A Vol's Reaction to the Departure of Lane Kiffin

As the resident UT fan of the Lawn Chair Boys, I feel it's my duty to explain my feelings on Lane Kiffin's departure. But bear with me, the combination of Kiffin's sudden withdrawal and the long list of coaches declining to fill the vacancy have me decidedly flustered with this entire situation.

When I first got word of the news via Facebook, I was shocked, not because I thought he was the next Johnny Majors or Phil Fulmer, but because of the speed that with which all this unfolded. With coaching vacancies, there is usually a couple days of rumors leading up to the announcement. In this instance, it went from rumors to actuality in what seemed like milliseconds.

I was also shocked because of the dickish fashion he left the program. 60 second departure presser, attempts to steal recruits, complete denial of his efforts to steal those recruits, and his claims of leaving Tennessee better than he found it. Using recruits like Bryce Brown (What no mention of Nu'Keese, Mike Edwards or Janzen?), close losses to Florida and Bama (What do you get out of moral victories, when you're not there to build on them?), and a win over UGA (Despite the fact that Willie Martinez refused to change his gameplan during the blow-out.) as his examples of his successes in a brief one year tenure.

But his lack of ethics used in his run for the left coast is far from the worst of his misdeeds. The worst is the way he lied to the University and the fanbase about his acceptance of Tennessee traditions like the Vol walk and running through the T. When he was introduced, these traditions were the first words out of his mouth. At the time, it allowed the program and fans some comfort in knowing that not everything would change. It's just too bad that it was all a facade as he did his best to erase any proof that football existed in Knoxville before his arrival.

The only traditions that stuck were the ones listed above--the ones performed in public. He replaced highlight films of UT players with USC players. He told players that his goal was to turn UT into the USC of the east. It's UT. The last thing they need, is to try to be anything else. And then there was his refusal to say General Neyland's Game Maxims; the same maxims that had been the final words uttered by every single Tennessee player for decades as he left the locker room and rushed onto the field. A major part of that tradition is the coach leading the chant. Kiffin, with his 12-21 record was too cool for this tradition and apparently too cool for UT.

The hardest thing to do in football is win, but continuing the tradition should be effortless. While his two press conferences since his resignation show how delusional and gutless this coach can be, his rebuffing of those ninety years of UT football shows how much of a self-absorbed douche bag Kiffin really is. And it's these revelations that make moving on so much easier because moving on means the possibility of finding a coach who is sincere about UT football.

So where does Tennessee go from here? Who Knows? I just hope the man that becomes the third coach in three seasons and the fourth in thirty-four, has more integrity than the one now wearing cardinal and gold.