SEC columnist offers comparison between Lane Kiffin and Bruce Pearl
By Keith Farner
Published:
Lane Kiffin and Bruce Pearl are 2 of the most notable personalities in the SEC, and insiders like USA Today columnist Blake Toppmeyer, who recalled during a recent episode of “The Paul Finebaum Show” some of the similarities and differences between the former Tennessee coaches.
“Let’s use Tennessee fans as an example who experienced Lane in his younger days as well as Bruce Pearl. To some extent, you would lump Kiffin and Pearl together in terms of personality. In reality, I think that that really couldn’t be further from the truth,” Toppmeyer said, via On3 Sports. “Bruce is the extrovert whereas Lane really is kind of like a low key introvert.”
Toppmeyer explained that Kiffin, deep down, has become more of a thought leader in the SEC.
“I think he’s a cerebral guy. In some ways he’s an understated guy. (Kiffin) is certainly a mature person now more than he was more than a decade ago when he arrived in the SEC,” he said. “Interestingly, within the last year or two, I think Lane has emerged as a voice of reason out of the SEC which is fascinating. If you would have said that 10 years ago, I don’t know that anyone would have believed that. I really think he’s positioned himself that way.”
However, don’t let Kiffin’s behavior on Twitter distract you from the real Kiffin.
“He’s not really in person what you see on Twitter. For all the quips and funny stuff, a lot of that’s like a couple words and an emoji,” Toppmeyer said. “In person, this is someone who’s very cerebral, very rational, and, at times, very low key and introverted.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
