For some reason last night I never crossed the channel path of ESPN, so it wasn't until this morning when I went to this very website that I learned of the Knoxville riots and the police escorted departure of Lane Kiffin from Tennessee. I've spent all my spare moments today reading the reactions from across the college football landscape. "Scum" and "slime" being the two most popular adjectives in connection with Kiffin. I've even seen a video of a grown man pissing on a Lane Kiffin t-shirt. In a big "We told you so" way, many have pointed out that the citizens of Vol Nation were the last ones to awaken to the fact that they had a real immature jerk on their hands all along. As a Razorback fan, it gives me chills to think back to a time when Kiffin's name was in the discussion about who would be the next Razorback coach. If we had followed Nutt with this nut, then . . . well, I just don't even want to think about it. (And, yes, I realize Petrino left some program in Atlanta in the middle of the night as well, but I cannot equate leaving millionaires at the tail end of a season with bailing on unpaid college players.)
What I have to offer amongst all the sound and fury generated by the spurning of the Vols is the notion that Lane Kiffin is really a reality tv show contestant who thinks he is a head football coach. Notice, I didn't say he was a coach who thinks he is a reality tv star. Nothing so far says Lane Kiffin is much of a head football coach. What some called "genius," his bad boy behavior when he came to Tennessee, was no different than being the "Puck" of any number of reality shows. From MTV's Real World to Survivor to Big Brother, the aim seems to be who can provide the most drama. Remember, these are people with no discernable talent other than getting on other people's nerves and under their skin, something that Lane Kiffin excels at! Just ask Mike Slive and Urban Meyer. And now the whole Volunteer fan base.
It makes me glad to think that no reality tv show producer would ever consider having Bobby Petrino on his program. (They would have loved the last coach, however!) Do you think Lane Kiffin would have kept his mouth shut to all the negative press that came after Petrino's departure from Altanta? Just wait, the Kiffin digs about Tennessee are coming. How much respect he had for them can be seen in the reports that he had his Igor the Cajun calling recruits why he was giving his farewell address to the players. This was in earshot of the players! And if you get a chance, read Clay Travis's post at http://claytravis.net about how much Lane Kiffin cared about Tennessee traditions and being part of them.
Tennessee now needs to go hire themselves a coach that General Neyland would approve of in order to keep him from spinning anymore in his grave. The RPMs must be rather high about right now. I don't know if the General chewed tobacco, but I think he would have spit some Beechnut in LA Lane's eyes as soon as look at him. As for right now, Tennessee, you just have to live with the fact that you've been "punked." Next time, do a better job of looking for some substance underneath that so called style that so many of you thought was smarts, but instead was clearly just "smart ass."