SEC Week 9 Preview

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The Dogs from Mississippi vs. the Cats from Kentucky

Once upon a time, this match-up would've promised a delightfully competitive football game between the pond scum of their respective divisions. However, Mississippi State is no longer a second rate bulldog. In fact, they may be not only the top bulldawg but the top dawg of the conference. Kentucky, however, is still mostly pond scum. To that point, Kentucky is coming off a 41-3 loss at LSU. They'll be at home today, but that just means there will be friends and family nearby to hug them after another beat down.

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.

That didn't take long

Just a day after being introduced as the University of Tennessee's football coach Lane Kiffin is already receiving some verbal blows from USC coach Steve Spurrier. And no it had nothing to do with the Citrus Bowl. This time Spurrier hinted that Kiffin possibly broke NCAA rules by contacting Tennessee recruits before he was cleared to do so. The recruit in question is Jarvis Giles, a running back from Gaither High School in Tampa, Fla. Giles told several media outlets that Kiffin contacted him early Sunday morning, which was a day before he was introduced as the Vols' new coach.

The NCAA requires coaches to take a recruiting certification test before they're allowed to contact recruits. Spurrier noted that he didn't retake the recruiting test until after he was introduced as the Gamecocks' new coach and joked that Kiffin might have called Giles as "an interested observer.'' But Kiffin clearly stated in his introductory press conference, that he took the test a couple days before he was hired.

Spurrier firing the first salvo is no surprise as he is probably just bitter he doesn't have Phil to poke fun at any more. Also Kiffin is taking his former recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach David Reaves to Knoxville with him. The good news for all of us, is that this rivalry is just getting started. With the bravado both these men exude I think we can expect a lot more trash talk in the future.

Lane Kiffin; the next OBC?

Thanksgiving was a busy week for me and the LCG, consisting of 4 different family dinners. This mini-tour of Virginia put a halt on updating the blog for the last couple of days. I am still trying to recover from the outrageous amount of Thanksgiving food I ingested. Although I knew I wouldn't be able to update the blog I figured we wouldn't miss much. Considering once you take out the NFL games and the various college tournaments Thanksgiving is typically a slow sports related weekend. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Plaxico pulled a Cheddar then calls himself Harris Smith and subsequently gets criminal charges, the Nittany Lion mascot got a DUI, the BCS shafted Texas, the Redskins inducted Sean Taylor into their ring of honor, Jay Cutler says he is better than Favre and then plays like it, and Starbury unleashed his fury through the press.

But for myself there was only one story that had me searching for information any chance I got. The story that had me intrigued and inquisitve was the news of Lane Kiffin becoming the next head football coach at the University of Tennessee. While watching the UGA-Bama game with Teach and the LCG, I was actually contemplating this aloud.I continued pondering this possibility throughout his own firing and the forcing out of Phil. I heard rumors of his hiring starting early last week and than ESPN got on board late in the week. All that was left was the announcement from AD Mike Hamilton and the press conference introducing the 33 year-old also-ran of Oakland. That press conference happened today at 2:00 pm EST.

So as one of maybe 500 people in the World who roots for both UT and the Raiders, I find myself being both excited and fearful of the future of the University of Tennessee. I am excited as he brings a new youthful exuberance to the University and its athletes. He has proven the type of talent he can recruit to play in his time at USC. With Tennessee's facilities, history, and fanbase it should make his job that much easier. However Kiffin has already let go of the four main assistants. Most notably DC John Chavis, who was in charge of a top flight defense leading them to being among the best in the country despite the team having a bad junior varsity offense. I am fearful that letting go of Chavis, who is one of the best defensive coaches in the land and one of the few brightspots of the team over the past couple of years, could be a major mistake.

This past season the offense was the perfect example of the word inept, but most of that can be attributed to the team not being able to execute the intricate Clawfense in such a short time perood. It worries me most that the team won't be dealing with just a new defense but their third new offense in just as many years.

Kiffin has promised to bring an amazing staff with him to Knoxville. A great staff will help sell prospects on the recruiting trail and should help to implement the new systems at a quicker rate. Kiffin's staff is said to include his father Monte Kiffin; who is the architect of the tampa 2 defense, the NFL's highest paid assistant and current defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also from the Kiffin family tree is David Reaves(Lane's brother-in-law) who is the only confirmed coach aside from Lane. Reaves, is in his seventh year on the Gamecocks staff. He was a graduate assistant the first two seasons and he's been a full-time member the past five. Reaves is slated to take over as the recruiting coordinator. Former Ole Miss head coach and current Saints D-Line coach Ed Orgeron is also rumored to be joining the staff. Orgeron and Kiffin worked together at USC. This would give UT two former head coaches on its staff.

Now that we know what the Vols are losing and gaining, what the positives for both sides?
Well the reasons for Lane to take the job are endless; he finally gets to show off his abilities, UT is one of the best football schools in the country, job security(he will be the 3rd coach in the past 33 years), a second chance, biggest recruiting budget in the SEC, etc, etc. But what are the fans getting from Kiffin, apart from a man with a hot wife, a talent for recruiting, and a good staff.? We have absolutely no idea. UT AD Mike Hamilton is essentially replacing a national championship winning coach who played for his university and led his alma-mater to a 152-52 record with a totally unproven commodity who has a record of 5-15. And if we are to believe Kiffin's side of the story in Oakland, he can't even take credit for the 5 total wins on his record.

All of the information coupled with today's press conference has led me to believe that this can only end in one of two ways: as a monster success or an epic failure. When Fulmer was fired, the middle ground was erased. If he is just an average coach its a failure, as you let go of a Tennessee legend for a coach with no connection to the school or state for an extended period of mediocrity. Kiffin has the genes, connections, and now the resources to become a great head coach. Now its up to him to do his part. There will be no Rob Ryan or Al Davis to point the finger at, it is finally his show. He gets to pick the staff, the players, and call the shots. If he fails or succeeds, the fingers will all be pointing in his direction. He could be either the next Mike Shula or Pete Carroll, but who knows? I just hope it works out better than it did for the last fired Raider coach to head to the college game.

Lane Kiffin Fired

The Oakland Raiders issued the following press release Tuesday:

Lane Kiffin has been released as head coach of The Oakland Raiders for cause. The Raiders will address the media a 2 p.m. pacific this afternoon at the team’s permanent facility in Alameda.

According to Adam Schefter of NFLN, offensive line coach Tom Cable will take over the reins. Cable, 43, is responsible for reenergizing the running game by institutiing the zone blocking scheme. He previously served as offensive line coach in Atlanta, head coach at Idaho from 2000 through 2003, and offensive coordinator at UCLA from 2004 to 2005. I will have more after the press conference.

Al Davis press conference confirmed

According to Profootballtalk, Al Davis will meet with the media at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, most are expecting him to announce the firing of Lane Kiffin.

But Adam Schefter of NFL Network threw out another possibility: Maybe Davis will use the press conference to criticize the media for “rumor mongering.”

Schefter reports that some Raiders employees believe that Davis won’t fire Kiffin today, or any time soon, and that instead, Davis will use his public forum to reprimand the media. Schefter adds that a smaller number of Raiders employees think Kiffin will be fired and Paul Hackett will be named head coach.

With the possibilites of a strong lecture from Al Davis on rumor mongering. I figured we would find the perfect song to go along with his lecture for tonight, maybe he could play it as he walks out of the room.

It was either that or Stereophonics' "thousand trees". Keep tuned for the outcome of the Al Davis press conference.

Circus in Oakland; still open for business

ESPN’s John Clayton is reporting owner Al Davis has begun the process of naming a successor to coach Lane Kiffin and will speak to line coach Tom Cable, offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and advance scout Paul Hackett Monday night. Davis has already had interviews in past years regarding the position with James Lofton and Rob Ryan. There is no confirmation that Kiffin has been fired.

I don't really know what to think of all this, as Kiffin was said to be fired weeks ago. So lets go over a couple of scenarios:

• Davis wants to give the head coaching gig to the best coach, so he doesn't have to do this again in the off-season.
• He just wanted to meet with the coaching staff, to get more insight on the team.
• He was lonely and wanted to have dinner with someone, so he invited three people in case one or more turned him down.
• Maybe it was just time for their job evaluations: Al Davis- "Could you go through your typical day here at Alameda?" Tom Cable- Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door--that way Kiffin can't see me, heh--after that I sorta space out for an hour. I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

I will keep you updated as information comes down the pipe. But one question for you before I go. Who do you think would win in a fight, Al Davis or John Clayton? I'm taking Al.

Lane Kiffin....

Kiffin to be fired?

Nancy Gay of the San Fransisco Chronicle is reporting that Lane Kiffin is to be fired sometime this week. Despite leading the Raiders to a 23-8 victory over a division rival, on the road no less and at a stadium your not supposed to win in. Kiffin's fate is said to be sealed for his defiant tirade last Wednesday. When Kiffin told the media that the 41-14 Monday night meltdown against the Broncos happened in large part because defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and the team's owner conspire to exclude him from defensive decisions. The Raiders are 1-1 in a 17 week season and Al is ready to fire the head coach.

For Lane's take on his possible firing, check the video:



For the Raiders sake, I hope Nancy is wrong.

Contra Costa Time: Kiffin's way or the highway for Raiders?
San Fransisco Chronicle: Kiffin on his way out, despite victory