Official MGoBlog Reaction To Kiffin Hire Comment Count

Brian

Sometimes Twitter says it all. Read from the bottom.

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Mike Rothstein: your restraint is admired by English butler Anthony Hopkins.

Comments

Tater

January 13th, 2010 at 1:25 AM ^

Kiffin has such a huge ego that he thinks he can succeed even with the inevitable sanctions that will arise from an era for which he was partially responsible. Most other coaches were avoiding this job like the possible career-killer that it could turn out to be, and would prefer to be the coach who comes in to clean up the mess in a few years.

I'm not surprised at all. I heard a decent rumor that Kiffin was posssibly in contact with them this morning and predicted he would take the job in my yahoogroup called the maize page, where the standards for accuracy aren't nearly as high as they are here, and stupid predictions and/or unsubstantiated rumors are welcome.

Kiffin might make it harder to poach any of their current recruits. I know he'll probably be following the rules now because the NCAA is up their butts, but he still worked wonders at UT, and he must be pretty charismatic and dynamic in person.

Hopefully, though, Kiffin does what many think he will and has a meltdown of Weis-ian proportions. The Rose Bowl is a lot more fun when USC isn't the home team.

PurpleStuff

January 13th, 2010 at 1:32 AM ^

What coaches were avoiding this job like the plague? Fisher and Del Rio both make more money in the NFL than even Carroll was making at USC and have had incredibly long tenures with their current teams. Mike Riley grew up around OSU football, loves it in Corvallis (where he can go 8-4 and be King), and didn't want the added pressure of coaching at SC. He's also been extremely grateful for the second chance he got at OSU after leaving once to take the Chargers job.

These are the only guys SC seriously considered before hiring Kiffin and all seem more than happy with their current jobs. Acting like coaches avoided this job is like saying ND failed in their search because Stoops and Meyer turned them down.

Ultimate Quizmaster

January 13th, 2010 at 1:32 AM ^

Agreed, but Kiffin is surrounded by a stud staff. And even if he doesn't maintain the USC gravy boat, it'll buy them time to find a better coach.

I was reading the Wetzel column that the sanctions are probably not back breaking. He pointed out Alabama and OU both played in MNC games while being punished. So if SC doesn't get rocked, it'll be the most attractive destination for top flight coaches (Del Rio, Fischer, Gruden...etc).

wishitwas97

January 13th, 2010 at 8:12 AM ^

Al Davis is still senile. Kiffin was in a no-win situation at Oakland. It was his 1st year at Tennessee so you have to give him a pass since Tennessee offense is terrible but their defense is rock solid(thanks to the talent and the coaching. In other words, you can't make a judgement on him as a coach.

With that being said, I hate Kiffin.

Maize and Blue…

January 13th, 2010 at 7:40 AM ^

The hire of the walking secondary violation that is Lane Kiffin seems to fly in the face of logic. With the current investigation of the school and the Bball team being told they can't self sanction why would you go out and hire Kiffin. I hope the NCAA really lays the wood to them now.

Six Zero

January 13th, 2010 at 7:46 AM ^

But if I was the father of a stud football player anywhere from 18-10 years old, I wouldn't want that prick anywhere near my son, his school, his football field, his phone, his facebook account, his medical records, or even the local mall. I might even go so far as to contact the local authorities about a PFA or something.

More than anyone else, this guy is screwing with kids' lives and is bad for football.

BlueDog

January 13th, 2010 at 9:06 AM ^

....no more of that silly, "buy the car for the girlfriend" bit.

Lane is the former recruiting coordinator, so he already knows how to cheat.

Can you believe that with USC's track record of car buying and annual NFL combine steroid test failures......hey let's investigate Michigan, where players want to work too hard.

Don

January 13th, 2010 at 9:36 AM ^

At the very worst, the NCAA is going to do nothing more than politely and diffidently slap USC on the wrist, and will ask for permission first. A couple of scholarships might be yanked, but in the long run that won't mean a damn thing to Kiffin or USC.

I have no love for Alabama or LSU or Florida or FSU or Texas or ND or Ohio State, but there is no program I hate and despise more thoroughly than USC, and I have felt that way for decades.

Scotthany

January 13th, 2010 at 10:02 AM ^

I just about had a heart attack when I read the title. I somehow hadn't heard about this yet and thought for the briefest second we just filled out linebacker coaching vacancy with a Kiffin.

Then I read the rest and I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Token_sparty

January 13th, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^

A retweet is a way to spread the word on breaking or important news. Let's say you're following Mark Dantonio on Twitter for some reason and he tweets, "I am the Antichrist and I feast on the blood of Michigan fans!" Now, most UM fans would have the good sense not to follow Dantonio, so they don't know about it. You see the tweet and retweet it to your followers so the word gets out and everyone knows to stay away from Zombie Dantonio.

mgowin

January 13th, 2010 at 12:20 PM ^

So is Saban, and anyone at tOSU. Here is a good article on the Kiffin situation I found over on ESPN (Yes ESPN, really no kidding!)

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id…

I bet Mike Hamilton offers Muschamp the World to try and get himself free of this Kiffin situation. Kinda reminds me of the Bonnie Situation. Jan Simek to Mike Hamilton: Don't fucking Jan
me Mike!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ANL8L8RG0

I can just picture Kiffin in the athletic dept doing a bunch of gansta shit. After all, Tarantino is from Knoxville...

Token_sparty

January 13th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^

Two things:
1. Search Google Images; once you get to about 'Lane K' the top five suggestions are all about his wife. She IS smoking hot, though, so I guess I have to give him that.
2. It would be wonderful, stupendous even, if the NCAA met in February to discuss sanctions and said, "You know, they just hired the guy responsible for a lot of these recruiting violations (Kiffin was recruiting coordinator at one point, wasn't he?). I would say we're being disrespected. Let's fuck him in the ass." Vacate national championships and wins, postseason ban, lose like half their scholarships, music to my ears. So often in these investigations, the people responsible leave before they have to face the music. It would be awesome if Kiffin were lured there and then hammered.

I know it won't happen, but a boy can dream, can't he?

GoBlueScott

January 13th, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^

Harbaugh: What's your deal?
Kiffin: I out and out pay players to play here. Even as seniors in high school I set them up with co-eds with negotiable morals, supply their parents with exotic vacations and "magically" deliver luxury cars to their driveways. What's YOUR deal?
Harbaugh: I just run my mouth a little too much. ... But you're a dick.

V.O.R.

January 13th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^

The coaching carrousel didn't appear too much of an issue for Michigan fans until we had to experience the hiring debacle of 2008. We felt that Michigan was a prime job that "anyone" would want. We learned quickly that, that was not the case.

The fans wanted Les Miles, but some administrators didn't. He wanted to come to his "dream job," however, something didn't quite work out and so now we're interviewing candidate number three. Rich Rod, the interview that really wasn't an interview. A multi-million pay out to a coach and WVU that didn't like Michigan taking both their basketball and their football coaches. There were court hearings and things said that made Michigan's new football coach look bad. We shouldn't forget that T. Pryor informed the media that as soon as RR was hired by Michigan, he informed him on a WVU phone that he was now going to Michigan as the head coach. Somewhat "Kiffinesk" so to speak.

IMO, the true victims in cases with coaches running off to the NFL or other college programs after they've almost destroyed a program [Carroll, Kiffin, et al] is the students and the fans. Recruiting classes are disrupted or destroyed. Assistant coaches and their families will have to relocate, again. Tennessee's program has to endure another set back, and what scares me is that if we're not careful, this can happen to us. Just an example, when Hopson left, it didn't bother me so much because he was new and may not have felt comfortable here. However, now that Magee is interviewing for a job (dream job???) it makes me wonder, is this a sign of something else happening behind the scenes? He's been with RR for years, never candidated for another position until now. Are the rats leaving the ship because it's sinking or is this more of what happens in the coaching carrousel? Just something that makes you say hmmm.

Most top athletes with a future will eventually be fine and land on their feet, however, it's the rest of us that bleed our school colors that are left holding the bag and have to pick up the pieces. I know "it is , what it is," however, I hope the NCAA will eventually attempt some means of regulating a form of Ethical employment practices when it comes to hiring coaches from other schools.

BostonWolverine

January 13th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^

If you think about it, Kiffin and USC is still a match made in heaven. They're perfect for each other. And now I can continue hating USC with reckless abandon. Awesome.

That said, I would look at David Cutcliffe - currently the head coach at Duke - for the Tennessee job. He went back as a favor to Fulmer after the OC resigned, then left for Duke. That said, he's been a coach at Tennessee for 19 of his 29 years of coaching, and despite leading a pretty big turnaround at Duke, Tennessee is a better program.

Tim Waymen

January 13th, 2010 at 1:28 PM ^

UT students go nuts.

I haven't seen rioting at an SEC school since Ole Miss in the 1960s. You have to hand it to them though: they're consistent. Not only will Southerners riot to keep a black guy out, but they'll also riot to keep a white guy in.

Yesterday I said something about UT fans, especially compared to WV. Well, no one will ever outdo the WV jihadists. An hour after a coach announced that he'll be leaving is way too soon to judge any fan base.

matty blue

January 13th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^

...who has a history of minor ncaa infractions and a general misunderstanding of how the ncaa regs even work? to a place currently bearing the weight of a full-cavity ncaa investigation?

what could POSSIBLY go wrong?

i love every fucking second of this.