http://www.wbir.com/news/breaking/story.aspx?storyid=70213&catid=29

i was just watching the Old Spice and Andy Katz broke through with this tidbit.
first link on google was ^

Quote :

"We do believe that a Monday announcement is very likely and were told while (athletic director Mike) Hamilton said there has been no offer made, there is a principal agreement in place to make Lane Kiffin the third head coach at Tennessee since 1977 and just the 10th head coach since 1936. Barring any 11th hour snag or issue." University of Tennessee public relations director Tiffany Carpenter said the search is still ongoing and no offer has been made. "

[Edited on November 28, 2008 at 2:28 PM. Reason : df]

11/28/2008 2:27:37 PM

Kiffin. Not Kiffen.

11/28/2008 2:28:09 PM

sue me

11/28/2008 2:28:50 PM

so is Tenn excited about this? he was at USC with their amazing offense, but no head coaching experience except with the raiders.

11/28/2008 2:54:24 PM

this is an NC State message board! and there is already a thread for this type of information

11/28/2008 3:41:12 PM

I think about Coaches with no head coaching experience taking a head coach job in the NCAA and I LOLOLOLOLOL.

Then I look at what those coaches have done and I

11/28/2008 3:43:43 PM

^ that confuses me... not really sure who or what you are talking about

11/28/2008 4:01:07 PM

Here's a hint.....

Quote :

"Carroll was named the Trojans' head football coach on December 15, 2000, signing a five-year contract after USC had gone through a tumultuous 18 day search to replace fired coach Paul Hackett. He was not the Trojans' first choice, and was considered a long shot as the USC Athletic Department under Director Mike Garrett initially planned to hire a high-profile coach with recent college experience. Meanwhile Carroll, who had not coached in over a year and not coached in the college ranks since 1983, drew unfavorable comparisons to the outgoing Hackett."

11/28/2008 4:05:41 PM

^ but he had head coaching experience... as does Kiffin... so still lost.

11/28/2008 4:09:49 PM

^^ FAIL

11/28/2008 4:12:51 PM

You can't expect even astute football minds like Jaybee and myself to realize you were referring to Carrol with that post



As far as the hire is concerned, I'm someone what surprised Kiffin was able to land on his feet at such a big school after the disaster in Oakland

I thought he would have to go to a place like Syracuse or Washington for a few years to earn his stripes before a job like UT would open up to him

11/28/2008 4:15:36 PM

You dumb niggers, who had Carrol HEAD coached in the NCAA before USC?

GODDAMN I realize he was a NFL Coach, AS WAS KIFFIN.

and I should have been more obvious in my previous retort.

Sorry nigs, I put Head in my previous post....

[Edited on November 28, 2008 at 4:17 PM. Reason : g]

[Edited on November 28, 2008 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]

11/28/2008 4:16:38 PM

So they both had head coaching experience?

11/28/2008 4:18:11 PM

cool I haven't been called a nigger today yet, thanks for filling my quota

11/28/2008 4:19:21 PM

Carroll had a shit-ton of coaching experience in general when he was hired. Kiffin has very little experience so you can't really compare the two situations.

Tennessee fans can't be happy about this gamble of a hire.

11/28/2008 4:21:50 PM

I am happy


sweet, I'm a nigger now... off to drive to the basket for a while

[Edited on November 28, 2008 at 4:25 PM. Reason : d]

11/28/2008 4:23:07 PM

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend you dumb nigg.


As an aside, anyone want ASU +10.5 vs. UCLA? Bet done through PayPal.

11/28/2008 4:23:30 PM

Well I've gotta put together my wife's new vacuum for XMas, if anyone wants ASU +10.5 PM me before the game starts.

[Edited on November 28, 2008 at 4:33 PM. Reason : v]

11/28/2008 4:24:40 PM

Quote :

"Tennessee fans can't be happy about this gamble of a hire."

Why? Most people agree he shouldn't have been fired from Oakland and had the team heading in a good direction, they were actually scoring some points and doing some things on offense, and add the fact that the owner is crazy and he WASN"T allowed to work with the defense, I'd say he was doing fine there and shouldn't have even been fired.

He came out of the situation looking good, and handled himself well. He seems to have a personality that can get people excited, he is a young guy, and fits the similar mold of a lot of the current successful college coaches.

He'll get good athletes there every year, if he can be creative with the offense he will do fine. What were the better options?

11/28/2008 4:57:22 PM

it has nothing to do with Oakland. it has to do with lack of experience.

the SEC is not a conference for training wheels.. especially for a program like Tennessee. you don't run fat-phil out of town for lane kiffin.

it's a gamble they hope pays off... and Tennessee won't settle for "doing fine".

at least it is good news for the rest of the top teams in the SEC.

11/28/2008 5:31:58 PM

ha u niggers

11/28/2008 5:52:13 PM

Quote :

"the SEC is not a conference for training wheels."

Just don't think it is as big of a risk as people think. He was hired early so he'll get his people in place which will help greatly and not cost them recruiting/time.

There have been plenty of SEC coaches with tons of experience that stunk, experience is great but coaches have to get a start somewhere. Guy has been around football his whole life, dad was a football coach and so he's grown up in that atmosphere. He was highly involved in recruiting at USC for a few years, and I don't know if you've noticed, but they get some good players there. He also was their offensive coordinator.. if you want to say "anyone could win with that talent" then that is fine, he helped recruit that talent.

So what would be better? He milled around the NFL for another 10 years then he would be ready? 10 years as a head coach at some low end college trying to turn it around? The guy will either be ready to do it now, or he won't be. Not sure what is going to change 5 or 10 years from now that would get him the experience he needs. I think he'll be fine.

11/28/2008 6:14:29 PM

kiffin's a good coach and a good recruiter. before al fired him, oakland was on the right track for the first time since gruden left.

11/28/2008 6:19:27 PM

I have to agree with wolfNstein. Tennessee should have threw a shit-ton of money at a coach that has proven himself at the collegiate level. I would be pissed if I was a UT fan. There are much safer bets than going with Kiffin. If UT fans thought this year was bad just wait till their virgin coach gets his cherry popped. Nick, Urban and Ole Doll Coach gonna pull a train... toot toot!

11/28/2008 9:49:50 PM

UT always does the safe thing... its nice to have something exciting for a change. We were all worried that they would stay in the "good old boy network" which they really need to get out of... I do hope they keep Stan Drayton and Latrell Scott who have ties to the south and can recruit their asses off... aside from that, I want totally new people

11/28/2008 9:54:16 PM

How long until we can start the "Butch Davis to Notre Dame" threads now that UT has locked in Kiffin?


Weiss' fat ass is gone either this year or next. It's starting to look like ND will pony up for that massive fucking buy-out and toss him out on his twinkie emergency exit.

11/28/2008 10:26:13 PM

Meyer to ND is the big one


I laughed it off at first but they keep talking about it

11/28/2008 10:30:53 PM

Quote :

"Tennessee should have threw a shit-ton of money at a coach that has proven himself at the collegiate level.... UT fans thought this year was bad just wait till their virgin coach gets his cherry popped. Nick, Urban and Ole Doll Coach gonna pull a train..."

Ok, which "proven collegiate coaches" that can stand up to basically 3 of the best coaches in college football was UT going to get? Who were they throwing money at that was going to compare to Saban, Urban, and Spurrier? Aside from stealing another SEC coach, what "awesome college coach" with tons of experience is out there?

Do I think it is ideal to take a coach with limited experience(you act like the guy is 24 and only coached a JV team) but who else was out there ready to go? Sure you can wait until January and hope someone is around.. but there aren't big names looking to move ATM.

11/28/2008 10:59:56 PM

^
Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State)
Brian Kelly (Cincinnati)
Bronco Mendenhall (BYU)

I think any one of those coaches would have a better shot of playing against SEC competition than than Kiffin. They don't have tons of experience but they have "Coached" in the NCAA and have been successful. This is a very important fact that you can't say about Kiffin. He is an unknown, a gamble. Is this what UT thinks is going to take their program to the next level? Really?

Just pick a football team in the top 25 now and look at the head coach. If the coach is not at a perennial power college (i.e. USC, Texas, Ohio State) then throw some money at them and they will come running, right now, leaving their current teams lame for the bowl game.

11/28/2008 11:30:04 PM

If you think a coach from Utah, even w/ success was going to make UT people happy, then thats just wrong. Kiffin is a better name then him. Not to mention his only head coaching experience is at Utah, hes been at Utah forever, I'd take Kiffin's experience at USC over that.

Gundy could barely handle the pressure from a local media writer without blowing up, so so much for all his experience. His first and only job has been at Ok. St as a head coach, until this year his record was 18-19.

They aren't going to take a BYU coach. Not to mention he was only hired in 2005 and before that he worked at big name programs Louisiana Tech, and UNew Mexico. Maybe he is an ok option, but I'm not seeing him having "so much more experience!" that he would be a sure bet vs. Kiffin. The guy isn't really much different.

Kelly is the only person on that list, but even at that I don't see him being such a guarantee. Sorry, this to me just isn't as big of a risk as you are making it out to be to hire Kiffin, and the names you listed aren't sure things to me. They are still lower tier guys looking to move up, but those guys don't always work out either.

Kiffin has experience at a big time University, dealing with big time recruits, big time personalities, and Carrol has a great track record of hiring good coaches.

Basically the list you gave me was that you looked at the top 25, picked the teams that did the best this year that aren't big programs and spouted them out as if UT was interested in those coaches and those coaches were interested in going there.

11/28/2008 11:50:35 PM

Quote :

"If you think a coach from Utah, even w/ success was going to make UT people happy, then thats just wrong."

If he wins games, yes he will make UT people happy. See Urban Meyer.

Quote :

"Not to mention his only head coaching experience is at Utah, hes been at Utah forever, I'd take Kiffin's experience at USC over that."

Winning Head Coach experience > Winning Coordinator experience

Quote :

"Basically the list you gave me was that you looked at the top 25, picked the teams that did the best this year that aren't big programs and spouted them out as if UT was interested in those coaches and those coaches were interested in going there."

Your exactly right. Thats exactly what I did. Its so simple, hard to believe that UT couldn't figure it out.

Most up and coming coaches are looking for Big money and a chance to coach at a elite football program. Tennessee has both. They should have been able to steal a great coach from some other school. They shouldn't have settled with a coordinator.

11/29/2008 12:55:36 AM

I dont think it was a question of settling... they wanted someone young, energetic, who could recruit around the county (Kiffin is going to rack up Delta Skymiles like a mofo).

11/29/2008 1:18:42 AM

Quote :

"Winning Head Coach experience > Winning Coordinator experience"

recruiting at usc experience >> recruiting at utah experience

11/29/2008 1:28:45 AM

Southern California is not a hard place to sell. I mean, they have NFL quarterbacks riding the pine for 4 years.

Chuck Amato was an exciting energetic guy. He was also a good recruiter. Not to mention he was a coordinator with no head coaching experience.

Obviously, recruiting for Florida St and USC are two different things. But, you have to admit there are similarities.

11/29/2008 1:39:42 AM

people quickly forget how bad USC was for a LONG time before Carroll...

11/29/2008 1:42:35 AM

The coaches you listed maybe have a few more years as coordinators and a few more years as head coaches, but I'm just not buying that some guy with 3 years at Utah, is going to be better off then what Kiffin has done. Plenty of coaches do well at small schools and then get brought up and bomb.

Is someone with a few years of head coaching experience less of a risk? Sure. But it isn't like they had an awesome coach sitting in their lap and passed for some crazy guy nobody has ever heard of. I'm just amazed at how much value you are putting on a few years of coaching at small schools, and just disregarding the work that coordinators do, most notably the RECRUITING work that they do especially at a place like USC.

So yeah, it is a bit risky(but I think he'll bring energy to the program) but your talking like they hired Schmucky the Clown and passed on some amazing coach. Everyone says this guy is going to be a good coach, its why he got hired so young by the NFL and has been on radars ever since he was fired for no damn reason.

What does Tennessee have to lose here? If he sucks they find someone else, but in the SEC the average "sure bet" 8-4 coach isn't going to work. Gotta take a chance on finding the next big name in college coaching, and hope he can stick around for a while and get something going.

Ask Michigan fans how awesome it was to throw a lot of money at a coach with "tons of head coaching experience" from a lesser football school.

11/29/2008 2:16:25 AM

yeah, I totally agree that Kiffin is a bit risky... but so was bringing Meyer's offense to the SEC, so was Carroll going to USC after failing in the NFL. I am happy that they arent just settling for a "solid" coach and are going for it all with a coach with a LOT of upside and potential. And I cannot stress enough how important it is to get someone that is a very strong recruiter. And if he can actually get his dad to come along (which I just dont see), that would be fucking badass

Quote :

"Ever since Lane Kiffin vacated the head coaching position with the Oakland Raiders, he has been mentioned in almost every possible rumor riddled coaching search, particularly for the Tennessee Volunteers and Clemson Tigers. Both schools have plenty of talent, a ton of recruiting cache and plenty of tradition. And, if sources from the Knoxville Sun-Sentinel (via MDS at CFT) are to be believed, Kiffin has agreed in principle on a deal to head to Knox County and will be the next head coach for the Volunteers. Barring any unforeseen snags, Kiffin will be announced in the coming days. Kiffin will replace Phillip Fulmer who was forced to step down Nov. 3. Fulmer's last game as head coach will be Saturday against Kentucky at Neyland Stadium. Three things, in particular, to note here. First of all, Tennessee has, as recently as Wednesday, denied that Kiffin was being offered the job. Secondly, this could be a pretty huge coup for the Volunteers if, as I believe, Kiffin turns out to be a great head coaching candidate in the college setting. He's young, enthusiastic and learned from Pete Carroll, who's done a decent job at USC. Bringing me to the final point: cutting the cord on Fulmer in the middle of the season, while certainly a tough thing to do, really gave Tennessee a jump start on finding a high end replacement, if the reports are true."

[Edited on November 29, 2008 at 2:26 AM. Reason : df]

11/29/2008 2:23:55 AM

Quote :

"Ask Michigan fans how awesome it was to throw a lot of money at a coach with "tons of head coaching experience" from a lesser football school."

I really hope you aren't talking about Rich Rod and WVU being a "lesser" football school.

11/29/2008 2:54:37 AM

^ WVU is a lesser school.

See the thing about Richrod is that he will win games at Michigan and will very likely be competitive against Ohio St. This first year is a bust, but thats how he rolls.

Kiffin on the other hand. WHO KNOWS! Maybe hes really good. Maybe he really sucks! Maybe he is the guy to take Tennessee to the shitter. Yes it can get much worse than this season. I think that is the point you are missing. The other thing is that you really don't want to get into rotating head coaches in and out searching for he next big thing. That creates decades of shitty football.

I also agree that this year is really a bad year to swap out head coaches. Not a lot to pick from.

11/29/2008 9:08:39 AM

Not going to argue it anymore, time will tell perfectly fine.

Not sure about you, but I have been in Tennessee a few times this past month and the general sentiment around there was that the program needed a shot in the arm type coach. They needed to get out of the good ol' boy circle and bring in someone to shake things up and energize. They also really wanted an offensive guy.

The whole point is, at the end of the day it is all a gamble, however much experience the coach has. There are no sure things, or else teams would never hire the wrong person.

11/29/2008 9:14:59 AM

Sure, it's a gamble, but the guy has a good pedigree and he was doing a pretty good job with the Raiders before Davis went and fucked things up again.

Seems like a solid choice.

11/29/2008 10:45:55 AM

Quote :

"I really hope you aren't talking about Rich Rod and WVU being a "lesser" football school. "

WVU is a lesser football school

11/29/2008 12:59:57 PM

^ what he said

11/29/2008 6:21:05 PM

Quote :

"Southern California is not a hard place to sell."

neither is tennessee. look at this fucking place. tennessee football is major.

11/29/2008 6:27:15 PM

Cue the USC cheerleader pics as a rebuttal to Neyland Stadium.

11/30/2008 10:24:10 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3735102

11/30/2008 11:10:13 PM

fulmer had relatively no coaching exp before throwing him in to the sec....."since his "training wheels" held up, so will kiffin's

btw...he will also bring his dad and the tampa 2, possibly convert eric berry to lb to play the deep middle zone in the cover two, which is a def. need, and allow two diff. hard hitting safeties to secure to tampa two status......alongside old ball coach from ole miss, "oreogon" (sp) could quite poss. become the off. cord.

kiffin may not have all this exp. that people think he should, but in college football, you dont need it, all you need is the ability to SELL a program, esp. to a state that has few "in state" high level recruits.....do you think mack brown is a good coach?,---no hes a recruiter.....how about throwing in a lawyer into the big 12, that wouldn't be a good idea??????-------think again...MIKE LEACH.....you dont have to be a hell of a coach, just a good recruiter and let the oc's and dc's do the play calling, tenn just needs a closer

11/30/2008 11:49:09 PM

that post is borderline DNL-stupid

ask Amato if selling a program is enough... not to mention that Tennessee doesn't have a big problem with bringing in talent. winning in college football takes more than just selling a program.

but to top it off... you follow that up with examples of Mack Brown and Mike Leach. both are very good coaches even though you claim otherwise. most knowledgeable football fans will admit that.

by the way... Fulmer had 18 years of meaningful coaching experience before he became the head coach at Tennessee. no offense to Kiffin, but you can't equate the two and assume Kiffin will succeed.

you should apologize to Jaybee1200 and titans78 for making Tennessee fans look bad.... at least they know what the fuck they are talking about and can produce a decent argument.

12/1/2008 12:15:35 AM

Quote :

"And if he can actually get his dad to come along (which I just dont see)"

Quote :

"Sources: Monte Kiffin to join son Lane's staff with Volunteers"

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3735102

12/1/2008 7:20:21 AM

no one actually believed it... still not sure how its happening as he will be taking a huge pay cut (I would assume).


And this thread is about 2-3 days behind by the way...

12/1/2008 9:34:51 AM