Kiffin is Only the Beginning

Posted on Jun 12, 2009 by Ryan Scates |

35 Comments |

First, let’s get this out of the way: yes, this is another post from another blogger about Lane Kiffin.

Love him, hate him, feel the need to condemn or defend him, the man is shaking up the SEC, which is a feat in and of itself.

Let’s look back over some notable SEC coaches who have come and gone (and even coached a game) without the fanfare and attention our SoCal transplant to the hills has gotten over the past six months.

1. Sly Croom, Miss. St.: Played for the Bear, beat Alabama, and broke the color barrier among SEC head coaches.

2. Ron Zook, Florida: Never had a shot to be considered legitimate, but still found a way to beat the Dawgs 66% of the time.

3. David Cutcliffe, Ole Miss: Groomed the Manning brothers in to Super Bowl MVP’s, only to get canned by Ole Miss after failing to defend his 2004 Cotton Bowl Title. (When will they accept their place as the South Carolina of the SEC West?)

4. Guy Morriss, Kentucky: I will send you a Bulldawg Illustrated T-Shirt, signed by publishing magnate Vance Leavy, if you can tell me one fact about this guy. I don’t even remember what he looks like.

The question I’m trying to get to here is simple: What about Lane Kiffin is ruffling everybody’s feathers so much?

Is it because he’s brass? Arrogant? Inexperienced? An outsider?

Or maybe it’s because he is so prone to those pesky NCAA secondary recruiting violations. After all, the last thing any SEC fan wants to see is an underprivileged scholar-athlete misled and exploited for their football talent only to be left for dirt once their eligibility runs out.

But no, none of that really makes any sense. We loved Spurrier’s arrogance in lines like “you can’t spell Citrus without UT”, and I know each and every one of you will defend the 07 JAX celebration to your grave.

Inexperience in the SEC means nothing, as outsiders like Miles and Meyer have come in and accounted for the last three national championships, each in their first five years of coaching here.

And, as much as we’d like to pretend it’s not the case, for every David Greene there is for us to all be proud of once he leaves UGA, there seem to be 10 other former players who we read about getting arrested in the AJC.

Here is a stat for you: A five-star football recruit from the class of 2005 was twice more likely to be arrested than to be drafted to the NFL. Our Universities are failing to develop anything but a faster 40 time in their student athletes. So, whoever from the SEC that wants to cast the first stone at Kiffin from a moral high horse can be my guest.

From a pure SEC drama-loving standpoint, one could even assume Kiffin would be canonized for his brazenness. Who doesn’t love seeing Urban Meyer lose it and start talking in third person? Who wouldn’t pay money to see Spurrier so annoyed as to snap at a passive aggressive comment in a hotel elevator in Destin, Florida?

The crux of this issue is simple. Kiffin represents a true changing of the guard in our fair conference. And let me warn you: he is only the beginning.

Perhaps you noticed that when the SEC broke it big, things began to change.

Forever ago, it was like SEC football was our own little regional secret. We could play Dixie in the stands, name our children after raging alcoholic coaches and nobody seemed to care. Back then, the taste of a Golden Flake potato chip looked like Bear Bryant’s houndstooth cap. The smell of a fall day between the hedges sounded like Larry Munson’s gravel-cured voice.

But, as the late, great Lewis Grizzard would say, “What endures?” When we traded pre-game band formations in for Jumbotron videos, when we traded the track people in for the sky suites, the subtle charms of the SEC began to fade. Even mascots were forced to change. It seems the last thing we had left to change were the coaches themselves.

That’s where Kiffin comes into play.

The difference Between Kiffin and Fulmer, along with the Tennessee status quo is staggering. If Phillip Fulmer was Raycom, Kiffin is ESPNU; If Fulmer was the Varsity, Kiffin is Five Guys; If Fulmer were Old Milton County, Kiffin is North Point Mall. The comparisons are a little abstract, but you get the point. Tennessee has sold the heart and soul of its program for a mere caricature of something that belongs in the SEC, and it is breaking all of our hearts.

I have heard the quote “Its all part of the plan” verbatim from no less than seven Tennessee faithful referring to the Kiffin situation over the past week. They better hope so, because the more often they say it the less it sounds like an arrogant taunt and more it sounds like the helpless abandon from someone justifying the loss of a dead dog. (e.g. “We miss old blue, but him getting hit by the Schwann’s truck was ‘all part of the plan’”)

I would like to say that Kiffin is just an aberration, that Tennessee has made a horrible mistake hiring him and he will be gone in 3 years and replaced by someone like Will Muschamp, an SEC man who will be fun to despise in our own deep-fried and bourbon-basted kind of way.

But he’s not an aberration. With the absurd amounts of money circulating the SEC today, things like program loyalty and local rapport don’t buy much. When Kiffin and Chizik and Meyer and Saban are gone, they will be replaced by other dufuses from places like Arizona or West Texas or Michigan; outsiders who figured out how to run a junket offense with more formations than the Redcoat Band’s halftime show.

Wanna know the real reason Georgia fans loathe Kiffin? It’s because we know that sooner or later, the shoe will be on the other foot, and WE will be forced to say “It’s all part of the plan.”

May the SEC of Dooley, Dye, Bryant, Jordan (pronounced Jer-Dan), Neyland, Vaught, Fulmer, Spurrier and Dodd (actually, forget Dodd) live on in your memory eternal, because with the arrival of Kiffin in 2009, it’s gone.

Also, a quick thanks to those of you who sent me encouraging emails about the LSAT. I didn’t faint when they handed out the test, so I surpassed my own expectations! Thanks again.-Ryan

Tagged: sec football, lane kiffin, uga football, ryan scates, college football news, track people

Comments

stebla said:

Guy Morriss played at TCU and left UK for Baylor's HC position.

Ryan Scates said:

Send your address to ryan@bulldawgillustrated.com and I will put your shirt in the mail!

Jeanie Lenagar said:

LSAT? Did you take the LSAT? Are you planning to go into law? Just kidding, I know you did well. This article goes straight to the heart of an old UT, and SEC, fan like myself. Loyalty and tradition don't seem to mean much anymore, just loud braggarts for coaches and players who are concerned with promoting themselves as much as possible. They should all be wearing a large "ME" on their jerseys and shirts instead of numbers or team logos. Keep up the good work, Ryan.

Dennis said:

It is a shame the atmosphere of the tradition of SEC football has changed so much so fast. I think it can all be traced back to Spurrier's run at Florida. He initiated the "Mega Point" offense that really forced a change in recruiting, players and ultimately coaching in the SEC. As we have spoken many times "The only way to beat Florida is to out score them" While that is an obvious statement, it took a new meaning with Florida under Spurrer. The Gators will score 35 to 55 points a game. To beat them opponents have to score 36 to 56 points a game. That fact changed traditional views of game strategies, players and coaching methods (and ultimately coaches) Defensive coordinators were no longer saying "we need to shut down their offense this week", when playng the Gators it was more like "we need to make them punt twice, and get two turn overs" that's about the best we can hope for". Ofensive Coordinators were saying "We have to score everytime we get the ball and quickly". While no doubt other factors are at play, in my mind the ultimate catalyst in change in the SEC is the fact that the game changed in the SEC.

Mitchell Green said:

Ryan--Again, very well done. And I think that I can tell you a couple of things about Guy Morriss, but I would not know what to do with that t-shirt. Mitchell

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