BOSMA’S BREAKDOWN
by Tony Bosma
A head coach for a prominent college football program has fled one university for greener pastures.
In 2010, that’s no surprise. Taking a close look at the way Lane Kiffin escaped Tennessee and moved west to USC has no shock and awe value either.
But consider this… Kiffin came to Tennessee with his nose up and fists flying. He called Urban Meyer a cheater, discredited the South Carolina program, and did his fair share of trash talking in-season as well.
In other words, he’s the perfect fit for a USC football program that is facing potential sanctions from the NCAA on multiple accounts. He’s brash, honest, and not afraid to take one on-the-chin, nor afraid to give one right back – which he might have to do with the NCAA breathing down his neck.
I have no problem with Kiffin going to USC… I’m beyond caring about coaches bolting one team for another, even though I don’t think it’s fair to the players that can either 1) stay at the school even though the coach they came to play for has left or 2) transfer schools and sit out a year.
It’s not the coaches problem that it isn’t fair to the athletes, and it’s not their fault. Blame the NCAA.
Having said that Kiffin couldn’t have been less genuine on his way out the door. He held a “press conference” that lasted 1:03, said the words “14 months” four separate times and even said, “I have so many people to thank, I’m just going to be generic and say I’m very thankful to all the Tennessee people.” Yea, that’s about as generic as it gets, so job well done Lane.
To put it simply, it’s a great day for USC and it sucks for Tennessee. The Pete Carrol to Lane Kiffin transition will hit very few bumps in the road as far as success and recruiting go. For Tennessee? We’ll have to wait and see. But don’t feel too bad for Tennessee, they’re an elite program, they’ll be just fine.
Kiffin said “it was an exciting time” while he was at Tennessee. But it was obvious it was much more exciting to flee.
