How can Kiffin take a bad Old Miss team and get the players to buy in?

[JBVolunteer]

Dulmer only won lots of games when he had Cutty. Sorry - Kiffin is simply a better coach.

Fulmer was a HC for 16 years. Kiffin is a good offensive play caller but is very much unproven as a journeyman head coach. His offense is fun to watch but he has never successfully built and sustained a program. Let’s see what he does at Ole Miss in 3-4 years before we crown him as being better than Fulmer.

 

[landscapingvol]

He was the last UT coach in a generation that had Bama on the ropes until the last play of the game where Mountain Cody ran over two walkon UT OLs.

Incorrect, 2015 UT lost on Bama’s final possession

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Fulmer was a HC for 16 years. Kiffin is a good offensive play caller but is very much unproven as a journeyman head coach. His offense is fun to watch but he has never successfully built and sustained a program. Let’s see what he does at Ole Miss in 3-4 years before we crown him as being better than Fulmer.

I find myself agreeing with your conclusion while disagreeing with how you got to it.

Kiffin is more established than you think. He has been a head coach for 11 seasons over a 14 year time frame, spanning both the NFL and college ball. That's only a handful of years less than Fulmer was a head coach.

I would not call him a journeyman. He hasn't been that since his stint at USC. Between Oakland, the Vols and the Trojans, he had his "growing up" years. At this point, he is what we see. He will continue to grow a bit as a coach and person, we all do if we're trying, but the grand arc of his developmental years is complete.

Conclusion: he is not, and never will be, a championship coach in the Power 5. Second-tier, sure. Never close to Coach Fulmer's accomplishments.

 

[DaddyChad]

Culture is a weird thing. It’s soooo hard to create it. Lane Kiffin comes in with an edge and that makes players play with a chip on their shoulder. Pruitt comes in as more of a “old money” guy and it doesn’t immediately motivate players. Not to say it won’t, but it hasn’t.

Pruitt is dumb. Comes off as dumb. Fine as players coach at a position. Not a guy that inspires respect.

 

[Vol8188]

So you had no problem with Kiffin bolting after 12 months at UT?

I’m prefer he didn’t, but would I rehire him? Without hesitation

 

[Vol8188]

They got blown out by Bama & Fla. Fought for a while vs bama but still lost by 2 TD's which was kinda how we played this year. Hang in for a half then the opps run off. Fla was up 41-21 in the 3rd i think thats a blowout

2 tds is not a blow out

 

[Orange Death]

Interesting fact: 2 of 3 first year head coaches in the sec had better records than CJP this season. The third one beat us head to head.

So each of these teams was terrible a year ago. Each fired their head coach. Yet each was still better than UT this season

Leach: 4-7
Kiffin: 4-5
Pittman :3-7 (beat UT)

Dude, those are all terrible too. What is your point? They're better than Pruitt? Ok. But they're not good. We don't want them either.

 

[Orange Death]

They are still bad but they can score now. The players are all in. Our team doesn't seem to be very motivated. This is his first year there and they stunk it up last season. They even beat UK.

I'm no Pruitt fan, but Kiffin has A LOT more head coaching experience than him. I would expect Kiffin to perform better in this area.

Still don't want him.

 

[901 Orange]

2 tds is not a blow out

So if thats not a blow out then we only got blown out 3 times this year with 5 top 10 teams on the schedule

 

[VaBornVol]

We’ll all get to see what Year 2 Kiffin can do against Year 4 Pruitt soon enough.
I think we all know how that’s gonna play out...

 

[VFL-82-JP]

We’ll all get to see what Year 2 Kiffin can do against Year 4 Pruitt soon enough.
I think we all know how that’s gonna play out...

I don't think any of us know that.

Not a single person here can predict the future with accuracy.

So we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[djohnnyg]

If UT has a problem hiring Freeze or Leach no way would we rehire Kiffin. They are not the same people..but they all have "baggage." Kiffin burned us by leaving and embarrassed us. Made us look bad. That will never be forgiven. I can't believe his name still comes up as a potential coach for us. UT wants squeaky clean guys with good reps cuz it still fashions itself as a school that is "better than that." Leach? No...too weird. Freeze? No. He has a stain on his record with the hookers. We're too good for that. Winning is not the main goal at UT....like it is at Bama..Georgia and Florida. UT brass prefers winning over losing I'm sure...but not at all costs.

 

[Illinoisvolfan2]

I just saw old piss just extended his contract

 

[VaBornVol]

I don't think any of us know that.

Not a single person here can predict the future with accuracy.

So we'll just have to wait and see.

You’re right, I shouldn’t have said “know,” I should have said “expect.”
What I do know is that every single aspect of this team will have to improve immediately and drastically for me to expect anything but the standard Pruitt double digit loss

 

[Vol8188]

So if thats not a blow out then we only got blown out 3 times this year with 5 top 10 teams on the schedule

4 times. Kentucky, Bama, Georgia, A&M. And yes, losing by 2 scores is not a “blow out”.

 

[JBVolunteer]

I find myself agreeing with your conclusion while disagreeing with how you got to it.

Kiffin is more established than you think. He has been a head coach for 11 seasons over a 14 year time frame, spanning both the NFL and college ball. That's only a handful of years less than Fulmer was a head coach.

I would not call him a journeyman. He hasn't been that since his stint at USC. Between Oakland, the Vols and the Trojans, he had his "growing up" years. At this point, he is what we see. He will continue to grow a bit as a coach and person, we all do if we're trying, but the grand arc of his developmental years is complete.

Conclusion: he is not, and never will be, a championship coach in the Power 5. Second-tier, sure. Never close to Coach Fulmer's accomplishments.

Oakland- 1 and 1/3rd season
Tennessee- 1 season
USC- 3 1/2 seasons
FAU- 3 seasons
Ole Miss- 1 season

Im not taking anything away from the man. He deserves to be a head coach and I’m interested to see if he can successfully build a program but so far he either gets fired quickly or bolts for sexier gigs. If he wants to be considered among the great head coaches; he needs to stay somewhere and build.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Oakland- 1 and 1/3rd season
Tennessee- 1 season
USC- 3 1/2 seasons
FAU- 3 seasons
Ole Miss- 1 season

Im not taking anything away from the man. He deserves to be a head coach and I’m interested to see if he can successfully build a program but so far he either gets fired quickly or bolts for sexier gigs. If he wants to be considered among the great head coaches; he needs to stay somewhere and build.

That failure to put down roots, to really undertake the hard work of establishing and growing a program, that's a part of his immaturity showing.

Maybe one day he will settle down. Maybe Ole Miss is the place. And maybe, just maybe, he will achieve more there than he could anywhere he has been so far.

But there's a reason he jumps and gets tossed aside so often. And it's not because he doesn't know the Xs and Os.

 

[37620VOL]

Kiffin simplifies things allowing his guys to play faster. Kiffin will run the same pass plays...like spurrier....out of many formations. chaney should take notes!

Chaney should have that playbook in his attic somewhere.

 

[Tnphil]

I LOL when folks say his defense is bad in year 1. That is one reason Luke was fired...he recruited offense (evidence how well the offense has been in Kiffin's first year) very well but not defense....If in 3 years Kiffin's defense looks as bad as Pruitt's year 3 defense was and Pruitt being some defensive savant as some say then you might can say Kiffin not getting it done....He just had a top 20 recruiting class and we'll see next season how we stack up against Ole Miss.

 

[slickmo3]

Culture is a weird thing. It’s soooo hard to create it. Lane Kiffin comes in with an edge and that makes players play with a chip on their shoulder. Pruitt comes in as more of a “old money” guy and it doesn’t immediately motivate players. Not to say it won’t, but it hasn’t.

if it hasnt after 3 seasons then it never will

 

[volfeeva]

I've never seen anyone accomplish so little as Kiffin has yet occupy so much real estate inside Vol fans head. Someone call Dr. Phil for some serious couch time. Long after Covid-19 is gone, the incurable Gruden/Kiffin fixation disease will still be running through the hills of east Tn.

 

[Vol8188]

Oakland- 1 and 1/3rd season
Tennessee- 1 season
USC- 3 1/2 seasons
FAU- 3 seasons
Ole Miss- 1 season

Im not taking anything away from the man. He deserves to be a head coach and I’m interested to see if he can successfully build a program but so far he either gets fired quickly or bolts for sexier gigs. If he wants to be considered among the great head coaches; he needs to stay somewhere and build.

If you’re going to penalize a guy for spending 3-4 years at a place and then bolting, you’re going to have a very short list of potential candidates.

 

[photovol]

Kiffin knows how to elevate an offense, especially the Qb. He’s also a good playcaller. Those two things combined have led to his rebels scoring a lot of points this year.

Old Miss has very good receivers

 

[guesscrazy]

It will be interesting to see were Ole Miss is in year 3 of Kiffin as coach. I think they will look better on offense than we did in year 3 of JP.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

If you’re going to penalize a guy for spending 3-4 years at a place and then bolting, you’re going to have a very short list of potential candidates.

8188, Kiffin has only once ever spent "3-4 years at a place and then bolted." That was from FAU to Ole Miss.

Everywhere else, he was either fired for failing to meet expectations (Oakland, USCw) or bolted after a single year (Tennessee).

So I don't think folks here are judging him for spending 3-4 years at places and then bolting.