<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Lane Kiffin has SEC vexed, Tennessee fans enthusiastic </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintexclude--><TABLE height=25 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!--endclickprintexclude-->Updated 5/20/2009 2:18 PM ET <!--startclickprintexclude--></TD><TD align=right><SCRIPT src="http://js.usatoday.com/_common/_scripts/2006-send-to-nav.js" type=text/javascript> </SCRIPT>E-mail | Save | Print </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE style="FLOAT: left" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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ST. MARYS, Ga. — The gale-force winds and heavy rains that swept through Jacksonville on Monday had nothing to do with the arrival of the storm that is Lane Kiffin. In six months as Tennessee football coach, he has managed to tweak, insult or needle much of the Southeastern Conference, especially Florida.
When Kiffin landed in the heart of Gator Country to speak to the Jacksonville alumni chapter, he joked it was the best greeting he will get in the state. He made the short drive across the Georgia border to St. Marys, where the event was held, for the 15th and final stop of UT's annual coaches tour, the Big Orange Caravan.
SURVEY: What is your opinion of Lane Kiffin? "Our fans have had a few tough years down here, taking a beating (from Gator fans). Losing by 63 points over the last two years didn't give them much to talk about, so I gave them something to talk about when they're at the coffee pot or playing golf with their buddies," Kiffin says before addressing the crowd.
While enraging rivals, Kiffin has energized the Vol Nation and made Tennessee, which hasn't won an SEC or national title since 1998, relevant again.
"We were huge (former coach) Phil Fulmer fans, but we needed that," says Chuck Seymour, 33, as he joined the buffet line. "We needed the fire, that energy in recruiting we haven't had the last couple of years."
The Vols went 5-7 last year, their second losing season in four years, which is why they turned to Kiffin, 34, a former Southern California offensive assistant and recruiting coordinator and Oakland Raiders head coach who was fired last year after a 5-15 record. Owner Al Davis said he "picked the wrong guy," but UT fans feel differently.
"He's full of energy, and he's not afraid to work," says Walter Beahm, 80, a 40-year season ticketholder from Knoxville Tenn., who went to the event with his son, John, who lives nearby.
Shooting from the lip
In his first two months on the job, Kiffin fired shots or swiped recruits from the Gators, as well as SEC foes Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and LSU. Kiffin contends the verbal jabs were part of an overall plan to garner the national attention needed to land a highly regarded recruiting class in a short time.
"We need national coverage because we don't produce enough players for our roster in-state," says Kiffin, who assembled a powerhouse group of assistants, including several top recruiters poached from SEC rivals, as well as his father, Monte, a longtime NFL defensive coordinator. The result: Two major recruiting services ranked the class in the top 10 nationally; both had UT 35th last year.
"A lot of that stuff helped us recruit a top-10 class, helped us sign the No. 1 player in the country (running back Bryce Brown from Kansas)," Kiffin says. "The No. 1 player in the country wasn't even thinking about us when we got here."
Kiffin was hired to excite fans and, if that means angering rivals, so be it, he says. Given all the chirping among SEC coaches this offseason — mostly by Kiffin — Commissioner Mike Slive plans to address the issue next week at the league's spring meetings in Destin, Fla. He hopes coaches will temper the public accusations and insults.
For the first time, Kiffin will sit across from the coaches whose programs he gleefully has tweaked. The youngest head coach in major-college football doesn't expect the meetings will be awkward: "I have great respect for the coaches in this conference. I would be shocked if there were any hard feelings about anything that was done or said. The first day I was hired, Steve Spurrier was already saying something about me. I didn't take offense to it at all."
With Spurrier-like digs, the cocksure Kiffin has rebooted Tennessee's rivalry with Florida, making it fun again. At his introductory news conference Dec. 1, Kiffin boasted he was looking forward to "singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida next year."
After signing day, Kiffin crowed about his first class at a breakfast celebration in Knoxville before 1,000 fans. Playing to the crowd, he accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of violating NCAA recruiting rules by calling star wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson of Pahokee, Fla., while he was on his official visit in Knoxville.
"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him," Kiffin told the crowd, even though there is no such rule. Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley demanded an apology, and the SEC reprimanded Kiffin.
Traveling with the Big Orange Caravan through Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio during the last month, Bob Kesling, the Vols radio announcer, says Kiffin's noisy offseason has raised the program's visibility.
"A lot of Tennessee fans are saying, who knows who the coach is at Auburn or Mississippi State? (The SEC's other new coaches.) But everyone knows who Lane Kiffin is, and that's a big advantage. I don't know how calculated it was, but I know that Lane wanted to make a splash."
Attendance rose at the Big Orange Caravan events, which were all sold out. When Kiffin was introduced to the Jacksonville group, the first fan on his feet was men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who along with women's assistant basketball coach Daedra Charles-Furlow spoke to the crowd after Kiffin.
"Here's the deal," Pearl says. "If you're popular in the league, you're obviously not beating them. They respect Urban Meyer, but they don't like him because he beats you. When I came to Tennessee, I said my goal is to become the least popular coach in the SEC. I managed to do it in about a year. Coach Kiffin managed to do it in about a week."
Gators in the family
As for all the Gator baiting, Kiffin's good friend, Kennedy Pola, the Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach who has known Kiffin since their days as USC assistants, says, "Lane is very honest, to a fault, but you can't take him that seriously. His wife went to Florida, and his father-in-law went to Florida. He's been married to a Florida family, so all of this cracks me up."
Kiffin stirred the crowd with a few more Florida jokes, saying he accepted the Tennessee job so he could gather the family's Gators gear and hold a "bonfire."
Harmless needling aside, his program also has grabbed headlines for missteps. Since he was hired, the school self-reported four secondary violations to the NCAA for minor incidents that didn't result in punishment.
Other weightier issues have kept Kiffin in the spotlight this month. After signing day, Kiffin made disparaging comments about Pahokee and Richardson's high school while speaking to fans in Knoxville. "For those of you who haven't been to Pahokee, there ain't much going on," Kiffin was quoted as saying. "You take that hour drive up from South Florida, there ain't a gas station that works. Nobody's got enough money to even have shoes or a shirt on."
"That's really the first thing I really regretted saying," he says now.
Though Kiffin apologized and is on good terms with the team's coach, the principal banned Tennessee's football coaches from visiting. Running backs coach Eddie Gran was asked to leave school property during a recruiting visit two weeks ago. The issue was resolved Tuesday when Kiffin spoke with the principal and Gran attended practice, according to UT spokesman John Painter.
Earlier this month, Tennessee signed Daniel Hood, a local prep star who at 13 was involved in the rape of a relative in 2003. Robert Sanico, then 17, pleaded guilty in adult court to charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Hood's case went through juvenile court, where he was ordered into a rehabilitation program. While in state custody, he enrolled at Knoxville Catholic High School. Other colleges backed away, which Kiffin understands.
"When I first came, I didn't want to go anywhere near it," he says. "Until I researched it, talked to people around him, people who have no reason to say anything good unless they really believed it, and then talked to his high school, which has great morals, and said we put our reputation on the line for this kid."
Tennessee also received a letter of support for Hood from the victim.
"I'm excited about giving him another opportunity, especially a kid who paid a price for what he did."
On Monday, the enthusiastic orange faithful didn't ask about Hood or Pahokee. The mood was light as one fan thanked Kiffin for helping the economy by boosting newspaper sales in Florida.
Kiffin laughed and explained, "That's how you get freshmen and sophomores to start falling in love with you. It is a business. I know at times you get a little nervous saying, my God, I can't believe he really just said that. Then we sign the No. 1 player in the country, and no one is saying that any more."
Kiffin rose from his chair amid spirited applause, handed the microphone over to the next coach and left the room. Amid the unrelenting rain, a white limousine was waiting under shelter. The door closed, and Kiffin was whisked away, back into the storm.
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<SCRIPT language=javascript>swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');</SCRIPT><!--endclickprintexclude-->By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAYST. MARYS, Ga. — The gale-force winds and heavy rains that swept through Jacksonville on Monday had nothing to do with the arrival of the storm that is Lane Kiffin. In six months as Tennessee football coach, he has managed to tweak, insult or needle much of the Southeastern Conference, especially Florida.
When Kiffin landed in the heart of Gator Country to speak to the Jacksonville alumni chapter, he joked it was the best greeting he will get in the state. He made the short drive across the Georgia border to St. Marys, where the event was held, for the 15th and final stop of UT's annual coaches tour, the Big Orange Caravan.
SURVEY: What is your opinion of Lane Kiffin? "Our fans have had a few tough years down here, taking a beating (from Gator fans). Losing by 63 points over the last two years didn't give them much to talk about, so I gave them something to talk about when they're at the coffee pot or playing golf with their buddies," Kiffin says before addressing the crowd.
While enraging rivals, Kiffin has energized the Vol Nation and made Tennessee, which hasn't won an SEC or national title since 1998, relevant again.
"We were huge (former coach) Phil Fulmer fans, but we needed that," says Chuck Seymour, 33, as he joined the buffet line. "We needed the fire, that energy in recruiting we haven't had the last couple of years."
The Vols went 5-7 last year, their second losing season in four years, which is why they turned to Kiffin, 34, a former Southern California offensive assistant and recruiting coordinator and Oakland Raiders head coach who was fired last year after a 5-15 record. Owner Al Davis said he "picked the wrong guy," but UT fans feel differently.
"He's full of energy, and he's not afraid to work," says Walter Beahm, 80, a 40-year season ticketholder from Knoxville Tenn., who went to the event with his son, John, who lives nearby.
Shooting from the lip
In his first two months on the job, Kiffin fired shots or swiped recruits from the Gators, as well as SEC foes Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and LSU. Kiffin contends the verbal jabs were part of an overall plan to garner the national attention needed to land a highly regarded recruiting class in a short time.
"We need national coverage because we don't produce enough players for our roster in-state," says Kiffin, who assembled a powerhouse group of assistants, including several top recruiters poached from SEC rivals, as well as his father, Monte, a longtime NFL defensive coordinator. The result: Two major recruiting services ranked the class in the top 10 nationally; both had UT 35th last year.
"A lot of that stuff helped us recruit a top-10 class, helped us sign the No. 1 player in the country (running back Bryce Brown from Kansas)," Kiffin says. "The No. 1 player in the country wasn't even thinking about us when we got here."
Kiffin was hired to excite fans and, if that means angering rivals, so be it, he says. Given all the chirping among SEC coaches this offseason — mostly by Kiffin — Commissioner Mike Slive plans to address the issue next week at the league's spring meetings in Destin, Fla. He hopes coaches will temper the public accusations and insults.
For the first time, Kiffin will sit across from the coaches whose programs he gleefully has tweaked. The youngest head coach in major-college football doesn't expect the meetings will be awkward: "I have great respect for the coaches in this conference. I would be shocked if there were any hard feelings about anything that was done or said. The first day I was hired, Steve Spurrier was already saying something about me. I didn't take offense to it at all."
With Spurrier-like digs, the cocksure Kiffin has rebooted Tennessee's rivalry with Florida, making it fun again. At his introductory news conference Dec. 1, Kiffin boasted he was looking forward to "singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida next year."
After signing day, Kiffin crowed about his first class at a breakfast celebration in Knoxville before 1,000 fans. Playing to the crowd, he accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of violating NCAA recruiting rules by calling star wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson of Pahokee, Fla., while he was on his official visit in Knoxville.
"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him," Kiffin told the crowd, even though there is no such rule. Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley demanded an apology, and the SEC reprimanded Kiffin.
Traveling with the Big Orange Caravan through Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio during the last month, Bob Kesling, the Vols radio announcer, says Kiffin's noisy offseason has raised the program's visibility.
"A lot of Tennessee fans are saying, who knows who the coach is at Auburn or Mississippi State? (The SEC's other new coaches.) But everyone knows who Lane Kiffin is, and that's a big advantage. I don't know how calculated it was, but I know that Lane wanted to make a splash."
Attendance rose at the Big Orange Caravan events, which were all sold out. When Kiffin was introduced to the Jacksonville group, the first fan on his feet was men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who along with women's assistant basketball coach Daedra Charles-Furlow spoke to the crowd after Kiffin.
"Here's the deal," Pearl says. "If you're popular in the league, you're obviously not beating them. They respect Urban Meyer, but they don't like him because he beats you. When I came to Tennessee, I said my goal is to become the least popular coach in the SEC. I managed to do it in about a year. Coach Kiffin managed to do it in about a week."
Gators in the family
As for all the Gator baiting, Kiffin's good friend, Kennedy Pola, the Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach who has known Kiffin since their days as USC assistants, says, "Lane is very honest, to a fault, but you can't take him that seriously. His wife went to Florida, and his father-in-law went to Florida. He's been married to a Florida family, so all of this cracks me up."
Kiffin stirred the crowd with a few more Florida jokes, saying he accepted the Tennessee job so he could gather the family's Gators gear and hold a "bonfire."
Harmless needling aside, his program also has grabbed headlines for missteps. Since he was hired, the school self-reported four secondary violations to the NCAA for minor incidents that didn't result in punishment.
Other weightier issues have kept Kiffin in the spotlight this month. After signing day, Kiffin made disparaging comments about Pahokee and Richardson's high school while speaking to fans in Knoxville. "For those of you who haven't been to Pahokee, there ain't much going on," Kiffin was quoted as saying. "You take that hour drive up from South Florida, there ain't a gas station that works. Nobody's got enough money to even have shoes or a shirt on."
"That's really the first thing I really regretted saying," he says now.
Though Kiffin apologized and is on good terms with the team's coach, the principal banned Tennessee's football coaches from visiting. Running backs coach Eddie Gran was asked to leave school property during a recruiting visit two weeks ago. The issue was resolved Tuesday when Kiffin spoke with the principal and Gran attended practice, according to UT spokesman John Painter.
Earlier this month, Tennessee signed Daniel Hood, a local prep star who at 13 was involved in the rape of a relative in 2003. Robert Sanico, then 17, pleaded guilty in adult court to charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Hood's case went through juvenile court, where he was ordered into a rehabilitation program. While in state custody, he enrolled at Knoxville Catholic High School. Other colleges backed away, which Kiffin understands.
"When I first came, I didn't want to go anywhere near it," he says. "Until I researched it, talked to people around him, people who have no reason to say anything good unless they really believed it, and then talked to his high school, which has great morals, and said we put our reputation on the line for this kid."
Tennessee also received a letter of support for Hood from the victim.
"I'm excited about giving him another opportunity, especially a kid who paid a price for what he did."
On Monday, the enthusiastic orange faithful didn't ask about Hood or Pahokee. The mood was light as one fan thanked Kiffin for helping the economy by boosting newspaper sales in Florida.
Kiffin laughed and explained, "That's how you get freshmen and sophomores to start falling in love with you. It is a business. I know at times you get a little nervous saying, my God, I can't believe he really just said that. Then we sign the No. 1 player in the country, and no one is saying that any more."
Kiffin rose from his chair amid spirited applause, handed the microphone over to the next coach and left the room. Amid the unrelenting rain, a white limousine was waiting under shelter. The door closed, and Kiffin was whisked away, back into the storm.
LT
