UT4EVER
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While Phil Fulmer fielded some outstanding teams in Knoxville, the Vols became inconsistent in the past few seasons in the SEC. Enter Lane Kiffin, who was fired earlier this season as coach of the Oakland Raiders. Kiffin's most recent college job was offensive coordinator at USC in 2005 and '06.
Lane Kiffins wants to be able to go anywhere in the country for talent.
"It's a really exciting time for me and my family," Kiffin said last week. "We've been there two weeks now. I've been on campus for three of those days, but we've been everywhere and the people have been great not just the state of Tennessee but the whole Southeast."
To be successful at Tennessee, you have to have a broad recruiting base. Kiffin will recruit the state of Tennessee, but he knows two things have to improve. First, the Vols must do a better job in their backyard. Second, he wants Tennessee to have the ability to go anywhere in the country to land a prospect.
"We have to start with Tennessee, and that's what we did the first two days: I went to as many places as I could," he said. "We've got to develop a plan to keep guys in-state, and that's where our focus is all the way.
"We are setting up a system and a coaching staff where we can go get a player anywhere in the country. We will go after the best players that fit into our system. There should be nowhere that we shouldn't go."
Kiffin speaks highly of his days at USC with Pete Carroll.
"In six years with him, from the first day I got there, he took me aside and said I'm going to walk you through this whole thing, all the steps we take, how we build this," he said. "He took me through the whole process as if he was preparing me to be a head coach the whole time. He brought me in and said, 'This why we do this, this is why we do this on offense, defense and special teams. This is how we use the media in this case; this is how we're going to recruit.' So it was really valuable to have a head coach that really taught me how to do it instead of just doing it himself."
While he was at USC, another member of the staff was defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron. Orgeron feels Kiffin is the perfect fit for Tennessee.
"Lane was our national recruiter [at USC]," Orgeron said. "He has tremendous energy and a great eye for talent. His dad [Monte, who will be on the staff] is best defensive coordinator in football history, and he has learned so much. Lane Kiffin was born to be a football coach. He's a leader with a great offensive mind."
Monte Kiffin will join his son in Knoxville as soon the season ends for Tampa Bay. Getting his father away from the Bucs will be Kiffin's biggest recruiting coup.
"Being an offensive coach as I am, I had to take a look at the other side of the ball because I didn't want to spend a lot of time over there [on defense] because of all the recruiting and all the things that go into being the head coach at Tennessee," Kiffin said. "We went and found what we thought was the best coach and it helped that he had the same last name."
Lane Kiffins wants to be able to go anywhere in the country for talent.
"It's a really exciting time for me and my family," Kiffin said last week. "We've been there two weeks now. I've been on campus for three of those days, but we've been everywhere and the people have been great not just the state of Tennessee but the whole Southeast."
To be successful at Tennessee, you have to have a broad recruiting base. Kiffin will recruit the state of Tennessee, but he knows two things have to improve. First, the Vols must do a better job in their backyard. Second, he wants Tennessee to have the ability to go anywhere in the country to land a prospect.
"We have to start with Tennessee, and that's what we did the first two days: I went to as many places as I could," he said. "We've got to develop a plan to keep guys in-state, and that's where our focus is all the way.
"We are setting up a system and a coaching staff where we can go get a player anywhere in the country. We will go after the best players that fit into our system. There should be nowhere that we shouldn't go."
Kiffin speaks highly of his days at USC with Pete Carroll.
"In six years with him, from the first day I got there, he took me aside and said I'm going to walk you through this whole thing, all the steps we take, how we build this," he said. "He took me through the whole process as if he was preparing me to be a head coach the whole time. He brought me in and said, 'This why we do this, this is why we do this on offense, defense and special teams. This is how we use the media in this case; this is how we're going to recruit.' So it was really valuable to have a head coach that really taught me how to do it instead of just doing it himself."
While he was at USC, another member of the staff was defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron. Orgeron feels Kiffin is the perfect fit for Tennessee.
"Lane was our national recruiter [at USC]," Orgeron said. "He has tremendous energy and a great eye for talent. His dad [Monte, who will be on the staff] is best defensive coordinator in football history, and he has learned so much. Lane Kiffin was born to be a football coach. He's a leader with a great offensive mind."
Monte Kiffin will join his son in Knoxville as soon the season ends for Tampa Bay. Getting his father away from the Bucs will be Kiffin's biggest recruiting coup.
"Being an offensive coach as I am, I had to take a look at the other side of the ball because I didn't want to spend a lot of time over there [on defense] because of all the recruiting and all the things that go into being the head coach at Tennessee," Kiffin said. "We went and found what we thought was the best coach and it helped that he had the same last name."
