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Can Kiffin recruit the Southeast?

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Tennessee officially announced the hiring of Lane Kiffin as its next head football on Sunday afternoon. Kiffin will hit the ground running. He will have three immediate objectives: keep the current recruiting class intact, quickly construct a formidable coaching staff, and provide stability to the struggling program. Before Fulmer's firing on Nov. 3, UT had the nation's No. 6-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. After a handful of players decommitted, the ranking has dropped to No. 17. His background suggests Kiffin will be able to secure many of the remaining recruits, as well as bring in other top-notch players in the coming years. He spent six years under head coach Pete Carroll at USC. He helped lead the Trojans to back-to-back national championship games and had a hand in signing Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. For all his fine work at USC, Kiffin's name recognition doesn't resonate as much in the Southeast as it does on the West Coast. Case in point, David Lipscomb High School standout receiver Zach Rogers has committed to play at UT next season. Rogers, the younger brother of UT junior receiver Austin Rogers, is scrambling to find information on Kiffin.

Tennessean

Lane Kiffin, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Lane Kiffin, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
December 1, 2008  08:37 AM ET

Finding information will be hard, I would suggest contact a Mr. Albert Davis in California

December 1, 2008  08:53 AM ET

It didn't take UT long to go after Kiffin. The questions about "Why him of all people?" are legit. Hopefully he'll have success and not end up like Charlie Weis.

December 1, 2008  09:00 AM ET

Good luck with that recruiting thing, ask Charlie how much easier that is than having a GM drafting people.

December 1, 2008  09:09 AM ET

Let's hope he can, or else it's going to be a long painful time listening to alabama and florida fans.

December 1, 2008  09:21 AM ET

If he hires a guy like Ed Orgeron he would be fine. Ed brought players to Ole Miss, but he just couldn't coach them.

After him and his dad he needs to have a staff full of coaches and recruiters who know the lay of the land.

December 1, 2008  11:16 AM ET

Tennessee will be #2 in the SEC East in 2 years. Even their current players are severely underutilized.

December 1, 2008  11:24 AM ET

Recruiting is the one area Kiffin has proven himself in, as with Orgeron. Monte will bring in defensive talent from all over the country just to play for him. My concern naturally is the fact Kiffin has never been a cfb head coach, but then, neither was Fulmer when he took the job.

December 1, 2008  11:37 AM ET
QUOTE(#7):

Recruiting is the one area Kiffin has proven himself in, as with Orgeron. Monte will bring in defensive talent from all over the country just to play for him. My concern naturally is the fact Kiffin has never been a cfb head coach, but then, neither was Fulmer when he took the job.

But Fulmer had 20yrs of assistant coaching under his belt, with 6+yrs as OC.

It seems strange when there were so many experienced HC candidates out there, why this guy.

What happened to Kelly, Peterson?

December 1, 2008  12:00 PM ET
QUOTE(#8):

But Fulmer had 20yrs of assistant coaching under his belt, with 6+yrs as OC.It seems strange when there were so many experienced HC candidates out there, why this guy.What happened to Kelly, Peterson?

I don't know exactly what the thought process was, but Peyton Manning was involved in the search and he signed off on Kiffin. I'm not big on Mike Hamilton, but in Peyton I trust.

December 1, 2008  12:49 PM ET
QUOTE(#9):

I don't know exactly what the thought process was, but Peyton Manning was involved in the search and he signed off on Kiffin. I'm not big on Mike Hamilton, but in Peyton I trust.

I hope for the SEC's sake it works. I hate when UT/UF, UT/Bama, UT/GA don't matter.

December 1, 2008  01:41 PM ET

great choice for Ten a C fans...Especially, if his his dad runs the D-fense...they'll be top notch in the very near future...hmm, let me see NFL exp. on the recruiting trails...GREAT sell to potentials...yup, they'll be a fine 1 -2 punch...

December 1, 2008  02:13 PM ET

Mike Hamilton had better pray that Kiffin finds success early and is able to sustain it. Given his baffling handling of Fulmer's situation, the Volunteer faithful have little patience for further faux pas.

December 1, 2008  02:24 PM ET
QUOTE(#12):

Mike Hamilton had better pray that Kiffin finds success early and is able to sustain it. Given his baffling handling of Fulmer's situation, the Volunteer faithful have little patience for further faux pas.

I don't know anything about Kiffin's offensive style. Is it going to match with the talent that is there? Defensively, I don't see a problem. The only problem your defense had was getting gassed due to no O and you have arguably the best db in the country.

December 1, 2008  02:51 PM ET

I kinda miss the intense games that the Tennessee-Florida rivalry brought in the late 90s. Tennessee has too much pride, too big a fan base and too much money to be down for long.
I love the competition in the SEC and I hope it only gets better. No other conference in the nation (apart from the Big Twelve THIS year), has the same level of competition the SEC has.

December 1, 2008  02:59 PM ET
QUOTE(#13):

I don't know anything about Kiffin's offensive style. Is it going to match with the talent that is there? Defensively, I don't see a problem. The only problem your defense had was getting gassed due to no O and you have arguably the best db in the country.

I hear ya but being around Chow and Carroll can't hurt ..He's young with great tutelage...never got a fair shake in Disneyland...er,uh, I mean Oakland...I like the move[s].

December 1, 2008  04:58 PM ET

Mixed emotions...thats what I'm having. I am absolutely thrilled that the Vols chose Kiffin as the head coach.....because personally, I think it is a HUGE mistake. I'm a Raiders fan(and even though they sucked under ALL recent coaches) I know this guy just cant coach, and I dont care for the Vols. Brian Kelly would have been a Grand Slam for Tennessee....Kiffin is more like a pop-up bunt.

...but, rumor has it that his "Pops" is going to be the defensive co-ordinator...this is what saddens me...because I think Monte is one of the greatest defensive minds around. Hopefully the 2 will just cancel each other out...and the Vols will still be stuck in limbo.

December 1, 2008  06:07 PM ET
QUOTE(#5):

If he hires a guy like Ed Orgeron he would be fine. Ed brought players to Ole Miss, but he just couldn't coach them. After him and his dad he needs to have a staff full of coaches and recruiters who know the lay of the land.

However, as Charlie Weis has proven, recruiting doesn't matter unless you properly coach your players

December 1, 2008  09:26 PM ET

Good luck Lane.... get your Dad to go with you. Nice 1---2 punch.

December 1, 2008  09:57 PM ET
QUOTE(#17):

However, as Charlie Weis has proven, recruiting doesn't matter unless you properly coach your players

Fair point. It's all about what you do with them. That was the point I was making with Orgeron. Dude brought some players to Ole Miss and bombed with them.

Case in point: Brent Schaeffer. That kid was talented but he played like CRAP with Ole Miss. It might have been that the offense didn't suit his talent. Who knows?

 
December 2, 2008  02:42 AM ET
QUOTE(#2):

It didn't take UT long to go after Kiffin. The questions about "Why him of all people?" are legit. Hopefully he'll have success and not end up like Charlie Weis.

1st i am pretty sure that hamilton knew that monte was part of the lane kiffin package so all the why him talk is silly. any time you get a good recruiter and oc combined with arguably the best DC in ALL of football you take it.

kiffin will be fine. he has been coaching for 10 years now and has proven himself to be a fine recruiter and a coach who can develope talent at the collegiat level. lets not forget that he helped coach david carr at fresno state, all those recivers at USC, and called the plays for reggie bush's heisman campaign. multiple people have said that he was turning thye raiders around and i don't doubt that with greater control of the football team (something he never had in oakland) he will turn this program around. the staff he is assembling is turning out to be really impressive. monte, the SC qb's coach, possably ed orgeron, bill callahan, and john whitt from the packers. the future is looking bright for the vols right now.

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