Don't really see it that way. Whether Kiffin talks or not, we're still big underdogs in this game.
I think Kiffin has had a brilliant off-season and waged superb psychological warfare against several programs this year. In getting under their skin, he's gotten his shingle out in the recruiting business letting kids know that it isn't sleepy time in Knoxville anymore. He's gotten magnificent assistance from the likes of Finebaum, Saban, Slive, Meyer, and Spurrier. We thank you for that help.
A 5-7 program that should never have been on the national radar got on it thanks in large part to the homer/gomer Deep South SEC media and a few coaches who got their itty bitty feewings hurt.
I love it. This isn't about love your neighbor. We are Tennessee and quite frankly we see the game differently than the rest of the SEC. Those idiots down South may compare football to religion. But at Tennessee, we think of it as a war played out over 100 yards. That is the influence of General Neyland passed down from his time at Texas A&M and West Point. We're not here to play nice. We're not here to pray with you. And we damn sure aren't here to be your bosom buddies. We're here to destroy you, to render you as worthless on-the-field as the majority of your fanbases are off-of-it.
It is cold-hearted and cold-blooded. But that is the game as Tennessee played it under Neyland and other coaches and I think we're heading back to that viewpoint now under Kiffin.
It is about time we got a coach in here who thinks victory is more important than being sociable with fellow coaches during SEC Media Days. I don't know how Kiffin will end up doing record-wise. But I can say I haven't enjoyed an off-season as much since 1998. I hope the next act is as strong as the opening.