Lane Kiffin goes to USC?
And I don’t mean South Carolina!
Shocking news, that Tennessee Football Coach Lane Kiffin will be jumping ship and going to Southern California, after Pete Carroll decided to take a second stint in the NFL as the head honcho of the Seattle Seahawks.
Let that digest for a minute….
This story has a LOT of plots and twists in it, some are heartfelt, some are just pure greed. In the past 10 years or so, two of the most storied college football teams have been USC and Tennessee. We all know USC for the past National Championships, and we know Tennessee for the rich history of football, and for NFL players like Peyton Manning. But the last few years have been a little difficult for both schools.
USC has had a lot of success, but it came at a price. With the NCAA looking into some violations, it is possible that USC might be hit hard with some penalties. It must be true to some degree because they threw the basketball program as a sacrifice, hoping to appease the NCAA gods…it might not have.
And maybe seeing the handwriting on the wall, Pete Carroll might have decided now was as good a time as any to step out of the college business and try a second shot in the NFL. Remember, he WAS a coach there for a minute or two. But him leaving leaves a huge gap in the program, and the school was desperate to fill that gap as soon as possible.
Tennessee was having problems of its own. In this world of “what have you done for me lately”, they ran out coach Fulmer, who won a National Championship with Tennessee but a few years later people acted like they forgot about that. Tennessee rich alumni wanted to win NOW, not later, so it seemed convenient for them to get rid of a man that gave Tennessee some of the best years they ever had. Looking to get a young coach with NFL experience, they found Lane Kiffin, and was fortunate enough to get a duet when his dad, Monty Kiffin decided to help his son. This set up a very strong future for Tennessee, and to be sure they would be back in the SEC race for a National Title in a few years.
But all that changed when Lane and his dad decided to leave and go to USC.
Fair or foul?
Depends on the angle. If you asked Tennessee fans about this, I am sure they would say foul. They had a coach that they believed could take them to the promised land, but walked out on them after one year. But to be honest, this is what they get. Don’t get too disappointed if you burn your bridge with one coach thinking the grass is greener with somebody else. Tennessee has found out that just as old coaches can be slighted, such is also the power of new coaches. Fulmer was loyal to the end, Kiffin wasn’t loyal at all.
But I understand the nature of Tennessee football, to them, football is sacred, far more than football in California, where you got warm beaches, Hollywood and 10,000 distractions. When football season (college, not pro) comes around, the whole state of Tennessee gets excited because of their Volunteers. SO I can see why it is so important for this school to continually have a top 5 or top 10 team. They were headed that way until this latest change.
But is this a fair move? While many would think this was an underhanded move, one must remember that Lane Kiffin did come from under the USC coaching staff. He has some loyalty to USC, and it was that experience that got him that temporary head coaching job for the Oakland Raiders. So there are strong ties for Lane Kiffin to USC.
But underneath this is a whole foundation of disloyalty and hypocrisy of the NCAA, I mean, think about it. If a PLAYER wanted to go from Tennessee to USC, he would have to lose a year of eligibility, he would have to sacrifice a year of his LIFE to make the move. Yet coaches can bounce on a whim with no penalty at all. We like to keep lying to ourselves that college football is about academics, but it isn’t. Its about money and business.
What this proves is that a man’s word is not worth anything. I understand Lane Kiffin’s desire to coach at USC, because there was some loyalty to it in years past. But when you committed to Tennessee, there should have been a strong loyalty that says, “they hired me, they believed in me, so I will at least run this course for the length of the contract”. Or something honorable. But this was only one year after signing with Tennessee, meaning his heart wasn’t really dedicated to the Volunteers anyway.
So what it boils down to is money and pride, pride of USC to find a good coach even with possible heavy penalties over their heads, pride of Tennessee to get rid of a coach that brought them a NCAA Championship for a young coach that has proved little as a head coach. Pride for a coach to bail out on his team to go across the country for another job….and money in between it all.
We’ll see how this goes, but did USC get any better… not sure. But Tennessee certainly did not get any better, may have even slid down a notch or two. Time will tell.
