Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Yeah, maybe The Sporting Blog talks<!--
a-->
about
Lane
Kiffin a lot. Lane Kiffin talks a lot, you see. No one talks about
Jim Tressel because it's more interesting to interview dry white toast,
but that hasn't prevented him from pwning the Big Ten for years. And
besides, KIFFIN
= RATINGS for CBS and for a blogger looking out on a dry Wednesday
when his compatriots yoinked Les Miles admitting
the coaches' poll is a sham and Kansas athletics devolving
into West Side Story.
So it's completely natural to talk about a guy who's constitutionally incapable of shutting up:
"I don't know. I guess we'll wait and see, and if we're not excited about our performance, we'll tell you that everybody was sick," said Kiffin, responding to a question about whether the Vols had been hit with the flu.
That's old, and you've probably read it, and you've probably added it to the small portion of your brain dedicated to thinking Lane Kiffin is a prat who you'd like to see get run over by a lawnmower.
Tennessee fans, on the other hand, have engaged the ever-more complex flowchart which starts with "Lane Kiffin said something that makes him sound like a child" and ends with "We're gonna win!" And not just the nutcases you can find floating around any message board on the internet.
Here's Rocky Top Talk, the King Kong of Tennessee blogs, which takes the postgame handshake between Urban Meyer and Kiffin, during which Meyer said "your guys played hard" and reaches this conclusion:
Lane Kiffin setting up shop in Urban Meyer's head
... Based on all of the rest of the stuff [Meyer's] been saying post-game, I now think it was a back-handed swipe at Kiffin something along the lines of "Your players played well [despite the fact that you suck]." All of that is fine with me, by the way, because it re-ignited a war of words and suggests to me that Lane Kiffin is in Urban Meyer's head much the same way that Steve Spurrier was in the head of Phillip Fulmer for so many years.
Meanwhile, Fanhouse's Clay Travis, who's a great writer and a vague email acquaintance, picks up the same theme:
Is Kiffin Besting Meyer in Coaches' Spat?
Kiffin's undisciplined off-field comments belie a team that is actually very disciplined and focused on game details. The upshot of Kiffin's gameplan was that Tennessee controlled how Saturday's game was played for the first time in five years. ... And ultimately all the continued media attention has a rattled Meyer embracing a desert island fantasy.
Travis continues to assert that Meyer is "flustered" and so forth and so on. Epic length, similar ideas.
Tennessee fans point to the close score and hug themselves, thinking of a day in the future when Steve Spurrier is on their side and all opposing coaches can do is jump on their hat, Yosemite Sam-style. They're so in love with this idea that they spin the words that are coming out of Kiffin's mouth to mean anything at all. They don't. They're blather. They're fun blather, sure, and Lord knows I support any coach bold enough to snipe at another member of the coaching fraternity -- 120 Jim Tressels would be the death of college football. But in the grander scheme of things it means zero. Urban Meyer is not "flustered." Lane Kiffin, whose team just racked up 210 yards of offense and was basically no threat to Florida in the second half, is not "inside" anyone's head. You don't get inside someone's head by losing.
Steve Spurrier got inside people's heads by beating them relentlessly and then mocking their corpse. Lane Kiffin just talks, and it has no bearing on his future success. Tennessee fans should stop attempting to spin it into anything other than evidence of their coach's immaturity.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
12 comments
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Lane Kiffen is in your head……
by SailorGabe on Sep 24, 2009 8:57 AM EDT reply actions
But he’s in your bed, Sailor.
by tkbone on Sep 24, 2009 10:30 AM EDT reply actions
Everyone is forgeting that Myers started the last round of barbs when he said that Tennessee and Kiffin weren’t playing for the win. Regardles of your dislike for his banter, Kiffin is putting together one heck of a recuiting class, dispite the 5-7 record last year and a current record of 1-2.
by tresgoldsby on Sep 24, 2009 11:26 AM EDT reply actions
I used to think Kiffin was a tool, but now I just enjoy the show. Why the hell should he kiss Meyer’s ring? To hell with that. Say what you want about him, but people are talking about Tennessee football again. He even nabbed a couple huge recruits that Meyer was going after.
by ChiAdam on Sep 24, 2009 11:50 AM EDT reply actions
FLA currently OWNS TN. We have bragging rights for the next year and we look forward to seeing TN in Notsville next year. So, yak all you want TN fans, it ain’t nuthin’ but talk til you win.
by mackgator on Sep 24, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions
Looks like Kiffin is accomplishing exactly what he wanted to; cause you to think about TN football. The very fact that we’re still talking and writing about it close to a week after the game indicates that he did something right. With his staff and the team of recruiters he has put together, give them another year and they’ll be very prominent nationally.
by raiderpete on Sep 24, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions
UM owns Florida, too. 2 – 0 lifetime, including the 2008 Cap One Bowl. Sadly, there was no sappy Tebow speech after Blue took his head off. Wolverines wear Gator loafers, and YOU can yak all YOU want. Nuthin’ but talk til you win.
by ChiAdam on Sep 24, 2009 1:36 PM EDT reply actions
Mr. Cook finally brought the truth to an article about Kiffin. ChiAdam – UF backed up the the loss to Michigan by winning a National Championship, man that’s just horrible. I guess we Florida fans can just enjoy our team’s relevance in college football this decade.
by ftlgator on Sep 24, 2009 2:03 PM EDT reply actions
These Florida fans have thin skins… I don’t think that anyone is arguing over the fact that Florida is and has been for some time the premier team in the premier league. However, the future is looking bright for Tennessee fans.
by tresgoldsby on Sep 24, 2009 2:29 PM EDT reply actions
If i was um i wouldn’t worry about UF. I would be worrying about osu. I guess it feels good to be 3-0. Now you losers wnat to come out of the woods. Make sure you beat osu because the GATORS are not on your weak 10 schedule. GO GATORS!!!
by archangeladidas on Sep 24, 2009 2:42 PM EDT reply actions
Well we can tell Brian Cook is a BLOGGER and not an actually writer!! The internet, where any moron can post their lack of intelligents
by RockyTopVols1 on Oct 20, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions
After the years nothing from Fulmer, his complete lack of anything the last 3 or 4 he was here, Kiffin is a welcome voice to hear. Sure we just got our hind-ends handed to us by Ole Miss but look at how well we played prior to the recent arrests of three of our thugs. Recruiting is picking up, the team is picking itself back up and KNOXVILLE is finaly glad once again it’s Football time in TN. You don’t have to like him or even listen to him. Bt the fact you insist upon mentioning Kiffin in multiple blogs is evidence he is well inside your head. The Legend cries about Kiffin stealing his recruits as does Spurrier and the rest of the SEC. Why wouldn’t an up and coming freshman want to come to a school with the ties to the NFL the UT staff has and that also has the guts to play multiple true freshmen on both sides of the ball. All that early playing experience only leads to one place in about 2 or 3 yrs: a return to SEC and National prominence!! Are any of the other conferences not tired of getting to play for a NC yet? It seems the dominant conference in the land will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
by JBlaze555 on Nov 15, 2009 11:59 PM EST reply actions
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