When you look at it, it seems Tenn. NEEDS O more than LSU needs O, so they opened the check book. Neither Kiffen knows the SEC recruiting paths, they just don't have those relationships. O has it. So, Tenn. needs him more. They get a good DL coach immediately, which they need. Monty is getting up there age wise, so he helps his son establish the program, then rides off into the sunset in a couple of years, O sees that opportunity out there. All the cards were in Tenn. favor when you look at it, from O's perspective, or from Kiffen. And LSU saves some dough. That's my .02.
don't mean to steal the thread, but do you guys think the Tampa 2 will work in the SEC? Kiffin never had to guard a spread before.
Arnsbarger did pretty good at LSU. I think Monty will do good. I'm not sure about Lane, for the long run. Al Davis as much as said he was lied to by Lane in his interview, Raiders did poor under Lane, Raiders did a lot better quickly after Lane left. We'll see.
Not sure, but Kiffin is one hell of a DC. The biggest question for me is how quick will he be able to adjust to the college game? Once he does that he will get them playing D whether it's the Tampa 2 or something else. I wonder how long he sticks around also?
You're assuming Kiffin will be successful at Tenn. Knoxville is a tough gig with very little in state recruiting base. They might all be out of a job again in a few years.
Oh No was national recruiter of the year about 4 years ago. His most successful recruiting at Ole Miss was with JC and transfer players. Not necessarily a good way to build a program and not something LSU needs at this point. Stories about his tenure at Ole Miss still linger in Memphis. Assistants arrested for DUI coming from a recruiting event in Oxford; failure to “build a fence around Memphis” as promised at several Ole Miss events in Memphis; scores of his Ole Miss recruits never had a chance to make it to campus (grades); and quit or transferred after they got there. There are some good players at Ole Miss, and Nutt is a good motivator – Ole Miss success is more a result of what Nutt brought than what Oh No left. UT can have him and good luck to them.
This echoes much of what is already on this thread, but I definitely agree with this and still kind of wonder what the fascination is with this guy. You look at what Nutt did with his players at O'P', and then look at what he's done with the Saints, and the fact that this guy was beyond Saban-esque with his open playing of the teams, and I side with Sean Payton and most of these posters. Yeah, he was a "reknowned" recruiter, with some decent pedigree, but I don't think this staff is hurting in the recruiting department. They need X's and O's and passion and fire. You can find that elsewhere than "Coach" O, and I think over time, even his recruits will see that for the most part, the guy's not that stout in the coaching department. And, I think that Tenn will see this soon.
Im told he promised his son and Tenn 2-3 years. I dont think it will be much more because he was already close to retiring from Tampa. The desire to help his son become successful was a strong draw. And Clair, I was told Tuesday night, the day the story broke about O coming to LSU, that Orgeron had already told Kiffen on Tuesday afternoon he was accepting the Tenn offer. Orgeron told Tenn he never accepted the LSU job despite reports to the contrary. Orgerons agent may have told LSU they proposed an acceptable offer but Orgeron has been adamant with Tenn that he never accepted the job. Its all agent semantics and while LSU may have presented an offer that was acceptable, Orgeron himself never told Les Miles he would actually take it. Here is a little more clarification on how it went down. Tenn's original offer to Orgeron was approx 400K which would have been a nice raise from his 225K Saints salary. The saints countered close to the Tenn offer and Orgerons agent told Tenn it would take 600K for him to even consider. Kiffin had to seek approval for offering this kind of money and received it sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. Once the offer was increased Orgeron quickly accepted to Kiffin himself. Of course Orgerons agent was in the background bird working LSU and the Saints for possible fall back but Orgeron told Kiffin from day one that he wanted the opportunity at Tenn if everything could be worked out. He also told Kiffin the only way he would leave the Saints was for a DC position (he was thinking Syracuse) or a unique opportunity like Tenn was offering. LSU was offering neither of these. I really think we averted a possible staff problem. I never understood the infatuation with Orgeron and I think he may have been pushed on Miles by some "powers that be" at LSU. It wasnt a good fit and Chavis was not getting a warm fuzzy having Orgeron possibly forced on him. This was a blessing.
