on a side note, its nice to see we have former vols on here.
Just for clarification, I was on the track & field tem.
If I were UM and wanted to use Kiffins words against him, just before heading onto the field, I would remind the players that we playing UT today and ask them to watch a short DVD of Kiffin running his mouth about singing Rocky Atop after beating the Gators in BHG stadium.
I would then encourage them play smart, play hard and have fun.
To give you an example of how opposing coaches words and action can be used against them, one year we had a dual meet with bama in Tuscaloosa. The coach that coached me was in charge of travel arrangements and asked the bama coaching staff for a hotel a recommendation. Remember, this was way before Trip advisor. When we got to our hotel it was something out of psycho- The Moon Winks Inn. The roaches were huge, the place smelled like a high school locker room- it was awful. We were used to staying at Hyatts or Holiday Inn at worst.
At the team morning before the meet, our coaches told us they had heard reports that the team felt hotel was unacceptable and agreed with us. The coaches told us that the bama coaching staff had recommended that dump for us and we should demonstrate our displeasure on the track. We beat them very badly that day on their home track. Track and field doesnt have the following of football, but this was in the early 70s and UT beating bama in anything was very good news.
Point is, athletes of the caliber playing at Div I schools dont need much motivation and the opposing teams should never give their opponents locker room board material and THE COACHES SHOULD DO LIKEWISE.
Kiffin needed to make some noise for the program, and signal that it was moving in a different direction, but bravado that he cant hope to enforce is dumb.
Kiffin needs to point out to potential recruits that his staff has NFL experience and UT will implement NFL style offenses and defenses. If a high school kid wants to learn NFL style football, come to UT. If you are a defensive player, practicing against a NFL style offense will help showcase if you have NFL talent and if you get drafted, you wont have to switch from defending a spread offense to a NFL style offense.
How many successful QBs has UF produced for the NFL? Danny Werful was a great college QB and is a wonderful human, but his inability to throw deep kept him from being a player in the NFL. I dont think Tebow will make it as a NFL QB. Running QBs in the NFL dont stay healthy long, and Tebows long passes are often wobbly floaters.
Whatever happens, Kiffin better keep getting A+ recruits from all over the country. UT must recruit nationally, while UF has plenty of grade A talent with a 300 mile range of Gainesville and a huge base of high school coaches with a loyalties to UF.
If I were 64 high school drop back QB with a rocket arm, I know where I could get some playing time in front of 100,000+ NEXT year and it aint in Gainesville.
