Guitar Shots to the Head: Overreaction Pays the Bills

In today’s landscape of college football, overreaction pays the bills. Just ask anyone with a media connection or a pay site. Losing Eddie Gran and Frank Wilson in two days is tough. Reading the incessant whining about the loss is even tougher. Please stop pulling your hair out and biting your nails.

Vol fans should be pleased with the movement. Each resignation and defection signals an opportunity for fresh coaching/recruiting ideas on the Hill, and if you read a little further into each situation it also tells us something else about the new culture in Knoxville. If you don’t have a non stop motor, or you want to spend more time with your family and less time away from home, then you need not apply for openings with the University of Tennessee.

It isn’t that I begrudge the career choices. Heck, I’ve taken a career route that allows me to spend more time with my wife and children. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that at all. I’m sure that many of you reading this have done the same.

The world of major college football is a Skype world, especially at the University of Tennessee. Recruits are all over the country. That means that planes, trains, automobiles and offices become homes to coaches that want to win. It isn’t a glamorous life. In fact, it is a grind.

Don’t be fooled. Nick Saban didn’t turn the Alabama program around in three years having breakfast lunch and dinner with the family. He did it by putting his assistants to work, and going to work himself. Despite having a back yard full of recruits, I’m sure that Meyer took the same approach.

When Lane Kiffin took the job, he promised that no staff would outwork his. Based on the results of this season, it he can make a case for his work ethic. Kiffin remade this UT offense with a freshman tackle and two walk-ons. That offensive line got exposed one time all year. Who did it? An Ole Miss team full of Ed Orgeron recruits. Eddie Gran and Frank Wilson did their time, but Ed Orgeron remains as the all star of this coaching staff.

Don’t get caught up in the hype surrounding the loss of two assistant coaches. If their hearts are somewhere else, their efficacy was bound to dwindle at some point. Be thankful that there is only one legacy coach on this staff. That would be Monte Kiffin.

Given the last ten years in Knoxville, I understand that these are difficult concepts to grasp. Be advised that every assistant on this staff is replaceable. The next great recruiter in South Florida is on a staff somewhere. Be thankful that you have a head coach that is willing to go out and find them. Grieve if you must, but those are the facts.

Please do not overreact. Saban has had defections everywhere that he has coached. His tireless work ethic has long been known to separate the wheat from the chaff. As it turns out, he knows what he is doing. It should please the VolNation that Kiffin seems to be following in those footsteps. Hopefully the same result will follow.

Until next time…Go Vols.