response for that one. haha.
Anyways, time is my best friend on this one. Watch over the next 4 years when Tennessee is not better than they are now because Coaching was not the problem with this team. They are being out-recruited and these kids are not stupid. They are not going to play for Kiffin over Meyer, Miles and Saban.
Weak argument that Lane Kiffin got fired from the Raiders, that he was not able to do anything with his 1st overall draft pick, that he was replaced by an offensive line coach? Trust me, thats not a weak argument.
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Keith Johnson 7 months ago
If you're implying Kiffin couldn't do anything with Jamarcus Russell, then you're right. But watch this, Russell will be a bust. Watch him play, he's not a good decision maker. Great arm, bad decisions. And the only reason the Raiders drafted him is because Davis fell in love with his arm. Davis is still trapped in the 70's watching Daryl Lamonica throw the bomb and that's one of the reasons Davis fired Kiffin, he didn't throw the bomb more often.
So what if he was replaced by the offensive line coach. Is that demeaning to Kiffin? It shouldn't be. It should be more demeaning to the coordinators who were interviewed and didn't get the job. Somebody has to be the next fall guy.
I have to ask this...do you watch UT football? I mean really watch UT football. Go to the games, buy the pay-per-views, etc. If you did then you would know that coaching is a problem. Discipline is a problem. Recruiting is a problem. Donors are a problem. As Fulmer stated "the family was divided".
Kiffin will be a breath of fresh air for this program. And oh yes...he will recruit. And he get kids to play for him. Watch this next recruiting class be ranked in the top ten.
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Well Keith I guess we agree that Russell is a bust haha. One thing we can agree on. You are right that Kiffin is a breath of fresh air, very true. Tennessee definately needs a recruiter, I agree with that as well. But my question is do you think Kiffin is the answer. If you do than thats fine agree to disagree but we seem to share similar views as to the problems with the program, we are just divided on who is right to lead them.
Yes I do watch Tennesse football. Not as much as you probably but I do watch them atleast 6 games a year I would say. Im a big Notre Dame fan but two of my cousins have played football for the Vols. Thanks for your comments, i love a good debate.
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Holly Ravenhurst 7 months ago
Oh, the spelling errors in this article are horrifying. When someone spells "drool" as "drule" and "frustrated" as "frusterated", I can't take anything he says seriously. And the punctuation is ghastly. Commas are your friend in compound sentences. And your second to last statement is not a question, so there should be no question mark...unless you add the proper colon that should be in there. Please, hire a proofreader!
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Brendan Collins 7 months ago
Sorry Holly about my grammar I just write for fun. I know i'm not a great writer.
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robert garwood 7 months ago
The truth is we neede change since 1999 r record has been going down.
No championships since 98 and countless bowl loses.Enough was enough.
But alot of younger people do not remember how he got the job over johnny majors,karma has came back onto fulmer.
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Jason Bullard 7 months ago
hey guys just from reading the previous comments, seems like several folks have a problem with kiffen being fired from oakland and replacing fulmer. Kiffen was in over his head at oakland, just take into consideration, he is what 33 years old and having to deal with all of the different personalities of a pro team, i'm 31 and would have no part of it. i think he will do just fine at UT, but only time will tell! Do i think it was the right decision to let Fulmer go?No
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Craig B. 7 months ago
Jason, Please spell it right, K I F F I N.........................thank you.
I like the Kiffin hire. His time in Oakland was admittedly bad, but so was the previous 3 coaches that Oakland had in the previous 4 years. Oakland is an awful measuring stick. But if you want to use it, look at Art Shell's offensive output and Lane Kiffin's offensive output. It improved drasticly.
The fact is that Kiffin was the best hire. He fits the mold of what everyone in Knoxville has been looking for since 2005. He is already doing great recruiting against those other SEC guys in his first week on the job. He came to work.
I'm just wondering if recruits were running to Meyer, Miles, or Richt when they were hired? I am here to tell you that they weren't. Kiffin recruited Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Patrick Turner, M. Williams, all in his short time recruiting at USC. And that is just the WRs. Trust me, HS kids look at the fact that Kiffin was the OC in the Leinhart/Bush offense and drool at the thought that they could become those guys.
Kiffin will be fine.
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John Barker 7 months ago
I wasn't thrilled when first hearing the news but I am firmly on board now. I believe Lane will bring many things we've been missing - like discipline & a more competitive mindset. I'm hearing that among the USC staff, Kiffin was tasked with much of the national recruiting with the other coaches handling the CA kids. Anyone who follows UT knows how important the ability to recruit nation wide is for our program. Only time will tell but I'm very optimistic.
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Al's Wingman 6 months ago
aside from his experience with the raiders, what exactly qualifies Kiffin to be an SEC head coach? oh that's right he collaborated with more knowledgeable coaches at USC and their blue chip roster to put up big offensive numbers. Not "bad" but Kiffin has not proven he is capable of winning anything on his own so his hire is a major gamble since the guy is being handed a world class opportunity based on lack of proof he qualified to handle it.
Kiffin is not an SEC kind of guy. He is a cynical, conceited, mirrored shades, mercedes driving southern california arrogant boy, not a man and not a leader of men or boys. he's just a bratty little whiner so UT better hope the guy is not all smoke and mirrors as an actual head coach or this will devastate the program.
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