Lane Kiffin Still Screwing Tennessee
The folks from the University of Tennessee cannot seem to get rid of Lane “Baby” Kiffin. He is fixing to rip their hearts out again. Apparently, both Kiffin and Tennessee will get some sort of slap on the wrist for recruiting violations.
Last year, if you will remember, Tennessee had the Orange Pride incident. Orange Pride was directly related to “Hostess Gate” – where a group of “hostesses” from Tennessee would go to prominent recruits’ high school football games. They were caught holding up signs and were apparently told by former coach David Reaves to “contact” the prospects at the games they attended. Reaves denied any involvement when questioned at that time…in other words, he lied.
The problem is not that the university has hostesses, but rather, what Kiffin and Reaves were telling them to do. Then, they tried to lie and cover up the whole incident – and the NCAA hates that…right Bruce Pearl? Supposedly, the NCAA has direct evidence linking Reaves’ credit card to travel charges for the girls.
Both Kiffin and Tennessee will likely get a punitive slap on the wrist and scolded, with Reaves taking the brunt of the punishment; however, some of the fans and alumni of the university might use this as leverage to get current Athletic Director Mike Hamilton fired. Also, fans are bitter about Hamilton spending tons of money on the basketball team when Tennessee is considered a “football-first” athletic program. Not to mention, he’s the one who hired Baby Kiff in the first place.
Sometimes you just have to feel bad for a university and its coach no matter who your favorite team is, and right now, I feel sorry for Tennessee fans and Derek Dooley…not Kiffin, but the people he fooled into believing him.
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serves you right ut vols for hiring kiffin in the first place
Yeah because we clearly knew he was going to be a bust. You’re an idiot and that was just a dumb statement. The hire at the time seemed like a good idea. He was a good recruit and brought with him Oregeron (arguable the BEST recruiter in college football) and his father the BEST NFL defensive coordinator. All signs pointed to good things but clearly that wasn’t true.
It is not Tennessee fault they got a bad coach like Lame Kiffen the important thing is to keep the coach you got yall have a great coach he will take the football program a long way maybe not a championship but some very good season. I hate that dooley and the players now will have to suffer because of what has happened in the past i would rather hang kiffin for it and not the new players but they don’t allow me in the ncaa hanging board Sorry people . fatboy as AD not going to happen ROLL TIDE
It is ultimately the responsibility of the school. They are the coaches employer. That is no different than any other employer who suffers for the actions of the people they hire. The school needs to make sure they are not just hiring a good coach and recruiter but a man of good character. They failed miserably and they had plenty of indication of that from Kiffen’s recent past, esp his firing in Oakland, and yet they chose to ignore that. If the school is not held responsible that opens the door for schools to hire crooks who break the rules and bring in exceptional talent and when caught simply fire the guy, get off scott free, and have a wealth of talent enrolled in school for the next coach. There must be consequences for UT.
Agree that the school is ultimately responsible but disagree that there was plenty of evidence of Kiffin’s lack of character – I suppose your argument is built on anything Al Davis says must be true. He’s solid as a rock, right?
I could be mistaken but wasn’t it a well known fact that the Raiders FIRED Kiffin for ummmm LIEING ?
Naw I’m pretty sure it was their shitty record. like 5 wins in a season in a half or something like that
Jon, a few thoughts from a typical Vol fan (I think anyway) in order by appearance above:
1) “slap on the wrist” – I hope it is. Yes, the people involved (and don’t kid yourself, Orgeron as recruiting coordinator had his hands in this) are no longer there and we hope that counts for something. But the NCAA can still invoke the dreaded “lack of institutional control”, which is a major violation. Everyone thought it weird that Reaves (who is Kiffen’s brother-in-law) was not only left behind when Kiffen made his middle of the night exodus to SC, but also that he had no clue of even any discussion about it. Talk about your family disfunction.
2)Those fans out to fire Mike Hamilton – yes, there’s a group out to do that, but it’s not because he spent money on basketball. Most of it is because he fired Phil Fulmer and they’re still bent on revenge. Athletic Dept. money was not spent on renovating Thompson – Boling Arena or constructing Pratt Pavilion I can assure you – that is all raised through capital expansion projects funded by donors. In fact, the two big things that are in Mike Hamilton’s corner are 1) He hired Bruce Pearl and 2) The UT Athletic Dept. is one of only 14 D-1 programs operating in the black. In fact, the UTAD gives a sizable check back to the University each year. Mike is a good man involved positively in the community that has done well upgrading facilities and running dept. profitably.
3) Yes, Vol fans were seduced by the sizzle (and I was one of them). Give Kiffen his credit, the guy can recruit. But at what price? His attitude is a “just win, baby” philosophy where the end justifies the means. Sure, he brought the players into Rocky Top but the damage he leaves in his wake afterwards leaves one waking up with a bad case of buyer’s remorse. Just look at the Nukeese Richardson and Bryce Brown fiascos. Character stands the test of time. We have a guy at the wheel now that is all about long-term process, not the short-term sizzle. Most of Vol Nation, because of Kiffen, is solidly behind CDD’s building plan that has Vol Nation rising.
Great insight. Thanks for posting your information.
I say throw more on Kiffin & get rid of ADHamilton… that joker pisses me off aand he looks, acts, talks, & walks like a politician. We don’t need anymore politics. He killed off seats inside Neyland, hired Lame and those POS and is slowly killing my beloved Vols! Run him outta town on a rail like he tried to do Phil!!! PHIL FOR A.D.!!!!!!!!!
I think many people agree with you.
I don’t think anyone would complain if Phil Fulmer became AD. He’d do great.
Kiffin deserved a high profile position because of what again?
5 wins and 15 losses as a HEAD COACH?
He was who we thought he was.
Kiffin can’t walk and chew gum @ the same time. Why any team would get him to be their head coach, is unbeknowst to me?
And, who is that lil’ blonde in that picture? Have mercy! That’s a lil’ honey. Lord forgive me, for I have just sinned.
Kiffin is many things, but uncoordinated is not one of them. Kiffin’s story is quite similar to the HC that won a national championship this year – coordinator at a top school (Chizik – Texas, Kiffin – USC) and losing record as Head Coach (Chizik – Iowa St., Kiffin – USC). Kiffin was also recruiting coordinator for some of USC’s best classes. A top recruiter is a must for UT – that’s why Fulmer did well. Had energy & drive to keep up with Saban & Meyer. Add his Dad, a NFL legend, and Orgeron, a recruiting machine, and you have why he was hired. As for the “lil’ blond”, out of respect for her privacy not gonna say anything except she graduated shortly after this hit. Suffice it to say that every orange-blooded hillbilly north of Atlanta was asking that same question you did.
Oops, need to proof first before sending – Kiffin’s HC stop was Oakland Raiders, not USC.
Kiffin is a snake. Yes, he’s a great recruiter, and yes, he’s even not half bad as an OC, but he’s an unethical snake and Tennessee knew that before they hired him. They made a deal with the devil because they felt their specific problem was that they were getting killed in recruiting by the influx of super-elite coaches into the SEC.
As for Chizik, I just think you have to wait and see on him. He was a pretty good DC, but you just can’t read much into last season because Cam Newton was a once-in-a-generation player, and he was the singular difference between an NC and 7-5 season.
My prediction is that the great 2011 recruiting classes at Auburn and Georgia won’t pan out for one very big reason: Great coaching matters. If recruiting great players were enough, Ron Zook would still be coaching at Florida.
no need to feel sorry. kiff was one and done at ut and he’s usc’s problem now. so is that ape, orgeron. ut has a great coach at the helm.
Lane and Reeves really screwed UT, but Lane my find himself out of work after all of this. The “Failure to Monitor” charge that is being used by the NCAA travels with the coach and will follow him to USC and impact the USC program if the NCAA rules it a major violation. With a need AD at USC and the pending appeal by USC they might throw Lane to the wolves if it means a reduction in penalties.
I think the BIG problem is the football is being hit with “Failure to Monitor” and the basketball program is going to get hit because Pearl lied to the NCAA. Baseball is expected to also receive a letter of investigation, but does not appear there is any major violations involving the baseball program. UT has never been caught doing anything wrong and has always cooperated with the NCAA. The NCAA could look at football, baseball, & basketball as three separate programs and that would be good thing for UT athletics. IF the NCAA combines the football and basketball violations then I think Mike Hamilton is out of a job and UT is looking at “Lack of Institutional Control”. Hamilton probably should be out of a job anyway.
Dooley and the kids in the program will end up paying for other peoples mistakes, and that is the sad part.