The Tenn I See

Complacency

As a young kid I remember watching the Vols under Phil Fulmer and for many of those years they were very good. Tennessee seemed like one of those teams that constantly got great recruits and was going to staying on top for a very long time. They won a National Championship in 1998 – 99 season and had a Championship caliber team in 1997 with Peyton Manning at the helm. What Tennessee fans found out is that complacency begins to build with many coaches that have been coaching at the same location for a long period of time. The fight to stay on top only gets harder every year. There are many examples of coaches with long tenures who went from greatness to below average. The Bobby Bowden teams of late are a great example. Bowden had one of the most dominant teams in recent memory during the late 90’s and early 2000’s and after an inauspicious start to the 2009 season, may find himself forced into retirement. Bowden coached the Seminoles to the BCS National Championship game for three consecutive years from 1999 – 2001, winning in 2000. From 1992 – 2000, Bowden won consecutive conference championships winning again in 2002 – 2003 and lastly in 2005. From 1992 to 2005 Bowden had an overall record of 126 – 24. He even had 2 Heisman trophy winners; Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000). However, the last 3 seasons (2006, 07, 08) Bowden has finished 22 – 18. He is sliding into mediocrity and his program is quickly becoming a non-factor in the BCS. University officials have called for Bowden’s retirement for the last several years but Bowden has yet to step down. He turns 80 years old following the 2009 season and from an analytical fans perspective, the Seminoles seem ready to take the program in a different direction and should immediately seek stability in order to keep the hot bed of recruits interested in school that is known for sending high profile athletes into the NFL. Bowden is a perfect example of complacency.

Other coaches who have fallen victim to complacency are Larry Coker (Miami), John Cooper (Ohio State) and Lloyd Carr (Michigan). These coaches, like Bowden and Paterno, brought their programs to national prominence and spent a couple of seasons poached on top of the rankings. However, soon enough they slowly began to slide back to mediocrity only to find that their job security wasn’t so secure.

The Tennessee you don’t see

It seems that many football fans weren’t very impressed with Tennessee Head Coach Lane Kiffin when he was first hired, as well as the months following his hire. Kiffin immediately called out the #1 Florida Gators by guaranteeing a victory over them the upcoming season. He also made false accusations regarding the recruitment of an eventual Tennessee prospect saying that Florida violated NCAA regulations by contacting the prospect during his visit to Tennessee. In the end, Kiffin was wrong about the rule and as a result did look a bit foolish. Through these trials I witnessed many SEC fans scoffing at Kiffin harshly and hating Tennessee even more than they did already. I can quote one my friends as saying he was hoping for a lightning storm in Auburn, Alabama the night Tennessee played Auburn and that he hoped Kiffin would get literally toasted by a fluke strike of lightning. I laughed.

As a bystander, I saw Kiffin’s plan coming to fruition immediately. When it comes to college football fanhood, people often forget that with immense hatred comes immense adoration. Kiffin isn’t much older than I am and I’m sure he remembers those days when Tennessee had such an intimidating effect on opponents, they often achieved victories by simply running out of the tunnels onto the field. What lay behind those victories and that national championship was an attitude, a belief, a set of standards which can all be summed up in one word; swagger. As a newly appointed Head Coach, Kiffin likely knew that restoring that pride, swagger and attitude was the first priority. He had to make Tennessee a special place again. As a result of his brashness he pulled in a top 10 recruiting class and signed the number 1 recruit in the nation; Bryce Brown from Wichita, Kansas and managed to reinstate Tennessee amongst the most hated of rivals amidst the SEC. You see, when playing in a conference like the SEC where nearly every team is consistently great and most teams have relentless, die hard followings; it is very easy to become irrelevant very quickly. By immediately pissing off hordes of SEC fans and coaches, Kiffin was able to market the Tennessee name on a massive scale very fast and for free. While most people even furthered their hatred for Lane Kiffin and his newly painted Tennessee Volunteers, I sat back, relaxed and admired his pure stroke of genius.

Inaugural Season

Just like any other big name school, Tennessee started off their season with a cupcake school which whom they utterly destroyed. Western Kentucky was their name and the result is unimportant. What is important is how Coach Kiffin coached the Volunteers through the rest of the season. In their second game, the Vols played UCLA. Both teams were unranked but UCLA was getting quite a bit of respect amidst the Pac-10. I watched the game on television and was very impressed by the Tennessee defense. They were flying around, hitting people and playing with their hair on fire. I thought the Vols looked tough and even though they lost to UCLA 15 – 19, I thought the team was good enough o compete in the SEC and was definitely a team Kiffin could build a dynasty on. The players did not lose that game versus UCLA, I thought there was a bad coaching decision to go for it on the goal line. Tennessee had the victory in the palm of their hands. Having been down 4 points with time running out, kicking a field goal was not an option; Tennessee had to go for it. After trying to run it in all 3 prior downs, Kiffin attempted once more to run it in on 4th and Goal. UCLA stopped them and subsequently took the rest of the time off the clock. A disappointing loss; yes but I felt the effort was promising.

The week following, Tennessee had to travel to the Swamp to play #1 Florida. This was a much hyped game due to Kiffin’s remarks upon his hiring. Just as I suspected, the Vols would play Florida very tough. Even though they lost 23 – 13, they managed to hold Tim Tebow, a.k.a. modern day Superman to 115 yards passing, 60 yards rushing with one fumble and one interception. I was, once again impressed with Tennessee’s confidence and resolve. They battled it out with Florida until the end and deserved the victory. In Kiffin’s defense, it is hard to win when your Quarterback (J. Crompton) throws 2 interceptions in a close game where both time and turnovers are of the utmost importance. Crompton was recruited by the tired Phil Fulmer and it is now clear that he cannot get the job done. Tennessee’s defense is one of the best units I have seen in a long time in the SEC. Every powerhouse team they play, they manage to keep their team in a position to win.

I was completely sold on how useless Crompton is during Tennessee’s 22 – 26 loss to Auburn. Once again, the Volunteer defense held an offense that averaged 45 points per game to half of their production and Crompton managed to fizzle out. Never, in my 10+ years watching and playing this game have I seen such a misleading performance than the one Crompton turned in that night. From a statistical standpoint he was terrific; throwing for 260 yards and 2 touchdowns. What was more revealing to me was that he completed less than 50% of his passes and most importantly; he NEVER had control of his team. It is the example of his inhibition that makes the quarterback such a coveted position on the football field. The QB is the field general, he has to possess the ability to grab an entire team and motivate them in ANY way possible. Whether it be with his voice or with his play, he has to be able to put a team on his back on get the job done. Thus far, Crompton has failed miserable in the leadership department. I see no passion when he plays and as a result, the entire offense feeds off of his lack of interest. It is quarterbacks like Crompton that make the football societies revel over players like Tim Tebow. When you watch Tebow play, he has the ability to take over an entire game and you can watch in complete awe. Then after the game you are disappointed at his numbers because they look a little above average. This is what Crompton lacks; playmaking ability and moxey.

Suspenseful Ending

The problem is that boosters, fans and analysts expect immediate results even when Kiffin is attempting to win with players that have become accustomed to a different system and style. It should be taken into account that while under Phil Fulmer, the top recruiting classes were not producing top talent on the field. Whether it be a long string of bad luck or insufficient coaching, the top ranked recruiting classes were not carrying over to the field. The current Volunteers depth chart is littered with prospects from the #4 ranked recruiting class from 2005 (7 starters), the #23 ranked class from 2006 (6 starters) and the #3 ranked class from 2007 (6 Starters). It is also pretty entertaining to know that with all of these high ranked recruiting classes littering their roster, arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the entire team was a walk on in Nick Reveiz. So, if Lane Kiffin walked into a good situation like the one Tyrone Willingham left for Charlie Weis and maybe the added bonus of playing in a less competitive conference, the current media frenzy may be singing a different tune about Tennessee. It is nice to know that a good amount of recruits from Kiffin’s initial 2009 class are contributing to the team. Bryce Brown is averaging 5 yards a carry. Behind Brown, David Oku works his way onto the field at running back as well. Nu’keese Richardson is a starting wide out and the kick returner. Marsalis Teague and Zach Rogers are also listed behind Richardson on the depth chart and see some playing time. On the defensive side of the ball, Linebacker Greg King contributes and defensive backs Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards see playing time as well. This is a good sign for the future of Tennessee football. These freshman combined with Tennessee’s currently #6 ranked recruiting class for 2010 (that is subject to change) will have huge effect on Kiffins legacy as a Volunteer. I have to say that I am indeed optimistic for Coach Kiffin.

And just in case you were wondering, yes, I am now a fan of the Volunteers. The video and picture below is a big reason why.





-Russ