BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Enough, already.
Itās been more than four years now. Move on.
To those at Tennessee still clinging to their hatred of Lane Kiffin, get over it. Blaming him for years of mediocrity is foolish. Itās operating on the lowest common denominator, and youāre better than that.
Put it on Phillip Fulmer for leaving the cupboard bare. Put it on Derek Dooley for limping to a 15-21 mark. Put it on Butch Jones for not laying his coveted bricks fast enough, if youāre that impatient.
You can blame Kiffin for his one season there and for leaving early, but understand youāre talking about 13.5 months in the span of nearly a decade in which the Vols havenāt been competitive in the SEC -- or nationally for that matter.
We get it, he done you wrong. But donāt be that guy. Donāt be head over heels for your significant other one minute, only to be broken up with and make an about-face the next. Donāt completely rewrite the history of your relationship. You loved Kiffinās antics. He was foolish, brash and incompetent at times -- but you didnāt see it that way. You saw him as affable, your rogue coach fighting fire with fire.
You cheered him on when he accused Urban Meyer of recruiting violations.
You practiced singing "Rocky Top" all night long when he all but guaranteed a win over Florida.
You snickered and laughed with approval when you heard he told Alshon Jeffery that heād end up pumping gas if he went to South Carolina.
He was wrong on all three counts. The rest of the SEC loathed him, but golly he was your man. He went 7-6, reached a bowl game and nearly beat eventual champion Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He had Tennessee headed in the right direction, you said. You didnāt care if he ruffled a few feathers so long as he won football games.
Until he left.
Then everything changed. Then he became the villain and you repainted The Rock from "Hail Kiffin" to something less salutatory.
But you should have known better. When the USC job came open, it was obvious he might go. It was home. He didnāt surprise you or anyone else when he eventually confirmed the news. Though his final news conference didnāt go well, at least he stuck around to try to explain himself.
In fact, if anyone has room to hate Kiffin, itās Southern Cal. He was crushed under Hollywood-sized expectations, in spite of limited scholarships, and ended up the scapegoat of the post-Pete Carroll era. Under Kiffin's watch, USC's aura of dominance fell hard. But at Tennessee, he was only trying to help resurrect a once proud program. While it's true he left abruptly, the flames from those riots on Jan. 12, 2010, should be long extinguished by now. But judging by the vitriol this week, it doesn't appear that anyone's moved on.
When Kiffin returns to Neyland Stadium on Saturday as offensive coordinator of No. 4-ranked Alabama, donāt hold back. You can boo and heckle him all you want, but have some perspective. Tennessee has gone 24-32 since he left. The Vols were 5-7 the season before he arrived.
Taunt him because heās wearing crimson. Jeer him because he failed at USC. Wave $14 at him for an unpaid haircut because it would be too funny not to.
Just donāt waste your energy hating someone who left more than four years ago, was fired from his last job unceremoniously and was rescued from the trash heap only to go back to being an assistant.
Think about it: knowing what we know now, where do you think the program would be had he stayed? He might have done everyone in Knoxville a favor by eventually paving the way for Butch Jones, who seems to be building a solid foundation for the future.
Saturdayās game shouldnāt be about Tennessee beating Kiffin. It should be about trying to beat Alabama. It should be about where Tennessee is heading now, not where itās been in the past.
Itās been more than four years now. Move on.
To those at Tennessee still clinging to their hatred of Lane Kiffin, get over it. Blaming him for years of mediocrity is foolish. Itās operating on the lowest common denominator, and youāre better than that.
Put it on Phillip Fulmer for leaving the cupboard bare. Put it on Derek Dooley for limping to a 15-21 mark. Put it on Butch Jones for not laying his coveted bricks fast enough, if youāre that impatient.
You can blame Kiffin for his one season there and for leaving early, but understand youāre talking about 13.5 months in the span of nearly a decade in which the Vols havenāt been competitive in the SEC -- or nationally for that matter.
We get it, he done you wrong. But donāt be that guy. Donāt be head over heels for your significant other one minute, only to be broken up with and make an about-face the next. Donāt completely rewrite the history of your relationship. You loved Kiffinās antics. He was foolish, brash and incompetent at times -- but you didnāt see it that way. You saw him as affable, your rogue coach fighting fire with fire.
You cheered him on when he accused Urban Meyer of recruiting violations.
You practiced singing "Rocky Top" all night long when he all but guaranteed a win over Florida.
You snickered and laughed with approval when you heard he told Alshon Jeffery that heād end up pumping gas if he went to South Carolina.
He was wrong on all three counts. The rest of the SEC loathed him, but golly he was your man. He went 7-6, reached a bowl game and nearly beat eventual champion Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He had Tennessee headed in the right direction, you said. You didnāt care if he ruffled a few feathers so long as he won football games.
Until he left.
Then everything changed. Then he became the villain and you repainted The Rock from "Hail Kiffin" to something less salutatory.
But you should have known better. When the USC job came open, it was obvious he might go. It was home. He didnāt surprise you or anyone else when he eventually confirmed the news. Though his final news conference didnāt go well, at least he stuck around to try to explain himself.
In fact, if anyone has room to hate Kiffin, itās Southern Cal. He was crushed under Hollywood-sized expectations, in spite of limited scholarships, and ended up the scapegoat of the post-Pete Carroll era. Under Kiffin's watch, USC's aura of dominance fell hard. But at Tennessee, he was only trying to help resurrect a once proud program. While it's true he left abruptly, the flames from those riots on Jan. 12, 2010, should be long extinguished by now. But judging by the vitriol this week, it doesn't appear that anyone's moved on.
When Kiffin returns to Neyland Stadium on Saturday as offensive coordinator of No. 4-ranked Alabama, donāt hold back. You can boo and heckle him all you want, but have some perspective. Tennessee has gone 24-32 since he left. The Vols were 5-7 the season before he arrived.
Taunt him because heās wearing crimson. Jeer him because he failed at USC. Wave $14 at him for an unpaid haircut because it would be too funny not to.
Just donāt waste your energy hating someone who left more than four years ago, was fired from his last job unceremoniously and was rescued from the trash heap only to go back to being an assistant.
Think about it: knowing what we know now, where do you think the program would be had he stayed? He might have done everyone in Knoxville a favor by eventually paving the way for Butch Jones, who seems to be building a solid foundation for the future.
Saturdayās game shouldnāt be about Tennessee beating Kiffin. It should be about trying to beat Alabama. It should be about where Tennessee is heading now, not where itās been in the past.
