volfan1231
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Alabama comes to Knoxville this weekend to take on the Volunteers. I almost feel sorry for the Crimson Tide, Almost! Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?
The year is 2008 and Tennessee is coming off another losing season under head coach Phillip Fulmer. This season marked the ten year anniversary of Tennessee's 1998 BCS National Championship. On November 3, Fulmer announced that, after winning some 150 games over his career, he would step down from coaching his alma mater at the end of the season.
What would Tennessee do? Where would they turn? And who could they get who could ever feel the shoes of one of the greatest coaches to ever coach in college football? Fulmer was an excellent coach and a recruiter that was 2nd to none. Watch the movie "The Blind Side" and even in it they recognise Fulmer's recruiting ability.
Tennessee set their eyes on a young gun by the name of Lane Kiffin. The son of long time defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The University of Tennessee felt they needed a new energy and a way to revive their program and felt the best way to obtain that was to hire someone young, popular and could relate to not only players but recruits as well.
Tennessee hired Lane Kiffin... Kiffin, 33, was hired by Tennessee and became the youngest active head coach in FBS history. He quickly went to work recruiting and even somewhat revived the program going 7-5 (7-6 with bowl loss) in his 1st tenure as head coach.
Kiffin led the Vols to a 76 record in 2009, an improvement from their 57 record in*2008. The Vols increased their offensive output by more than 60 percent in 2009 with Kiffin calling the offensive plays.*Highlights included wins over South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. However the season was marred by losses to UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss, as well as a 23 point blow-out loss to Virginia Tech in the*Chick-fil-A Bowl. After one season as coach, Kiffin left the Vols during the 2010 recruiting season to accept the head coaching job at theUniversity of Southern California.
Tennessees hatred is not just based on his jilting of the program, because Kiffin didnt just leave. As*USC*athletic director Pat Haden did to him, Kiffin humiliated a program and fanbase that had slowly come to embrace.
However, his greatest travesty was firing the staff of the entire football program, many of whom had been with the program for decades. Kiffin even pulled the scholarships of the graduate assistants.
But he could recruit. In just a few short months, he pulled a top ten recruiting class. And he could coach. *
Then on January 10, 2010, Pete Carroll left USC to be head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Two days later, Kiffin announced that he would be replacing him in a one-minute press conference.*
Kiffin without a word and without a notice took his ball in the middle of the night like a coward and went to USC. He was Lane Kiffin the son of Monte Kiffin and he didn't owe anybody an explanation and his pride, arrogance and complete disrespect for a proud program shattered in one year everything Fulmer accomplished in his 16 years.
After Kiffin the rest is history.....
Saturday for Volunteer fans will be more than just a football game. Saturday will be more than just a rivalry. Saturday will be Tennessee's shot at reckoning.
For the 1st time in 5 years Lane Kiffin will come face to face with the furious fan base he created and a program he helped nearly destroy. Neyland Stadium is one of the 5 loudest stadiums in all of college football. Saturdays in Knoxville are normally filled with screaming Vol fans cheering on their team but this Saturday the sounds, the atmosphere and the energy will be completely different.
Knoxville might be a crazy place to be this weekend so get ready and be prepared.
#GoBigOrange
#ReckoningAwaits
The year is 2008 and Tennessee is coming off another losing season under head coach Phillip Fulmer. This season marked the ten year anniversary of Tennessee's 1998 BCS National Championship. On November 3, Fulmer announced that, after winning some 150 games over his career, he would step down from coaching his alma mater at the end of the season.
What would Tennessee do? Where would they turn? And who could they get who could ever feel the shoes of one of the greatest coaches to ever coach in college football? Fulmer was an excellent coach and a recruiter that was 2nd to none. Watch the movie "The Blind Side" and even in it they recognise Fulmer's recruiting ability.
Tennessee set their eyes on a young gun by the name of Lane Kiffin. The son of long time defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The University of Tennessee felt they needed a new energy and a way to revive their program and felt the best way to obtain that was to hire someone young, popular and could relate to not only players but recruits as well.
Tennessee hired Lane Kiffin... Kiffin, 33, was hired by Tennessee and became the youngest active head coach in FBS history. He quickly went to work recruiting and even somewhat revived the program going 7-5 (7-6 with bowl loss) in his 1st tenure as head coach.
Kiffin led the Vols to a 76 record in 2009, an improvement from their 57 record in*2008. The Vols increased their offensive output by more than 60 percent in 2009 with Kiffin calling the offensive plays.*Highlights included wins over South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. However the season was marred by losses to UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss, as well as a 23 point blow-out loss to Virginia Tech in the*Chick-fil-A Bowl. After one season as coach, Kiffin left the Vols during the 2010 recruiting season to accept the head coaching job at theUniversity of Southern California.
Tennessees hatred is not just based on his jilting of the program, because Kiffin didnt just leave. As*USC*athletic director Pat Haden did to him, Kiffin humiliated a program and fanbase that had slowly come to embrace.
However, his greatest travesty was firing the staff of the entire football program, many of whom had been with the program for decades. Kiffin even pulled the scholarships of the graduate assistants.
But he could recruit. In just a few short months, he pulled a top ten recruiting class. And he could coach. *
Then on January 10, 2010, Pete Carroll left USC to be head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Two days later, Kiffin announced that he would be replacing him in a one-minute press conference.*
Kiffin without a word and without a notice took his ball in the middle of the night like a coward and went to USC. He was Lane Kiffin the son of Monte Kiffin and he didn't owe anybody an explanation and his pride, arrogance and complete disrespect for a proud program shattered in one year everything Fulmer accomplished in his 16 years.
After Kiffin the rest is history.....
Saturday for Volunteer fans will be more than just a football game. Saturday will be more than just a rivalry. Saturday will be Tennessee's shot at reckoning.
For the 1st time in 5 years Lane Kiffin will come face to face with the furious fan base he created and a program he helped nearly destroy. Neyland Stadium is one of the 5 loudest stadiums in all of college football. Saturdays in Knoxville are normally filled with screaming Vol fans cheering on their team but this Saturday the sounds, the atmosphere and the energy will be completely different.
Knoxville might be a crazy place to be this weekend so get ready and be prepared.
#GoBigOrange
#ReckoningAwaits
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