Can't blame Kiffin for making move

   I don't blame Lane Kiffin for leaving Tennessee. If there's a job you want, one job that looms above all others, you might as well take it. Yes, you'll take a huge public relations hit for abandoning a school and its people, people who have treated you well. And if you have any decency, you'll feel guilt for leaving them.
 
   But if Southern California is Kiffin's school, he should go there. Of course he's getting crushed by public opinion now. But had he not accepted the job, he would have taken a smaller hit every day.
 
   When presented with a dream opportunity, you take it.
 
   Wouldn't you?

Comments

[STH]

yup....

[PanamaRed]

No. If he's so tied into USC, he should have known this job might have come up prior to taking the Tenn job and acted accordingly.

There's a lot more at stake than just his supposed "dream job". What about all the recruits he sold a bill of goods to? What about the 8 kids who busted their butts to graduate HS early in order to enroll at Tn early? They're now stuck, like it or not.

You're opinion is short-sighted and one-sided on this one Tom...and wrong.

[Stu]

No all these kids are stuck. For example, per Rivals, Willis is headed to UNC.

[David]

He should have known that USC would open up, and never have taken another college coaching job until it did??? What a stupid comment.

There was no reason to believe the USC job was going to come available, as Carroll had been there and been successful and had repeatedly turned down the NFL the last several years.

[James]

Tiffin has yet to prove himself capable of winning as head coach at the college level. USC just got their Ron Zook.

Kiffin's troubled are going to be compounded by the likely hefty NCAA sanctions that are going to hit soon. We're talking a multi-year bowl ban at best, a TV ban and non-conference games ban at worst, not to mention the scores of lost scholarships. Good luck with that, Tiffin, you're gonna need it.

[PanamaRed]

Yes David, it's called CLASS and foresight, of which you and Kiffen clearly have zero of either one.

You are now the expert on whether there was reason to believe he was leaving? If you took the time to look instead of calling people names, the signs were there for all to see, even for you.

[J]

I don't agree with the assessment that Kiffin should have known in spring 2009 that the USC job might come open. USC had been to 7 straight BCS games, Carroll had turned down several offers to return to the NFL and expectations were high for 2009 and beyond. PanamaRed, if you think anyone should have been able to see Carroll's move coming that far ahead of time, with those circumstances present, would you please tell me what the Powerball numbers will be this Saturday so I can play them and retire?

I never thought much of Kiffin and will be glad to watch him go 6-6 at USC. But I don't blame him for going.

As for Tennessee, I hope Mike Leetch gets the job so he can bring his Texas Tech offense to the SEC, where every school has the speed to stop it, so UT can replace Vandy at the bottom of the SEC East.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!

[moojie]

Seems like hes had a lot of dream jobs the last few years.

[PanamaRed]

War Eagle, try these little tid-bits on for size...most of the talent had or is about to leave, so it's going to be at least a few yrs before they are competitive on a national level again, NCAA sanctions are coming meaning a big scholarship hit, making that wait even longer. Furthermore, he had nothing left to accomplish at USC, ie his leagcy was intact and he's 57 yrs old, soon too old for the NFL for a coach to get hired that hadn't done that well previously.

If he was going, now was going to be the perfect time. Got it now?

They taught us problem solving at Florida, did they not at Auburn?

As for the lottery, even Auburn has a better shot at winning a....on second thought, maybe not.

Go Gators!

[David]

I'm not saying Kiffin has class, or that it doesn't suck for the players and fans at Tennessee. Or that he'll even be successful at USC.

And some of what you say, PanamaRed, I'm sure factored in to Carroll's decision, whether he admits it or not. Fact is, it's easy to say that in hindsight. Nobody knew any of that 14 months ago. Hell, nobody KNOWS that today.

For the record, I never called anybody names. I said it's a stupid comment for someone to say they shouldn't take any other jobs if they have one they want, they should just wait for it to (maybe) come open. I want Bill Gates' job, but since I already have one I guess I should turn it down should I be offered...

[Elizabeth]

I don't blame him for going, but I think USC should have picked a better coach. I don't think too highly of Kiffin as he didn't do much for Tenn.

[Holmes]

If it were just a job then Kiffin can do what he wants. But, he made a lot of promises to the kids on the team and to the recruits. He obiously thinks he can just renig on those promises because of his own personal wants. Pretty low class. I think he will have a hard time getting anyone to trust anything he says in the future. UT deserves better. Good riddens!

[PanamaRed]

I'm merely saying that if's HE's so tied in to the USC "family", he should have an inkling it might happen. Bottom line is there is no honor among these coaches, period. And believe me, it's hard for me to have any simpathy for Tn fans, but I wouldn't want to be one today, or any day for that matter.

Good things come to those that wait.

[Cobrabitn]

You take what you are offered...let's turn it around for a minute. What if TN fired Kiffin, what about all of the promises he made to the little ones? Well, it's tough tutu for them because he got fired.

Bottom line, I agree with Tom because you play the cards you are dealt and being in the sports world can be brutal. If the guy wanted to go to USC then he should take the job because there are no guarantees in life. Those players don't put the food on his table nor do they support him in any other fashion.

One thing I learned about the career world, trust no employer because the have no loyalty to you. Loyalty is overrated when it comes to jobs, go out and do what you enjoy the most and don't look back.

Don't knock a guy for doing what he wants to do in life!

[Patrick]

Damn Skippy!

[Denis Garman]

Being a Vanderbilt Alumni, nothing makes me happier than seeing Tennessee in turmoil. But I can't fault Lane for taking the job he wanted. Look around.....there is no loyalty to companies or institutions anymore. If there was any left, they are laid off by now. Mr. Kiffin is exercising his "Brand" as we all should. Good for him.....

[PanamaRed]

The kids don't put food in the coach's mouthes? Are you kidding? No kids, no wins, no wins, no job.

By the way, when's the last time a college coach got fired after 1 year? Your argument makes no sense whatsoever.

[John in Concord]

Kiffin is a punk and a sleaze ball. How's he gonna teach COMMITMENT when up and leaves a school hangin and THEN tries to poach the recruits that have COMMITTED to go there?

Punk.

ROLL TIDE!!!

[Steve]

PanamaRed,
To use your logic, Kiffin then would have never accepted the HC job at Oakland. So he would have had exactly 0 experience as a head coach in Div I football or the NFL. He might not have been as appealling to USC then.

I'm not a UT fan, but I'm glad to get the scuzball out of the SEC.

[Larry Smith]

I don't know Lane Kiffin personally, but I cannot blame anyone for taking a job they want and feel good about. Why are sports figures blamed for moving when everyone in the business world does the exact same thing? It's a free country and a free enterprise system. As far as the TN recruits, it's not Land Kiffin University. The opportunity is there for a good education and the NFL still awaits if one is good enough. Before throwing rocks and sarcasm at Lane Kiffin, ask yourself how many times you've changed jobs to take one that happened to be more attractive TO YOU?

[Jon in DC]

Go ask Nick Saban if he made the right choice to leave the Dolphins and to Alabama.
He's done the same thing countless other coaches have done and the same thing that happens every day with people who change jobs.
This is America, land of the FREE.

[Isma]

It stinks that past prombels are going to prevent USC from Bowl Eligibility this year, as they are obviously worthy. I'm here in Colorado, and I love college ball, but football stinks here, so there are no games in my neighborhood either!! That doesn't mean I won't be tailgating though! I just picked up the new Tailgater from work at DISH network, and I'm gonna throw the best tailgate party ever!! It's a mini satellite dish, light weight (10 lbs), portable, and automatically tunes itself to bring me a great signal!! Now I can hook this up to my 211k receiver and TV, and catch all the live action, pre-game and highlights!! There might not be a lot of opportunities for us to go to an actual game this year, but we can still party like it! Check out the details at any DISH website!!