Midseason Report

Halfway Through 'Lane Kiffin: Year 1'
by Max Renfro

The Kiffin era started with a bang, landing the #1 recruit by some services Bryce Brown, along with stealing key recruits from under the nose of Urban Meyer, Nu'keese Richardson and long-time LSU commit, Jansen Jackson from Les Miles. If this wasn't enough to grab the headlines we all know the story of Lane and Urban Meyer cheating. Most fans around the South didn't take well to the brashness of the new kid, and I mean kid, on the block at Tennessee.

Many pointed to his failure with the Oakland Raiders as evidence of what was to come at the University of Tennessee, most forgetting who really runs the Raiders organization. A glance at the '09 Oakland team makes you think how smart CLK was to get fired and move to the opposite end of the country from that disaster. Kiffin was dead set against drafting JaMarcus Russell as his QB at Oakland, much like he was against bringing in four-star and Tennessee commit Taj Boyd as his QB. To the dismay to may Vol fans, Kiffin met with Boyd and his dad, telling them Taj would not fit into his system at Tennessee but UT would honor his scholarship offer but he would play a position other that QB. Taj Boyd ultimately ended up at Clemson where he isn't listed on the depth chart. Was this a decision to help Tennessee recruit a pro-set style of QB and not scare away potential commitments for 2010? Only time will tell.

Then came start of the 2009 season, an impressive start against cupcake Western Kentucky raised the expectations of Vol fans everywhere. But those hopes were dashed only a week later as for the second year in a row, UT lost to a rebuilding UCLA. Now the long media-awaited game with the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators in the Swamp was next. The Gators were a 28-point favorite and many thought it probably wouldn't be that close; Lane Kiffin's Big Orange managed to gain the respect of many around the country, as Urban Meyer resorted to excuses for the game being close. But the QB problem remained as the Vols struggled with Ohio and lost to Auburn. Many fans were now questioning Kiffin's stubbornness to stick with fifth-year senior Jonathan Crompton, as his ineptness from the '08 season that ultimately cost Phillip Fulmer his job, seemed to be plaguing the '09 team also. Kiffin continued to tell the media he wasn't into playing QB roulette and that Crompton was winning the job on the practice field and would remain his starter.

Lane Kiffin gets his first signature win. As the Georgia Bulldogs rolled into Knoxville smarting from a loss to LSU on a controversial excessive celebrating penalty, many fans weren't sure what to expect. UGA's defense had not performed well, but against the Vols offense or lack of it, the fan faithful really were not fired up and expecting victory. With a lot of misdirection and QB rollouts, the Tennessee offense dominated the Bulldogs on both sides of the football. The only thing that made the game remotely close was the poor play of Tennessee's special teams. UT's defense has been solid most the year and if the offense has actually turned the corner, the rest of the season could be exciting for Vol fans. The record may not be any better than last year's, but the team has been in every game this year and probably should have a chance to win most of the remaining games, something you could not say of last year's team. It may be a little too early to say for sure but "The Kiffin experiment looks to be residing in Neyland Stadium for some time." The media will keep a pen in hand and their tape recorders rolling, that is for sure.