Lane Kiffin: 365 Days in Orange

Bowl season is upon us. Its fun, fast, and like a school of fish, can change direction on a dime. It’s also December and it was one year ago that Lane Kiffin was officially announced as Tennessee’s new head football coach.

So on this first year anniversary; we want to thank Lane for making it exciting again. Thank you for putting things in the right directions.
The past twelve months have been a blast. No doubt you have some favorite moments. Here is an overview of Lane Kiffin’s first 365 days in Orange:

The Initial Response Lane said all the right things. He wasn’t trying to be Phillip Fulmer, just do some of the things his predecessor had done at Tennessee. He was young, brash, and frankly, not the first choice of a lot of fans.  Little did we know.

What did seem to stand out was a youthful (by coaching standards) energy. New coaching staffs always want to bring a new energy, a fresh new vibe, but could Lane really deliver? Uh, JACKPOT.

He gets bonus points for clearly identifying the enemy. Wasting no time talking smack and in effect saying to Vol fans everywhere:  ‘I don’t care who they are, I don’t care who they think they are’.

The Plan Phase I ‘Surround yourself with the best people you can find’. Coach Kiffin recognized this sage advice as he assembled a great staff. He accepted less money to get his staff more. You don’t see that happen very often in anything.

In short order he upgraded on an S&C coach whose opinion of himself rivaled the Colts kicker who called Peyton Manning out.
He wanted to be able to emphasize to players coming here that Tennessee gets you ready for the NFL. He accomplished that in a major way.

Here’s several ways you can tell you’ve hit a homerun with the assembled coaching staff:

1).  When fans refer to the staff, the word ‘trust’ is always nearby.
2). Your fan base has a collective resolve that the coaching staff can’t stay intact very long.
3).  Seniors saying they wished they had another year to be here.

Winning over and Firing Up the fan base. Surprisingly, still working on the winning over part to a small degree. That’s a lie; he’s not working on it. If someone doubts where things are going, I’m pretty sure Lane is not losing any sleep over it.

For the faithful, Lane has managed to light a bonfire. It has knocked the chill off of what looked to be a long cold winter. More than that it has become a beacon for where things are headed.

The vast majority of fans are proud to have someone who has some moxie. Someone who will say, ‘look, we’re on the way back, I don’t expect our rivals to like it, and frankly couldn’t care less. We’re going to take what is ours and then some. We not looking to restore Tennessee’s name, we’re looking to take it  to new places’.

Lane has proven to be more shrewd than most gave him credit for. Along the way he has fired up the fan base like never before.

Tennessee, Tennessee, Tennessee It became obvious early on that putting Tennessee’s name on every top level recruits lips was a part of the strategy. If their not talking about the Vols yet, then we want them thinking about the Vols.

In a Bruce Pearl-esque kind of way, Lane understands branding. He went on what amounted to a marketing campaign for Tennessee while doing his job. He recognized that they needed to be a buzz about the Vols.

Recruiting on a national scale, that buzz needed to be on a national scale.

Battened down the Hatch and finished with a Top Ten recruiting class. Well done. As Vol fans, we only have to look at Notre Dame to get a sense of what other schools think when there is a coaching change.

Sharks instantly appear and circle. Keywords like ‘uncertainty’ and ‘instability’ are used attempting to sway young men’s futures.

While Tennessee lost out on a few, they got their foot in the door and scored big on some surprises. Now with a Top Ten class under his belt, Lane and the guys are zeroing on a Top Three class.

He has to do well. Look at he top ten recruiting classes at any point and you will normally find 4-5 SEC teams making their home there.

A New Mentality that required players to either buy in completely or go elsewhere. This new mentality is predicated on  a work ethic built by example. Kiffin said the coaching staff would not be outworked and he has made good on his word.

The best players play. There had been a perception over the years with Tennessee that seniority played To BIG a role. It was a like a ‘clean up on isle seven’. But it much bigger than that.

Lane began cleaning up the team’s image with a much more disciplined approach. At one point players were leaving or being dismissed at what seemed like a weekly basis.

Stirring things up in the media like only Lane can. Some have attempted to quantify his quotes only to find the list grows bigger. He is easily one of the most quotable coaches in the country.

Once when he was four he sat himself down in the middle of a room full of relatives who had were in for Thanksgiving. Amidst the noisy chatter he began talking to himself. In short order the room got quiet and looking up Lane noticed they were all looking and listening to him. Lane inquisitively asks, ‘who do you think I am, E.F. Hutton?”

There’s an irony in that. He has the natural ability to garner attention. He also has the ability to toss out of one liners that enrage the rivals and put a big fat grin on the home base.

The caveat to all that is it has purpose. It’s not just throwing it out there just to see what sticks. Ok, well maybe once in a while, but by and large it’s had purpose. How can we know? Look at the media attention that’s put Tennessee in the spotlight now for a year.

Look at how many top notch recruits from Florida to California have Tennesse in their top 3.  Yes, most definitely the plan is working.

The Swamp the point where many began to entertain the ideal that “hey maybe this guy does know what he’s doing”. It wasn’t a win, but one worm had turned. Lane was in the Gators head (and  their locker room wall) unlike any thing the previous staff had ever managed to do.

He has an uncanny knack for making memorable comments off the cuff. His “I can’t hear you, Rocky Top is playing” has rang loud and clear throughout the Vol nation.

The Tutelage of JC No one expected Jonathan Crompton to go 20 of 27 for 310 yards and four touchdowns against Georgia.

This was another step in everyone recognizing that Lane knew what he was doing. There had been  a grievous cry from the fan base to replace Crompton.

Lane held to his resolve and it began to pay off. JC was 7TDs and 8INTs in his first four games. In his last eight? 19TDs and 4INTs.

High, Low, and Out of Sight Defensive effort reached a high point of the season holding an Alabama team who would end up averaging almost 32 points a game to 4 field goals.

Low was the kick that was blocked. It would deny Kiffin a signature win on the road against a bitter rival ranked second in the country. Lane at times shows that emotion we can all relate to.

Mike Slive’s blood pressure went out of sight when he misunderstood what Lane meant about ‘The Letter”.

The Big Secret Weapon was something the players wanted and approached their head coach about. Lane who is a man of  few words (and tends to play things close to the vest) probably struggled with using such a devastating ploy. In the end he acquiesced, Mike Hamilton signed off on it and it was on.

It turns out South Carolina was so enamored with the Vols sudden change to black jerseys; they couldn’t take their eyes off of them. At least that’s how the theory goes. They certainly were not keeping their eyes on the football.

(Obviously Georgia did not know how to use their secret weapon. Wearing black helmets, they were thumped once again by Florida just hours earlier).

The Knoxwell Incident was about as inexplicable as its 1947 counterpart. it was bad timing but then again, when would there ever be a good time for it? But Lane handled it well. The key was he knew when to exhibit patience. He waited on all the information, made the tough call, and moved this team forward.

His drive, energy, and confidence are contagious. They can be seen within his staff (like they need anymore), his players, and the fan base.

Finishing strong and being Supportive You think these seniors would love to have one more year? They can be proud of the fact that they were the foundation of something special in the works.

The Vanderbilt game saw Wes Brown ‘rumblin, bumblin, stumblin’ AND carrying a RB the last 6 yards for a sweet pick six. A thing of beauty, it was a play we will recall for years to come.

Not to be out done, Lane nearly recorded his only sack of the season. Blindsiding JC on the sideline and then laughing about it.

It’s all fun and games when we win isn’t it? Finishing strong amounted to this depth depleted team winning four of its last five games. Kentucky was more than capable of beating Tennessee, they had beat Georgia and Auburn on the road this year was especially rewarding this year.

Lane got his first road win, bumped the Vols into a better bowl, and allowed a second place finish in the SEC East.

Beating the Consensus  Eighteen college football media services  provided their assessment of how things would likely play out. The preseason prognosticators  were not to far off  (SEC PREASON PICKS).

The consensus  put the Vols at 3rd in the East and 6th in the SEC overall. The final tally ended up 2nd in the East and 5th overall.

But the margin of error was to Kiffin’s favor. If you look at that 7-5 record, thats 4-1 against East opponent.

Finishing 2nd in the division with the attrition and injuries with hardly any depth to begin with … is impressive. What’s coming with his second recruiting class will be  even more so.

Whether Tennessee is going outBack?  looking to take their Big Ten opponent to the proverbial woodshed is still up in the air.  The opportunity to play in Tampa where so many good recruits are still in play is important. The fans have been somewhat torn on where they would like to see the Vols go.

Tampa makes a lot of sense. Monte presence there will create a stir and the opportunity for some of those Florida -based recruits to catch the game could be huge.

But Tennesse could still end up in Atlanta. That would be a good thing also. Georgia is another state in play for some highly prized recruits.

It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff uses the opportunity. They seem to always a step or two ahead of the recruiting game when it comes to their approach and taking advantages of opportunities to recruit for Tennessee. Can’t wait for the next 365 days.