Everyone happy we didnt hire John Gruden?

[LegendofNation]

Kiffin would have been the absolute last guy I hired, but I cant imagine it being anyone else now.

[Voluble2]

Kiffin would have been the absolute last guy I hired, but I cant imagine it being anyone else now.

That is EXACTLY how I feel. We may have decided differently had we sat in on the interview but Kiffin wasn't even on my B-list of most wanted coaches.

But what has energized everyone so much is that now we actually have an honest to goodness plan. We aren't just wallowing around --- we seem to be going somewhere. It may take a while to get there but at least the damn GPS says we are heading in the right direction.

[Sun Tzu Vol]

Agreed, Kiffin was not my favorite choice out of all the prospects, but he seems to be doing exactly what we needed a HC to do. We're going to know in three weeks or so how much he has changed the UT program, but until then, I stand by my assesment that Hamilton knows what he's doing.

[BrassVols]

Kiffin would have been the absolute last guy I hired, but I cant imagine it being anyone else now.

I wouldn't say that all precincts are reporting just yet, but if you had told me last November he would have:

1. Hit the SEC like a shit storm;
2. Garnered prominent national publicity and "buzz" for the program
3. Transformed the program's culture WRT work ethic, accountability and discipline
4. Hired one of the best staffs in D-1A
5. Put in place a state of the market recruiting machine
6. Pulled in a Top 10 class that included pilfering 2 of Urban Liar's key commits and the No.1 recruit in the country from freaking Kansas
7. Culled out all the dead wood on the roster and in the football admin staff
8. Thoroughly antagonized, alienated and pissed off the Fulmersexuals
9. Fired up the REAL UT fan base
10. Got the players to achieve the highest GPA in 4 years and zero arrests/incidents in 1st 8 months

I would have gotten a woodie of a lifetime.

I was not gung ho about him, really mildly above ambivalent, until the opening press conference. His presence, energy, vision and hot ass wife had me on the Lane Train THAT DAY.

[Polemicvol]

The fact that Lane Kiffin doesn't talk in "coachspeak" and says what he means and means what he says. And he's not afraid of anything that I can see, including other coaches, programs, reporters, etc.

Hell, he wasn't afraid of Al Davis. And Al Davis has broken lesser men.

I agree, this looks like a home run hire by Hammy. I could be wrong on this one, but I don't believe I am.

[drncvol]

.....dead pig in the sunshine. (I don't exactly know why a pig would be happy dead and in the sunshine but it was a favorite saying of my grandmother).

I definitely am excited about the direction of Tennessee football for the first time in a long, long time.

[Horde wannabee]

Count me in, but I never had Gruden in my top 5 anyway.

I was all about Mike Leach but I can see now that would have been a mistake (I think). :kos:

[Bonevol]

Me too. Kiffin was not in my top choices - Butch Davis, Leach, etc. I can't see that any of those guys would have us where we are at right now. Don't want any of them now. This is the guy we needed.

Granted, we probably have 2 years of tough sledding in front of us, but I can see the light. It seems that our program is now operating in the SEC of the 21st Century and not "my father's" SEC.

Kiffin is doing the small things that are the fundamentals to a big time program - excellent recruiting, discipline, hiring talented/hard working coaches, working players hard, showing real leadership. I'm cautiously optimistic that we will start to see signs of improvement from the first game.

[GhenghisVol]

I couldn't be happier. Kiffin was like #6 on my list, but I dont think anybody knew what we'd be in for..... a young aggressive old school coach that doesnt take shit off anybody, speaks his mind, has seduced the entire major media community with his charm and marketing ghenius. He was exactly what we needed. I'm giddy.

Gruden.....man I love that guy but I doubt he could have assembled the staff we have, who knows maybe he would have brought in Kiffin as OC and brought Monte up as DC but its doubtful. We're in for a wild ride, I just dont understand these idiots that still contend they'd rather have Butch Davis or somebody else.

[PitiFulmer]

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[PitiFulmer]

I would've taken the chance on Kiffin 10x before hiring Gruden. I don't know if I could ever watch a Vols game again if we had hired him. If you think our QB situation is bad now, just imagine how it would look 2 years from now if he was coaching. We would have 4 Chris Simms/Rick Clausen clones on scholly fighting it out for PT. Deep Breath. I'm ok now.

[wagee12]

Well, I wanted Gruden but no way would I trade Lane Kiffin for Gruden now. I had Lane in the top three all along mainly because he had been the top recruiter at USC and he had been in the NFL, albeit for just a short time. This staff is phenominal and then we got the bonus of Mitch Browning and Chester McGlockton to boot.
Unlike the experiment with some older NFL coaches that failed, Kiffin was young enough and much more energetic than say, Bill Callahan was went he took over at Nebraska. Just to be able to watch Monte's defensive schemes, blitzes and coverage disguises this year makes it all worthwhile to me.

[GhenghisVol]

The Hire Gruden campaign just shows you how desperate we were.

[wkuvol]

TribeVol isn't, but you have to look close to tell. He hides his disappointment well.:yb676:

[wkuvol]

I am thrilled that Kiffin is in Knoxville. I couldn't be happier.

I think that adopting the Pee Wee Herman approach to public relations (any media coverage is good media coverage when trying to jump start a failed career) was a stroke of genius.

Pee Wee and Bama actually have a lot in common. The both have spent quite a bit of time on probation. The difference is Pee Wee finished his. Bama can only hope.

[humbletx]

Kiffin would have been the absolute last guy I hired, but I cant imagine it being anyone else now.

Gruden came with a 5 million price tag... Not a good thing regardless of his coaching qualities.. Entertainment factor - the one thing Kiffin has brought to the table - well "Chuckie" does have a way with the media... Lovely wife - check. Coaching staff - well he shoulda been able to put together a decent staff.

Recruiting - well part of the appeal of Kiffin are his "ties to the NFL" and what it takes to get there.

Its all about winning. Not how the game is played - but winning. The thing to ponder is how well an existing, established coaching staff, would have done with the current mix of Volunteers? We have a new HC and a new coaching staff - who've never coached a game together as a staff.

[Volcano]

anybody now. I thought the choices should've been Petersen, Gruden, Davis or the Pirate. My how things would've been different.

[CSI Ducktown]

shat his pants everytime we played Florida, would be disciplined and show some energy, so I'm really happy with Kiffin.

[Mongovol]

It's Kiffin.....until it isn't.

VOLS BITCH!

[QuickdrawMcVols]

Kiffin would have been the absolute last guy I hired, but I cant imagine it being anyone else now.

Great post leggy, I was thinking this exact thing about a month ago. I wouldnt trade CLK for anyone in the country.

Back in November, I didnt know who I wanted but I knew it wasnt Leach. That would have been a disastrous hire, imo. Just had a bad feeling about it.

[SonofGryllus]

Gruden would have 6 QB commitments by now, all from guys about as good as Stephens.