Today, certain media stations proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, the next coach of the Tennessee Volunteers is Lane Kiffin." Hours later Tennessee officials put out an official statement that said, in typical Lee Corso style, "Not so fast my friend".
"We have not offered the job to anybody," Hamilton said on WVLT-TV. "If anybody has said that, that would be incorrect information." But everyone following this saga knows that Kiffin was of course being pursued by the school. But they are also talking to the agents of Gary Patterson at TCU and Brian Kelly of Cincinnati.
These are the people that have not already flatly told them thanks but no thanks! Many think Kiffin does in fact have the inside spot. Patterson knows he'll get a raise and contract extension just for talking to them, and Kelly is not really thrilled with the prospect of coaching in Tennessee.
That leaves Kiffin, who certainly is willing to take the job—to take ANY job. After all, he is unemployed and left with major failure staining his only head coaching job. The fact that Kiffin is a "Hot" prospect defies belief for many.
Let's look at his last job, how it went, and how it was handled. It's not a pretty story.
In January 2008, it was reported by Chris Mortensen of ESPN that owner Al Davis drafted a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign after his first season with a record of 4–12 as head coach of the NFL's Raiders.
- B/R Ticket Guide
A source allegedly close to Kiffin told Mortensen that Kiffin would not resign and would not sign the letter of resignation, which would cause him to forfeit his $2 million salary for the remaining guaranteed year of his contract. Kiffin's stance was, I may suck, but I have a contract. The Raiders denied the story, and Kiffin has refused to comment.
Fast forward to September 2008, when NBC Sports reported Davis was unhappy with coach Lane Kiffin and might fire him as soon the following Monday or Tuesday. He was not fired until Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008, when Davis fired Kiffin over the telephone. He left after five games with a 1-4 record.
At the televised news conference announcing the firing, Davis called Kiffin "a flat-out liar" and said he was guilty of "bringing disgrace to the organization." The Raiders said the move was made for cause, meaning they will likely try to not pay Kiffin for the remainder of his contract. He signed a two-year deal worth about $4 million with a team option for 2009 when he took over in 2007.
Kiffin later added in an interview that he wasn't proud to be faced with Davis's accusations and was actually more embarrassed for Davis than himself. Kiffin's post-firing press conference was cancelled, and a spokesperson said he plans to appeal his dismissal without pay to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Neither side will speak now under the advisement of counsel.
This is the man that Tennessee is after to "calm" the program? My goodness. This is better than a soap opera.
Clearly Hamilton is trying to get a hire lined up, and he wants a "hot" coach, someone young and energetic enough to lead for a while. Behind the scenes, many of the coaches Hamilton would love to have want no part of Tennessee.
In his rush to apparently hire Kiffin, he may be overlooking other coaches who could better come in and provide proven leadership. Tennessee is in such a hurry to sign someone before the other schools looking lock up the "good" ones.
Except for a very few years at USC, where he was merely a supporting coach in a very well-oiled machine, what has Kiffin accomplished that makes him a good hire? Maybe some of the bigger boosters have gotten to Hamilton and pointed this out, prompting the statement that was released by from his office.
Stay tuned, sports fans. Knoxville is going to be the source of stories for some time to come, with or without a new coach being quickly hired.
comments (17) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
I'll go ahead and say that you might be the least objective writer I've ever read. Not to mention that this is riddled with errors that I'm not going to edit (you even misspell the Kiffin's name in your title). I kind of question whether or not you are even literate enough to attempt these articles on your own. You may just be trying to dictate what you're hearing on Bama talk radio...
Anyway, Lane Kiffin will be the Vols next coach. It will be announced Monday. If you had any source beyond Alabama talk radio you would know that they were quick to come out and say that no one has been offered the job because the classy thing to do is let this weekend revolve around Fulmer as much as possible. Obviously there are going to be more people talking about Kiffin than Fulmer but it's Hamilton's job to make that look like he's done what he can to keep the attention on Fulmer.
And the fact that you act like Kiffin is a bad choice because of his situation with Al Davis is absolutely ridiculous. If you think about it, had this job search happened a couple years ago we would be talking about landing USC's Offensive Coordinator, not the former Raiders coach. There is clearly a reason why Kiffin progressed up the line of coaches at USC and ultimately got hired by the Raiders as the head coach. You think Al Davis just picked a name out of a hat?
Your Tennessee "articles" are absolute garbage.
from about 1 month ago
You are right about two things,,, Kiffin's name was misspelled, (thanks by the way), and if they'd hired him before he proved to be a disaster as a head coach it may have made SOME more sense. But to call him a BIG hire, WHY? No head coaching experience other that being part of a well oiled SC machine for a few years where he simply ran the same offense that was already in place and terrible skills as a leader make him a VERY iffy hire. I expected Hamilton to shoot MUCH higher...
from about 1 month ago
Well heck I'm sure he wanted to shoot higher. I'm not trying to say he's been on our radar for years to replace Fulmer. I'm just saying when you're doing a coaching search you look for the best available and I'm not sure who you're thinking is a better option. The guy is a great recruiter and he will come with Orgeron who is a great recruiter and defensive coach (clearly not head coach).
Also you are the first person I have heard call a big hire. I'd like to see who else has.
And here's how I view hiring what I'll consider a coordinator here. If you get say Brian Kelly (I know he said he's not really in the running anymore but he was THE talk for a while), he's already coached for years and years and years. You know what you're getting and there's a good chance he's maxed out. I would almost even prefer someone else getting a fresh start and you have no idea how much potential they hold. Kiffin could end up being the next best thing, or he could be a total flop. I think it's just a risk/reward scenario where the inexperienced guy is a bigger risk but has more opportunity for greater reward.
Since you expected Hamilton to shoot MUCH higher, who did you expect him to try to get that we haven't heard mentioned?
about 1 month ago
Kiffin wasn't even given a chance at the Raiders. Frankly, I think Al Davis has lost his mind with his antics. I think there was some improvement with the Raiders during Kiffin's tenure, but it would've taken a couple of years to really see the impact (the franchise has been a mess for a long time, but I was hopeful). We'll never know.
To Clayton's point above, you almost have to evaluate Kiffin without Oakland (although I am sure there are some things that he learned there that will apply the Vols).
If he does end up being head coach at UT, it is definitely going to be interesting the next few years.
from about 1 month ago
Kiffin was not liked or respected by Oakland's players, not just by Al Davis. Some called him, "The Kid" and others simply ignored him. Not a good sign of "leadership" abilities....
about 1 month ago
Larry your an ill informed idiot, and the worst kind you actually believe your delusions. You choose to ignore the fact he was a national recruiter (main requirement of the HC at UT), and he will be bring Coach O with him as recruiting coordinator and his father Monte as DC. Take your moronic ramblings and keep them in your personal diary.
from about 1 month ago
Your post might have had more weight if you knew how to form sentences, punctuate and spell. That's you're not your in case you can't spot your own mistakes... I can see how an illiterate person such as yourself you find correct writing moronic... As for Ed O... Yeah, he was a winner wasn't he? Let's see, he led them to how many bowl games? Can you count that high? They are throwing a boy at a job meant for a tough man... If you can't see that, you're worse than I thought...
from about 1 month ago
Larry your article had more errors in it than a Dave Clawson offense...
I don't think you are in any position to criticize anyone's grammar or writing there chief.
about 1 month ago
Larry..Larry..Larry, your insecurity is glowing. Don't worry, Bama will soon have another 7 game losing streak to the vols soon. That is niether here nor there.
You are at it again. The short of it is Kiffin took USC's best offense to date to 2 rose bowls and broke recrods for total yardage as co-OC. Who are you to say what his roll was. Obviously he got alot of attention to be hired as a pro head coach. There have been 4 coaches in 5 years at Oakland, you tell me how good that organization is. Warren Sapp said Davis was even calling plays from the box! No one can win there. Hell, Davis fired Mike Shanahan....... was that a good move?
You are a worthless antagonizer. Go crawl into your Alabama swamp and bring a TV. Saban can't save you from Florida.....sorry.
Oh, if you are making fun of someone's illiteracy, don't start a sentence like this.....
"That's you're not your in case you can't spot your own mistakes"
from about 1 month ago
I call 'em as I see 'em... And Kiffen brought no offense to USC, he maintained the same system that was already in place when he took over. He didn't change a thing. He's no innovator, he was a caretaker. His lack of doing things on his own was badly exposed in Oakland. But you go on living in denial and tell yourself that things will different at Tennessee... You'll be crying like a baby for Fulmer sooner than later....
from about 1 month ago
What Craig has failed to mention is Alabama had a 7 game win streak against the Vols as well, and before that a wonderful 11 game win streak.
Knowing him... he'll call that ancient history and stick to his own definition of current, even though our 7 game win streak was ended 2 years prior to the boys in CDC orange starting theirs.
By the way... CURRENTLY, Alabama has beaten the hillbillies 3 out of the last 4 years.
GOOD OLE ROCKY FLOP... WOOOO!
about 1 month ago
AP reports the Kiffin deal is done. I think it's a bad move for UT. One that reeks of the Alabama coaching hire debacles. And we all know how that turned out. Only time will tell.
from about 1 month ago
Well they had to have SOMEBODY.... Everyone else was saying no...
about 1 month ago
First of all Larry, how can you criticize Kiffin's reputation with the player's of the Oakland Raiders. Coaching the NFL is way different than coaching in the college ranks. Look at Pete Carrol and Steve Spurrier. Both struggled as coaches in the pro ranks but are among some of the best in the college ranks.
Secondly, Kiffin got no respect from the players of the Raiders because that team is full of a bunch of grown men who think they are ALL Pro Bowl caliber players. You think the players at UT, which will be obviously much younger, will look at him as "the Kid". Sorry, I don't see that happening.
And the fact that you discount his credentials at USC is just funny to me. He played a big role in running what you called "a well-oiled machine" so don't discredit that.
from about 1 month ago
Well, funny that all the people at ESPN say it's a bad hire too. Tell me one thing he changed as O.C... The truth is, nothing! It's not the BIG name Hamilton said he was going to get....
about 1 month ago
Sorry but just because they say it on ESPN doesn't make it true. Thats like saying im gonna believe everything they tell me on CNN!
about 1 month ago
And just for the record, I am by no means a Tennessee fan. In fact, I think they are one of the most classless teams and have some of the most classless fans in all of sports. I just objectively think Kiffin is a good fit for them, but I 100% hope i'm wrong!
write a new comment