Mailbag question: Coach Kiffin
I know this is a non-Michigan question. What do you guys think of Kiffin leaving Tennessee for the USC job after being only at Tennessee for one year? Do you think this was right?
Jake
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Thanks for the question.
Our opinion is that every player and coach needs to do what is best for himself and his family. This is special situation, and the USC position is probably Coach Kiffin's dream job. He was at USC as a graduate assistant and advanced to offensive coordinator.
These types of jobs and the associated opportunity do not come about everyday and this was probably his one and only chance to be the head coach at USC.
That being said, the timing of the resignation and hire was terrible. Yes, it was the timing of Pete accepting the Seattle job that lead to the manner in which Kiffin left Tennessee for USC.
Getting a solid head coaching replacement and putting into place a new program with a new-look coaching staff before spring ball will be very difficult. Keeping the 2010 recruiting class intact will be difficult, especially when several recruits already have decommitted at Tennessee without waiting to see whom the next coach might be.
Preventing transfers from younger players will be a huge task as well since in most cases people will be wondering if the new staff will want to run the same type of scheme, especially since this will be the third coach in three years at UT.
We do not envy the AD, who is now under the gun, or the new head coach, who is walking into a potential nightmare.
In regards to Kiffin, and the remarks some Michigan fans are making about him, a somewhat unemotional and casual look clearly concludes that Coach Kiffin took over a struggling program under Phil Fulmer that sank to a low of five wins his last year and Kiffin comes in and wins seven games in his first year and Tennessee went to a bowl. So in our opinion you might not like the guy, or how he acts, but you have to give Kiffin credit for coming into a declining program and quickly turning it around.
He also improved the team’s offensive stats at Tennessee. Here are a few comparisons from 2008 to 2009.
2008 -- 17.3 points per game ... 2009 -- 29.3 points per game.
2008 -- 8 Passing Touchdowns ... 2009 -- 28 Passing Touchdowns.
2008 -- 268.8 yards per game ... 2009 -- 383.5 yards per game.
One thing you have to give Coach Kiffin credit for is for assembling a great coaching staff. He is bringing with him his father Monte, who is one of the nation’s best defensive coaches, along with bringing on board one of the best recruiters in America, Ed Orgeron, another former USC coach. Also, if the rumors of bringing back to USC Norm Chow as the offensive coordinator are true, this will give USC a stellar coaching staff and people that know what it takes to win at a high level program.
Written by GBMW Staff
Go Blue -- Wear Maize!
1 comment:
I would have been a lot more impressed if Kiffin had actually accomplished something at UT, waited for the impending massive USC fail to play out, and then ride in on his white horse in a few years.
Now, more Tennessee fans are concerned with Kiffin and the horse he rode in on than what happens at USC.
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