From www.wwltv.com Comments 1| Recommend 1 [SIZE=+2]Handwerger: Raiders may have been right in canning Kiffin [/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]03:29 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 [/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com Sports Writer[/SIZE] Maybe Al Davis wasn’t out of his mind after all. When Davis, the legendary and off-the-wall owner of the Oakland Raiders, fired Lane Kiffin in the middle of this past season, it was wondered aloud if he was too quick in yanking the head coach off the stage. The Associated Press Tennessee Head Coach Lane Kiffin shouts instructions during the Vols spring game. Now, months into Kiffin’s tenure as the University of Tennessee’s head coach, we’re finding that Davis might not have pulled the trigger soon enough. Kiffin is a disaster. He’s flaunting the way normal SEC head coaches conduct business daily, committing “minor” and “secondary” infractions twice now and spouting off about rivals like it’s a requirement of the job. Yes, he’s keeping Tennessee in the news. But that’s like saying crime is keeping New Orleans’ brand name out there. Yeah, and we see how much everyone likes the guy who said that. If you’re an LSU fan, you’re breathing a sigh of relief right now. That’s one fewer SEC program that’s going to legitimately challenge you year in, year out. The latest infraction was reported by the university this week when an assistant posted a recruit’s name on a Twitter account. OK, so it’s not like Kiffin and his staff are breaking big rules, such as buying cars and TV’s for athletes. Nevertheless, his staff reflects on him, he reflects on the university and he reflects on a conference that already is believed by many outside the region to be a rogue organization. Kiffin and his staff already have been banned from recruiting at one high school by its coach, though the Pahokee High coach finally relented after continuous apologies by Kiffin. Is that going to become the norm? Break a rule or spout off about a coach and then apologize? What else has Kiffin done? He accused Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer of cheating during recruiting; He set up a mock news conference in Neyland Stadium, using a fog machine; Several times he has mentioned the names of recruits, a no-no with the NCAA until the recruit is signed. And at this point, I think it’s fair to say those are only the violations we know about. Kiffin should worry about winning games first before becoming the SEC's leading tabloid topic. Maybe Davis wasn’t so out of line in getting rid of Kiffin. It’s seemingly only a matter of time before Tennessee does the same ...and there's no mention of Pahokee comments, plunger rapists receiving scholarships, etc. Maybe WWL should read this thread for "The rest of the story."
Kiffin may fire the entire NCAA. Apparently he's like the Donald with the firings. I don't know anyone from Tennessee but I wonder what kind of reaction the UT fans are having at this point. It seems that he started out as a joke, but now he's like that uncle at the family reunion that gets drunk and feels up your wife when you aren't looking.
Its not as bad as you would think. Some of Kiffins previous actions certainly caused turmoil for the fan base and administration but this one will go down with little fuss. Kiffin has been on a short leash for some time now but this violation was committed by a new employee who was performing administrative duties, not Kiffin himself. The continuing negative national publicity cant be good though. It seems that bit by bit Tennessee is being embarrassed and they should be.
Had a good conversation just a few minutes ago and here is the latest. The S&C coach that Kiffin hired away from Spurrier has been fired as of late last night. It has been in the works for a few days/week or so but it boils down to a conflict in philosophy between Kiffin/Orgeron and this coach about how to work out the players. This guy was touted as a huge staff get for Kiffin and one of the coaches Kiffin bragged about stealing from Spurrier. To have this type of conflict so early is a big problem and very bad. The players and their parents really liked this guy and it will not sit well with them especially as they are right in the middle of an off season program. It seems like the driving force behind this move was Orgeron more than Kiffin. Supposedly Orgeron went crying to Kiffin about how he disagreed with the work out methods and Kiffin backed him up by giving an ultimatum to the coach. The coach said no and he was fired. There is a little more smoke around this fire too. I will hold off until it can be confirmed but this may have been a setup deal to get rid of the S&C coach for other reasons. Maybe more to come on this later. Another situation has developed with a player who was involved in a shooting. Brent Vinson is about to be let go. More details will come forward soon but it seems like this kids involvement was big and he has some pretty bad friends. More bad publicity for Kiffin and the Vols. The circus has gone three ring in Knoxville.
Rumors are flying that Smith would not follow out demands to break NCAA rules. I wouldn't be surprised if Smith asked to be fired so he could get payed on the rest of his contract. Keep us updated...
that would be interesting. and more interesting if he would go to the ncaa with what he knows. :grin: are there any sec fans, other than the vol fans, that dont want to see tenn hit with sanctions? (probably not!)
LOL, Todd Helton on Lane Kiffen. SportingNews.com - The Sporting Blog Q: "Do you think Lane Kiffen understands SEC Football?" Helton: "He's about to!" this is coming from an ex vol who was Peyton Mannings back up.
