Truth & Rumors > NCAAF

Fulmer recruit thrilled with Kiffin

Views
1457
Comments
21

Lane Kiffin spoke Sunday to Midwest City, Okla., tailback David Oku. Oku also wavered on his commitment after Phil Fulmer's dismissal, but he told Volquest.com on Sunday that he was thrilled with Kiffin's hiring and planned to stay committed to the Vols.

SI.com

Lane Kiffin, AP Lane Kiffin, AP
December 2, 2008  05:45 AM ET

Oku is flashy and fast but he's kind of small.

December 2, 2008  07:14 AM ET
QUOTE(#1):

Oku is flashy and fast but he's kind of small.

That's what she said.

December 2, 2008  07:25 AM ET

>>Lane Kiffin spoke Sunday to Midwest City, Okla., tailback David Oku.<<

And Spurrier is already whining about it being an NCAA violation.

December 2, 2008  08:13 AM ET

I'm pulling for Kiffin but man this hire was pretty quick. Lane got the NFL job with no head coaching experience. Now he gets the TN job with 2 bad years at Oakland. Hmm, why not interview more people? Was there no one else qualified for the job. This guy must be the best interviewer in the world. I wish I had his skills and his agent!

December 2, 2008  08:34 AM ET

I hear most Vol fans are thrilled that someone other than Phulmer is coaching. Really didn't matter who it was. They could have hired Joe the Wal-Mart greeter and people would have been happy.

December 2, 2008  08:50 AM ET

"They could have hired Joe the Wal-Mart greeter and people would have been happy."

You think Joe the Plummer is looking for a job!

December 2, 2008  08:55 AM ET
QUOTE(#5):

I hear most Vol fans are thrilled that someone other than Phulmer is coaching. Really didn't matter who it was. They could have hired Joe the Wal-Mart greeter and people would have been happy.

...as long as the other SEC coaches didn't trample him.

(Sorry, that was totally tasteless, but appropriate! :P )

December 2, 2008  10:37 AM ET
QUOTE(#4):

I'm pulling for Kiffin but man this hire was pretty quick. Lane got the NFL job with no head coaching experience. Now he gets the TN job with 2 bad years at Oakland. Hmm, why not interview more people? Was there no one else qualified for the job. This guy must be the best interviewer in the world. I wish I had his skills and his agent!

Well, AD Hamilton wanted to do a thorough, yet quick hire. This isn't like being in the NFL and hiring a NFL head coach. The longer this took, the bigger the ramifications in the recruiting area. If you listened (or watched) the press conference yesterday, Kiffin said that he told Hamilton he wouldn't take the job until after Hamilton did a thorough job looking at all available coaches. If AD Hamilton still wanted to hire him, then he would be willing to take the job. Kiffin sounds like a smart, motivated, hard-working, and energetic coach who will be a great fit for UT. He already is on the recruiting trail, and started calling recruits even before the press conference.

December 2, 2008  10:44 AM ET
QUOTE(#4):

I'm pulling for Kiffin but man this hire was pretty quick. Lane got the NFL job with no head coaching experience. Now he gets the TN job with 2 bad years at Oakland. Hmm, why not interview more people? Was there no one else qualified for the job. This guy must be the best interviewer in the world. I wish I had his skills and his agent!

he got the job because davis wanted someone he could bully and he thought, with lane's age, lane fit the bill. turns out he was wrong. truth is that hamilton gauged the waters and saw that davis, gruden, cowher, and lovie smith wouldn't bite. he didn't want the vols to run the spread so he wasn't too thrilled with kelly or mike leech. i do wonder why he didn't look at skip holtz or peterson from boise, but i would assume that once hamilton realized that lane and his dad monte were a package deal it was an offer he couldn't refuse. anytime you get a big time recruiter who called the plays for reggie bush's hiesman season, coached david carr, and all those USC Wr's and the best DC in ALL of football you take it. plus lets not forget, lane has been coaching for about 10 years now, this isn't exactly new to him.

December 2, 2008  11:13 AM ET

I'm happy for Kiffin, I'm an Oakland fan (not proud of that right now) and could tell the difference Kiffin was making on that team. I was actually excited to watch them play after years of just saying "oh well, I missed another game". Thats been since Gruden was their that I actually cared. Even though I'm a die hard Penn State fan, now with him at UT I will definitely be pulling for them in the SEC. Tennessee fans will be very happy with the outcome of this situation, and now the SEC will be that much stronger.

December 2, 2008  11:54 AM ET

RIP Tenn

December 2, 2008  12:14 PM ET

GL to Lane....anyone who's had to deal with Al Davis deserves a break.

December 2, 2008  01:00 PM ET
QUOTE(#4):

I'm pulling for Kiffin but man this hire was pretty quick. Lane got the NFL job with no head coaching experience. Now he gets the TN job with 2 bad years at Oakland. Hmm, why not interview more people? Was there no one else qualified for the job. This guy must be the best interviewer in the world. I wish I had his skills and his agent!

You can cross out his experience at Oakland. Think about it....he had disagreement with Al Davis. I think that works in his favor.

December 2, 2008  01:05 PM ET
QUOTE(#9):

he got the job because davis wanted someone he could bully and he thought, with lane's age, lane fit the bill. turns out he was wrong. truth is that hamilton gauged the waters and saw that davis, gruden, cowher, and lovie smith wouldn't bite. he didn't want the vols to run the spread so he wasn't too thrilled with kelly or mike leech. i do wonder why he didn't look at skip holtz or peterson from boise, but i would assume that once hamilton realized that lane and his dad monte were a package deal it was an offer he couldn't refuse. anytime you get a big time recruiter who called the plays for reggie bush's hiesman season, coached david carr, and all those USC Wr's and the best DC in ALL of football you take it. plus lets not forget, lane has been coaching for about 10 years now, this isn't exactly new to him.

Good point Shack. As a USC fan, I think he is better suited for college and did a great job at USC. Being youthful will only help him relate to the kids. And yes, good note in pointing out that, even though he is young, he has been in the game for over close to a decade. If he gets his dad to take care of the defense, that takes half the pressure off of his shoulders.

December 2, 2008  02:37 PM ET
QUOTE(#4):

I'm pulling for Kiffin but man this hire was pretty quick. Lane got the NFL job with no head coaching experience. Now he gets the TN job with 2 bad years at Oakland. Hmm, why not interview more people? Was there no one else qualified for the job. This guy must be the best interviewer in the world. I wish I had his skills and his agent!

And he supposedly got a pay RAISE to go back to college...

December 2, 2008  04:28 PM ET
QUOTE(#10):

I'm happy for Kiffin, I'm an Oakland fan (not proud of that right now) and could tell the difference Kiffin was making on that team. I was actually excited to watch them play after years of just saying "oh well, I missed another game". Thats been since Gruden was their that I actually cared. Even though I'm a die hard Penn State fan, now with him at UT I will definitely be pulling for them in the SEC. Tennessee fans will be very happy with the outcome of this situation, and now the SEC will be that much stronger.

Excellent point...Kiffin had the Raiders moving in the right direction...just unfortunate that Al Davis has his head up his fourth point of contact. Raider fans still miss Chucky...Davis sealed this teams fate when he got rid of Gruden.

December 2, 2008  04:39 PM ET
QUOTE(#3):

>>Lane Kiffin spoke Sunday to Midwest City, Okla., tailback David Oku.<<And Spurrier is already whining about it being an NCAA violation.

It's actually another running back named Jarvis Giles that Spurrier is needling Kiffin about.

The Kiffin hiring should be good for recruiting but here's hoping he can actually coach.

December 3, 2008  12:39 AM ET

As a Tide fan and long time hater of the Vols you might expect me to be excited about the Vols getting rid of Fat Phil. Actually I was sad to see him go. I like the old traditional guys. I also enjoyed his losses. Anyway, I am confused with the quick hire of Kiffin. I can not help but see Mike Shula when I look at him. He seems like a nice guy but coaching a high profile SEC school is a tall order. I hope he does well for the Vols except on the Third Satruday in October. I would like to have seen who UT could have gotten if they would have put a little more time into it.

December 3, 2008  12:45 AM ET

Ty Willingham is going to Auburn, Bill Doba is heading to Miss St., and Dirk Koetter is going to take the LSU job. I guess the SEC is raiding the Pac-10 left-overs since the SEC has lost to of the last 17 games vs. Pac-10 foes. Imitation is the purest form of flattery.

 
December 3, 2008  09:12 AM ET

I'm so glad that Kiffin is getting recruits to stay and I'm even happier that Tenn is going to ditch that spread crap. I know it's flashy and has worked to perfection with Tebow and Florida, but it to will pass.

Comment

Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.


The Si.com Cover Hub Go to the Cover Hub

Stub Hub

The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!

Truth & Rumors

MOST POPULAR

  1. 1
    Agent: 'Extraordinary' interest in Bay
    Views
    3957
    Comments
    1887
  2. 2
    Vikings to consider L.A. move?
    Views
    56444
    Comments
    1870
  3. 3
    Mayo rebukes Bruschi's Belichick knock
    Views
    39985
    Comments
    247
  4. 4
    Can Iverson lure LeBron to Knicks?
    Views
    9103
    Comments
    175
  5. 5
    50 Cent's posse tussles with Marv Albert
    Views
    62177
    Comments
    126

Message Boards

  1. NCAAF > General NCAAF

    RIP, Stefanie Spielman
    Views
    300
    Replies
    14
  2. NCAAF > General NCAAF

    Are college football coaches…
    Views
    243
    Replies
    47
  3. NFL > Pittsburgh Steelers

    Big Ben accepts Blame for loss…
    Views
    183
    Replies
    37

Blogs

SI.com

Swimsuit

SI Photos