I think that CLK is just using right now to spark fire into the fans again. He knew when he was hired just how many people didn't want him (I was one of them, I would have preferred Brian Kelly or someone with previous college HC experience). But, I have been keeping up with everything so much, and CLK has me personally excited. And it's not because it's arrogant. Arrogancy would be claiming that we're a great team when we suck, and well, we don't know that yet. Arrogancy would be saying that we're going to win because he is the best coach and he is going to make everyone better...he hasn't said that.
What he HAS said...is that we are a team with great tradition, and that he expects to uphold that. He HAS said that he knows the college game is different, but he is going to bring in coaches that are PROVEN to coach well, and recruit well. Saying they are the best in the country is something that could probably be backed up by SOMEBODY. You can't deny that they are extremely good at what they do, but are you going to say "Yeah....these guys are alright, but I'm sure that there was someone else that we didn't get who would be better. We'll settle." Whatever. Apparently, they're the best that he needed for what they do.
I like the way he is doing things. He is saying "I've got a system. I've got the coaches. I'm going to get the players. We're going to make Tennessee a place where people want to play. It's going to work."
He didn't promise immediate success. He didn't promise we would land every top recruit. He didn't promise we would beat everyone next year. He didn't say we are the best....but we are definitely going to try to be the best, and we are going to beat the best, and we're going to work hard.
I like how Bruce Pearl approaches things. I think he's a great coach, but he's extremely humble. He is very quick to point out how good a team is and how good they are going to need to work to win, and after games, he is very quick to say how well the other team played, and how well a certain player played. But he also will admit that we have great talent, great players, and great potential when we live up to it. I think CLK is just saying "look, we got great players, we got great coaches, and we got great potential, and we're going to live up to it. And when we do, we're going to be very very hard to beat."
Keep preachin Kiffin. You converted me.