Stirring it up in the SEC
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive might not like the conference’s coaches sniping at each other, but fans, columnists and bloggers generally love it. And much of their attention in recent months has been focused on Lane Kiffin, the new Tennessee coach who apparently thinks NCAA secondary violations are like merit badges and that his main job is to get the Vols fan base energized and attract some big-name recruits by making a lot of noise. South Carolina and Florida, in particular, will be gunning for Kiffin in the coming season after bearing the brunt of his insults and accusations.
A popular school of thought has been that Kiffin isn’t as careless in his actions and words as he seems. That he’s “crazy like a fox.” But not everyone is buying that line. T Kyle King (no relation) of Dawg Sports takes a hard (and pretty convincing) look at Kiffin’s qualifications, including his less than impressive won-loss record as a head coach, in a piece titled “There Is Simply No Basis for Believing Lane Kiffin Will Succeed.”
Says King: “What, precisely, does Lane Kiffin bring to the table as a head coach? If your answer is recruiting, you’re well on your way to losing an argument. Plenty of good recruiters have made lousy head coaches; Ray Goff and Ron Zook spring immediately to mind. Absolutely nothing in Lane Kiffin’s resume, before his hiring or since, suggests that he is up to the task before him.”
Meanwhile, the bad blood between Auburn and Bama (awaiting the NCAA verdict in a textbook scandal … Free Books University?) has been simmering ever since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa and now is beginning to boil. Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register says the main culprit in the latest escalation isn’t on the scene any more: Tommy Tuberville.
Writes Finebaum: “Within weeks of Saban’s arrival, Tuberville was making claims the new Alabama coach was breaking rules of every kind. He told this to his staff, certain media members and boosters. He repeated the allegations early and often.”
It’s shaping up to be a very interesting season.
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50 comments Add your comment
J Dub
June 9th, 2009
2:17 pm
It’s my first first!!!
GeoffDawg
June 9th, 2009
2:18 pm
This stuff is the prime-time soap opera for college football fans. In the interim, it’ll do for decent entertainment but boy howdy, I’d much rather this be the Fall with real football to talk about.
J Dub
June 9th, 2009
2:19 pm
Bill, let’s thank God every night that we have Mark Richt!!
WinderDawg
June 9th, 2009
2:19 pm
I for one am ready for the season to start, I’m tired of hearing about what every coach, and school are doing that is wrong.It’s time to settle things on the field.Good,Bad, or Ugly, i want to see what lies in store for the Dawgs this year. I believe that we will be alright,despite the schedule, who we have or don’t have at certain positions. I can remember a day when we hadpretty good starters, and nothing behind them (see Goff, Donnan). It’s not like that anymore, so lets play the damn games and see what happens at the end!!! GO DAWGS !!!!
BurningRedBleedingBlack
June 9th, 2009
2:29 pm
AMEN TO THAT! Thank god we have Mark Richt a real Coach. We may not have the national championships yet, We will. I ‘m glad we don’t have to worry about are coach making UGA look bad. Good things on the way for UGA guys. You can’t recruit top ten classes and expect to do horrible.
southgadawg88
June 9th, 2009
2:34 pm
On the Kiffen thing…wasn’t he the OC at USC?I seem to remember when he got the Raider job he was hailed as some kind of Offensive guru…having coached the QB’s and called plays at USC it was thought that he would be great for Russel.I don’t think USC has won a NC since he left there.I know Carrol is considered a Defensive guy.I do know Monte Kiffen is a hell of a Defensive coach so I have no doubt Tenn will be pretty good on that side of the ball.Tell you the truth I think the Vols will be a lot better than many people think.Disliking a coach does not mean you are going to beat them on the field.If that was so Spurrier would not have won many games.Saban?…….where there is smoke there is fire?It shall be interesting to see how that thing plays out….the more he keeps pulling in top 5 classes the more the magnifying glass will be pouring over his program.That ALA/AUB hate is much deeper than UGA/GT.
Georgia Gator
June 9th, 2009
2:35 pm
Can’t WAIT ’til September 19th!
Chomp, chomp!
Jimbo Jones
June 9th, 2009
2:35 pm
I bet Mark Richt thanks God every night that you lemmings follow him around and cling to every word he says. Thank God we have a coach that has zero titles, took UGA to the championship game zero times, and has held the #1 ranking for a whole week. Would have sworn from what I read the guy was Knute Rockne or Bear Bryant. Urban Meyer has done more in less time, and I’m not even a fan of UF!
Oscar Meyer
June 9th, 2009
2:36 pm
From the Great Pumpkin to the new Great Orange Goofball…Thanks for the laughs and ignoring Jon Gruden’s availability.
Saint Simons
June 9th, 2009
2:45 pm
45-42!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Roll Tide 41-30 RIP
June 9th, 2009
2:48 pm
You UGA fans actually believe UGA and Richt run a clean program? WOW haha
GeoffDawg
June 9th, 2009
3:00 pm
It’s too bad Saint Simons is such an unimaginative loser. The island whose name he bears deserves better. If he could change his handle to Newark, NJ, or something in the rust belt region, I’d have no issues with that.
Saint Simons
June 9th, 2009
3:00 pm
I’VE NEVER BEEN LAID!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahaha
austindog
June 9th, 2009
3:08 pm
We were going to the Capital One bowl before the Tech game and we went to it after the Tech game. That game cost Georgia nothing.
Saint Simons
June 9th, 2009
3:08 pm
LOOK AT ME! I’M UPSTAIRS IN MOMMY’S ROOM ON HER COMPUTER WHILE SHE’S AT WORK!! SOMEBODY NOTICE ME!!!
Steve
June 9th, 2009
3:08 pm
Bye-bye Tubby and ROLL TIDE. I think I saw some Bulldawg black jerseys on sale at Goodwill on hwy 9 in Alpharetta. I think the going price is 50 cents for each one you take off their hands!
Ted Striker
June 9th, 2009
3:09 pm
where’s that smart guy from Denver with his consistently insightful analysis?
Sharkman
June 9th, 2009
3:15 pm
I don’t particulary hate Tennessee, I actually like them when they aren’t playing UGA, but count me as one of the unimpressed with Lane Kiffin. He can only cash in on the “hot new young coaching savant” so long before having to actually, you know, have a winning percentage above .500. And the way he treated the staff at Tennessee when he took over was classless.
Gator Hater
June 9th, 2009
3:18 pm
Yeah. Kiffin has a great resume. Let’s see umm oh yeah first coach ever to attempt a 75 yard field goal. Tennesse will be a joke. Go Dawgs!!!!
Steve
June 9th, 2009
3:19 pm
Wasn’t my comment so smart & funny? huhuhuhu….
Roll Tide!!!
BAMA STAN is the man!
Mike
June 9th, 2009
3:30 pm
Some head coaches come into the SEC without even having head coaching experience….Richt for example. So basing the Oakland Raiders on success/failure is an awful way to measure. No one can really tell if he will succeed or fail but at least he is making it fun in the meantime.
Laughing Out Loud
June 9th, 2009
3:31 pm
Uh, Oscar – Jon Gruden wasn’t yet available when UT was looking for a coach. There were inquiries made with Gruden but the Glazers denied UT permission to talk to him.
Houdawg
June 9th, 2009
3:33 pm
Those buying the ” Kiffin is smarter than ya think ” mantra are simply delusional. This ” coach ” — putting it nicely — won’t be so highly thought of after a few SEC butt whippings. Here’s hoping he goes out with a ” Woody Hayes ” moment down the road. Mean spirited ? Yeah, probably ……. but the guy’s a punk, period.
Paul Bryant
June 9th, 2009
3:38 pm
BINGO Steve, That was a goodie
WTF???
June 9th, 2009
3:49 pm
I guess Bama is 1 for 4 against the Dawgs since Y2K… Not too bad…
Cuz
June 9th, 2009
3:50 pm
Heck I hope we have a blackout game this year. It is more fun for the fans than anything. We have a red-out at every game. 85,000 fans wearing black is kinda kool. How about the ASU game. If one jogs the memory banks, they had a gold out in their stadium when we went there and beat them. A color scheme will not win a game. But it is a fun way to enjoy your fandom. Bama was the better team last year, that is why they won. Not by us wearing black jerseys. So get over it and remember, the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself, or the second coming of Tim Tebow.
Cuz
June 9th, 2009
3:52 pm
WTF, using the logic of past posters that 1-4 record of us against Bama since 2000 means they own us. I saw it on the same blog that said Tech owns us for winning one out of eight.
Vol4ever
June 9th, 2009
3:52 pm
What was Saban’s pro record?????? How about those Utah Utes bammers?
Cuz
June 9th, 2009
3:54 pm
Kiffin has to be smarter than we think. Look at Layla. Look at Layla. Look at Layla. Sorry, I could not help myself. How did he get a Gator girl anyway?
Cuz
June 9th, 2009
3:57 pm
The Utah situaiton has been explained by the Bama team purposely throwing the game as a protest for not playing in the National Championship. It was un-civil disobedience at it’s finest. Bravo Bammers.
BobDog
June 9th, 2009
4:00 pm
Feinbaum is now on podcast. There is nothing like the hate that Alabama and Auburn have for each other. Feinbaum is clearly an Alabama partisan and really stirs it up. Something like that probably wouldn’t do well in Atlanta because there isn’t enough hate between Georgia and Tech to keep it going.
Tech hates us all the time. We only hate tech one year out of eight or ten when we let them beat us.
dd
June 9th, 2009
4:01 pm
So, Jimbo Jones, who are you are fan of?
leifj
June 9th, 2009
4:02 pm
Saint Simons isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. Yeah there is a beach there but all of the general laziness of the people and trust fund babies more than overpower that plus. I lived there for three years and couldn’t wait to get away from all the small town bs and the gay party pictures in Elegant Island Living of Trust Fund Baby A heading to the ATL because they know there is little opportunity there and a bunch of idiotic people like this clown on the blog.
Paul Bryant
June 9th, 2009
4:05 pm
Man, I just gotta go wash this stuff down with a big ole cocola.
GO GUMPS
Tide rising
June 9th, 2009
4:12 pm
Coach Bryant, Don’t forget golden flake chips with that big old coke
Gen Neyland
June 9th, 2009
4:22 pm
Kiffin..? Never heard of him…Com’on BK. We’ve whipped this horse into potted meat. Put him on rye with a hunk of swiss and a slice of Better Boy and let’s picnic…How about a rundown of the Top 20 in this years Fulmer Cup challenge..? Thx
Tide rising
June 9th, 2009
4:26 pm
Yep. Auburn Bama is definitely more hateful then UGA-GT but that’s because the dawgs don’t yet take GT seriously. Their hate it seems is more reserved for UF, UT, Auburn, etc. It seemed to me that up until this past year my dawg friends just kinda ignored GT.
Can we quit talking about Lane Kiffin? He’s already gotten enough free pub.
I have a very good Auburn friend of mine whose dad is an important booster at Auburn. Tubbs told his dad years ago when Saban was at LSU that Saban was cheating. There is definitely something personal there that he just hated Saban long before Saban got to Bama. Yet Saban ran a clean program at LSU just as he did at MSU, Toledo, everywhere he’s been really. So it kind of does make you wonder what Tubbs has against Saban.
Steve, Give it a rest with the blackout game. That was last year. Move on.
Cuz and WTF?, Let’s not get baited and get drawn into the blackout game and all that. Bama fans can talk smack about the blackout game, then dawg fans can go back and say you won 3 of the last 4, then Bama fans can go back and say we’ve dominated the alltime series if we all want to go back in time. Just ignore some of my fellow Tide fans who would rather just talk silly smack.
Paul Bryant
June 9th, 2009
4:28 pm
Cain’t eat them tater chips no more. I’d have Bama in more trouble than my clone Gene Stallings ever thought of
LifelongDawg
June 9th, 2009
4:30 pm
I like that Saint Simons 3:00 post. Sounds exactly like the real one.
saint simons
June 9th, 2009
4:37 pm
I wear my mommies panties while participating in tickle piles. 1-8. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
dostadawg2
June 9th, 2009
4:47 pm
Yawwwn
Mony
June 9th, 2009
4:53 pm
Series record: Alabama leads Georgia 36-25-4.
The Boykin
June 9th, 2009
5:39 pm
St Saban will lead Alabama out of the gutter of the SEC finally. Way to go. No one believes though they threw the game against Utah. Come on be real, they got out played, so what. Georgia is not going to make the SEC championship this year. Dawg fans have to be real you had your shot a decade and they failed.
Saint Simons
June 9th, 2009
6:26 pm
I appreciate nobody mentioning the 38 to 3 butt kicking we got on national TV in the Chick Bowl. What a disgrace for our program and the ACC. Shows how far over our heads we were when we beat UGA.
ghost dawg
June 9th, 2009
7:42 pm
Still tapping that foot in the mens room St. S.?
Ben Miller
June 9th, 2009
11:09 pm
I’m a Bama fan who pulls for the dawgs with his heart unless it’s against us. I think we all need to chill and enjoy the games again- life is short and God is real. Roll Tide Roll
Reptiles Rule
June 10th, 2009
3:05 pm
The thing that amazes me most about this Kiffin thing is how many Vol fans that don’t even realize that this guy has made a very proud and accomplished program the laughingstock of the entire college football world. He accuses a HC of cheating and turns around and commits the most basic of violations. He gets a “prized” recruit from a furtile recruiting area, then turns around and disrepects that whole community. Then he thinks that people are dumb enough to believe that is was a great master plan all along. Obviously, many Vol fans are convinced! It WAS interesting to see Peyton Mannings expression and body language when he was being interviewed and asked about Kiffin. He had this sheepish look kind of like an embarrassed family member of someone who had just commited a crime and you could just read the disgust on his face despite his attempt to hide it.
hinesvillehal
June 10th, 2009
6:40 pm
florida slaughters georgia every year so why even play that game…give both teams a bye and let georgia have their citrus and gators play for national championship.CHOMPCHOMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GATOR MEL FROM PLANTATION
June 10th, 2009
6:43 pm
bullpuppy fans should just realize they have no where near the talent of my beloved gators….should forfeit each year rather than embarassing themselves on national tv….hear networks are thinking about taking the game off as is annual slaughter…byu/utah more attractive…CHOMP CHOMP FROM TITLETOWN…GAINESVILLE FLA
Mike Bobo 17 INT
June 11th, 2009
10:35 am
Please keep CMR on staff, and extend his contract. Matter of fact, Meyer and Spurrier have agreed to pay their booster fees for 2009, because everyone in the SEC and D-1 football knows this is an overrated and underachieving program…LOL!!!
Athens is so smitten with CMR, they cannot see the forest from the trees….well I suppose it is a step up from Donnan and Goff. Man, those were great years, and really not much has changed since CMR came on board.
Keep up the great work!!