Kiffin’s Tennessee staff ripping off shirts for recruiting
Lane Kiffin is first-year coach at Tennessee (AP)
Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin and his staff made an unforgettable impression on some of the Southeast’s top college prospects on Saturday.
More than 100 high school players, including several of Georgia’s elite prospects, attended Tennessee’s Junior Day. Things started off rather routine. “It was just like your normal Junior Day, with coaches and other people from the college talking,” Brookstone tight end Brian Vogler said. “You could see heads bobbing, with eyes falling a little bit. But the second they split us up from the parents, it got so much more intense.”
The prospects were led to the film room, where Kiffin thanked the recruits for making the trip and considering the Volunteers. “Then this other coach [assistant] got up there and said that Tennessee takes special teams very seriously, that it’s a big key to winning,” recalled Northview defensive lineman Denzel McCoy, who has 31 early scholarship offers.
“That coach said they get real fired up on special teams and yelled for everybody to ‘Get up, get on your feet, and get fired up about special teams.’ Then this other coach ripped off his shirt Superman style. It was crazy.”
Many in the crowd weren’t sure how to react. “The coaches told us to stand up, but nobody really knew what to do. We started clapping, sort of like one of those ‘Ah, this feels awkward’ kind of things,” Vogler said. “The coaches yelled ‘OK, we’re going to give you another shot. We’ve leaving the room. When we come back in here, we want it really to get crazy.’”
Denzel McCoy (AJC)
Douglass defensive lineman Garrison Smith said the lights in the room dimmed. “This one coach stayed behind and walked to the side of the room. Then he kept slamming the [side] doors, as if the other assistant coaches were trying to break it down. It was like an angry dog or some wild animals were on the other side.”
After a few moments, Smith said the doors swung open and the Tennessee assistants ran into the room. “By now, three or four coaches had their shirts ripped off.” Smith said around 10 Tennessee players, including All-America defensive back Eric Berry of Atlanta and quarterback Jonathan Crompton, ran down from behind the recruits to meet the coaches on the floor. “Eric and the rest of the players were chanting ‘U-T, wild boys … U-T, wild boys … U-T wild boys.’” This time, prospects left their seats and joined the celebration. “We were all jumping up and down together, it was cool,” McCoy said.
After things appeared to calm down, Tennessee recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron gave a rousing pep talk, which caused the whole scene to repeat itself, only more intense. “The last time, everybody was hyped up and feeling it,” Loganville tailback Storm Johnson said. “People were jumping all over the place. It was rocking. You should’ve seen it. Even the podium got knocked over.”
All four of the players said they never saw Lane Kiffin lose his shirt. “He was on the side, just watching and smiling,” Vogler said.
Garrison Smith (AJC)
The action-packed introduction pleased the prospects, which each said they had never heard or seen anything like it before. “I talked to some of the Tennessee players afterwards, and they said they had never heard or seen anything like that before when they were recruits and visited colleges,” Vogler said with a laugh.
McCoy: “Personally, I liked it … It was kind of crazy, but it was cool. Coach Kiffin is trying to get everyone fired up about Tennessee football, and it worked. He had everyone in that room fired up.”
Smith: “I loved it, especially when that coach ripped off his shirt like The Incredible Hulk. It was high intensity. I enjoyed the whole day. They [Tennessee] definitely moved up on my list.”
Vogler: “It was awesome. I didn’t know how to react at first. I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, these people are crazy.’ Then after talking to them later in the day, I realized that’s just their style. That’s how they go.”
Click here and bookmark this page to follow the AJC’s recruiting coverage
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
284 comments Add your comment
BaseballVol13
March 3rd, 2009
8:38 am
In fact my wife even wants to go see the Tennessee staff. She believes it might energize our relationship that has grown tired. Of course, I’m usually the tired one.
BaseballVol13
March 3rd, 2009
8:36 am
I’m sending all my kids to the Tennessee Junior Day. I’d be proud to see my children involved with some real character adults. And I don’t appreciate the comments on Michael Jackson. When I was younger I spent 5 days at the ranch. That is where I gained all my knowledge about self abuse. Go Vols!! Work them, well, maybe a different expression, get them going, NO, that’s wrong too. Anyhow, let’s go Lane.
BaseballVol13
March 3rd, 2009
8:34 am
heeldawg,
TENNESSEE has won the East more recently than you ball licking pups, and we’ll win again before uga does!!! King Kiffin has you bit.ches so scared, you’ll barely stick your nose out of the doghouse!!! And with regard to Marlon Brown going to the ball lickers, Memphis is farther from Knoxville than Atlanta and King Kiffin and crew will own Metro Atlanta recruiting for the next several years!!! Might as well get ready to put on the field players TENNESSEE does NOT want!!! FEAR King Kiffin and the VOLS!!!
Deliverance 2
March 3rd, 2009
8:31 am
BaseballVol13, I went to Florida, do you want to quote me the stats pertaining to that rivalry the last 5 years?? I am becoming a pretty significant Georgia fan as a result of all this stuff.
You used the word “trembling”, it would appear the only people :trembling” would be members of a certain staff in anticipation of possible “conquests”–This is beyond wrong! It’s usually pretty easy to “communicate” with people when they are disrobed. Sick Sick Sick.
lane should venture out to California and recruit that cornerback with some eligibility remaining–Michael Jackson of Magic Ranch, CA. By Tennessee’s standards he is a 5 star prospect.
BaseballVol13
March 3rd, 2009
8:25 am
Hey GoDawg,
You’re the only poster on here with a realistic point of view, FEAR King Kiffin and CREW!!!! We WILL make Georgia OUR VOLUNTEER recruiting headquarters!!!!!
Where Is The Wife
March 3rd, 2009
8:24 am
Was Lane’s wife involved with the removal of shirts?? If not, you would expect Tennessee to get it all wrong. They have the men go topless to motivate young men instead of the only person within 100 miles that doesn’t look like the product of some “shady” dating patterns.
Mighty Pretty Mouth
March 3rd, 2009
8:21 am
Dear Kay, You go to Tennessee and there weill be more than emotion shown. I’m surprised the state office of HRS was not called in to investigate this travesty. ADULT men STRIPPING from the waist up in front of MINOR boys. I understand it is TEnnessee and the sexual mores extendto incest and bestiality, but usually the partners and the hound dogs are the age of consent.
Kay Shostak
March 3rd, 2009
7:47 am
For any Vol fan in past years that watched our teams come onto the field for a bowl game and said, “They don’t look ready. They don’t even look like they want to be there.”, this is heaven. I want to see some emotion. And, yes, I want to win. But I want players that want it and want it bad! And AJC – we live in Georgia and love your college football coverage. We lived for 10 years outside Chicago so for us it’s SEC all the way. And like others on here – we bleed orange but pay tuition for kids at UGA! LOve the SEC and AJC!
JustCallMeChamp
March 3rd, 2009
6:31 am
Hey Lice, speaking of showers, think if I was a player taking a shower anywhere near a Tennessee coach I’d definitely be wearing “soup on a rope.” Would’t want to take any unneccessary chances seeing how excited they get aroung young men…
Lice
March 3rd, 2009
5:54 am
Ut is about the only school I know of that has separate shower for it’s players. They have always been so timid and old fashioned that this business of a man taking his shirt off in public just shows how far this nation has fallen. It sickens me to see even young women basketball players running up and down the floor in shorts.I think they should wear skirts like they used too. I think track athletes should wear at least a t-shirt instead of these tight things they wear now.I guess times have changed.I must be getting old.