Here’s the latest on the hiring of Lane Kiffin in Knoxville, who will be introduced at a 2pm (EST) press conference:

After a nationwide, stealthy search, athletic director Mike Hamilton said “We felt like Lane Kiffin was a perfect fit for Tennessee.  He’s energetic, charismatic, consumed with recruiting and has had a lifelong love affair with football.” 

National writers (and many Vol fans) are questioning the hire of Kiffin who is just 33 years old.  On the plus side, it’s believed that Peyton Manning signed off on the hire before it was made.  For Tennessee fans, that’s the equivalent of seeing Mother Mary in their morning toast.  I expect any positive comments from Manning will help calm the waters for Mr. Kiffin.

John Adams of The Knoxville News Sentinel says that youth is not necessarily a problem.  Here are a few head coaches you might have heard of who were also hired young:  Vince Dooley (32), Bear Bryant (31), Paul Dietzel (31), Gene Stallings (29), Frank Broyles (33), Adolph Rupp (29), Billy Donovan (29).  Oh, and some fella named Robert Neyland was 34 when he took over Tennessee’s program.

Geoff Calkins of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal believes Kiffin deserves a fair shake, too.  He looks at all the arguments against the hire, then debunks each one of them.

For his part, Kiffin hit the ground running yesterday… calling recruits, dismissing members of Phillip Fulmer’s staff, and hiring his own staff (including David Reaves, his brother-in-law and the recruiting coordinator at South Carolina up until yesterday).

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported yesterday (and it’s been picked up by everyone since) that Kiffin would bring his father Monte along with him to Knoxville.  But one source close to the situation has told our Jimmy Hyams that the elder Kiffin’s deal is not completely done yet.  I’ve been told that this is a done deal, so we’ll see what eventually shakes out with the 68 year-old Buccaneers defensive coordinator.

David Climer of The Tennessean believes that Kiffin bringing in his father, his brother-in-law, and possibly his brother Chris might be a pretty big risk.



Here’s what we’re hearing: this being Hamilton’s biggest hire to date (and the one that puts his neck on the chopping block), expect him to spend whatever it takes to put together a “super staff” for Kiffin.

If the deal with Monte is completed, that does not rule out former Kiffin colleague Ed Orgeron from joining the staff as well.  (Depends on whether or not he gets a defensive coordinator offer from, say, LSU.)

Interestingly, it’s been reported that UT went the cheap route in hiring Kiffin, who had no buy-out to worry about.  But if he is to make about $2.5 million per year, as is believed, he will be paid only slightly less than Fulmer.  He will rank seventh in the conference in salary, where Fulmer ranked sixth.

All that said, I’ve been told that UT is prepared to have the most expensive coaching staff in the SEC when all is said and done, IF they can land Monte Kiffin, Orgeron, and another pro assistant or two. 

In our view, this is an aggressive move by Hamilton.  While Kiffin’s resume is not as long as some (he would be a hotter name had he simply stayed at Southern Cal the past two years), he does have a pretty solid reputation according to NFL sources I’ve spoken with.

This hire certainly can’t be called a home run, but it isn’t a strike out, either.  There isn’t enough evidence for the jury to make up its mind quite yet.  We suggest a wait-and-see approach.

Now, having Kiffin in place by December 1st should really help UT piece their recruiting class back together.  It also proves that the move to dismiss Fulmer three weeks ago was a sound one.  Tennessee was able to get a jump on the process, land the man I believe was #2 on their list (behind Butch Davis) and have him place for weekend of recruiting visits.

Speaking of Fulmer, while he openly angled for the Clemson job in his post-game press conference Saturday, Clemson is promoting their interim Dabo Swinney to the full-time gig.  Ironic that Fulmer would be blocked by an assistant coach who’s ascending to the throne of the man who had hired him (Tommy Bowden)… since that’s how Fulmer got his job at Tennessee (replacing Johnny Majors).

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 8:39 am and is filed under Homepage, News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.