A College Football Feud Begins: Meyer vs. Kiffin

Talk about starting out on the wrong foot. As the recruiting season came to a close, University of Tennessee’s rookie Head Coach Lane Kiffin decided to rally the Volunteer nation and the booster club by claiming Urban Meyer of the Florida Gators was a cheater.

Seconds earlier, Kiffin explained how Meyer called recruit Nu’Keese Richardson, a wide receiver and top prospect from Pahokee, Florida, while Richardson was visiting with Kiffin in Knoxville.

While Kiffin later apologized and was highly scrutinized by the league, the cat was already out of the bag. If coaches, teams, or the media learn anything about Urban Meyer, it should be this—don’t give him fuel for the fire.

As expressed vividly on College Football Fever before the 2008 Georgia vs. Florida matchup, Meyer is renowned for his ability to harness whatever news, insult, slander, bashing, or threat and inject the toxic-rage serum right into his players.

The Georgia Bulldogs, who have struggled mightily against the Gators, chose to seize the moment in 2007 after a Knowshon Moreno score. Marching onto the field, the Bulldogs taunted the Gators with vibrant celebration and jiggy dancing.

Sure, it pumped up the 'dogs for that impressive win. But Meyer and his Gators had a year to stew on that defeat, and stew they did. Meyer not only milked every last bit of vengefulness from his team, but he stamped it on their forehead so they would not forget.

And, as anticipated, the Georgia-Florida game of 2008 got under way with linebacker Brandon Spikes putting Moreno on his backside on one of the first plays from scrimmage. The tone and intensity was set and would not change.

Young men are impressionable, and Coach Urban Meyer has harnessed the core stimulus for energizing and directing his team for a big game. If you are an opponent, go ahead and try to taunt Meyer and the Gators.

Florida plays dirty! You lose. Florida cheats! You lose. Tim Tebow is overrated! You lose. Urban Meyer’s hair looks bad! You really lose.

Lane Kiffin starts his collegiate head coaching career with two guarantees—money, and a massacre in 2009 by the Florida Gators. Tennessee, like many, has had enough trouble with the Gators, but Kiffin just guaranteed his team at least one loss in 2009.

Welcome to the SEC, Lane Kiffin! You are in the heart of college football country, and the best thing not to do is piss off the team that has dominated the league and the nation. You are now a marked man on a marked team.

Down in the heart of Gator nation, a perturbed Meyer is sitting in a cold, dark office with one dim light masking the profile of his face as he psychotically gazes upon a photo of Lane Kiffin with a bulls-eye attached.

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