Well I've already disputed your first claim. The last player that Oregon and Tennessee went head to head for was Stewart and we know who won that.
As for your comment above?
What in the hell are you talking about? Are you drinking? Please tell me who Oregon's "biggest gets" are that were sent away from knoxville. I look forward to your entertaining response.
:toast:
As for complex I am not the one claiming "75% confidence" in what decision a high schooler makes re. his college based on internet rumors. I have stated here that I doubt Brown comes to Oregon. I really get a kick out of you. Its as if the sun rises and sets on Knoxville. You have the biggest case of tunnel vision on this board.
Biggest??? Who's been spiking your iv feeding tube again? If the 2 you mentioned were in your opinion big gets, I can hardly imagine what you'd call an average one. Neither made any kind of name for themselves at Oregon even though Smith managed fine for a while in the NFL. Oregon keeps coming up year after year time and time again and they land their share. You will just have to get used to it instead of try to make nothing of it.... constantly the way you do. I can't understand why you'd count them out so easy, unless you've been eatin' too many of them jojos and corn pones (southern deep fried style) that have clogged your blood and now your mind with all those transfatty acids.
they signed 2 4 stars this year (1 named boyd that TN pulled its offer from, hes not up to standards) . how many 5 stars have they ever signed? jon stewart and... who else ? ??
1 5 star in past 10 yrs id bet an he was pretty much local..they simply are not a player on the national scene
its not my opinion, or you fault...its just the truth
First of all, you are comparing apples to oranges because there are as many top big programs within 300 miles of Tennessee as there are big programs within 1200 miles of Oregon... at least. Usually what happens in the west stays in the west and what happens in the east stays there. The exceptions you are talking about every year can usually be counted on the fingers on one hand. Aside from all that, Phil Knight has not been anteing up for the Ducks forever you know. They only built that training center with the jacuzzis and juice bar a few years ago but since the money has come pouring in and also since Oregon's offense has been making headlines, Oregon has been attracting a lot more top recruits than they ever have.
Things have been a lot different when Oregon is mentioned around this time of the year, especially in the eyes of those few exceptions. Oregon is always in the news now when before, especially within this decade, USC was about all you'd ever hear about in the Pac-10. I think it's because even though they've signed most of the 4* and 5* talent, many have bolted for elsewhere when they see the kind of competition they are up against at USC and maybe their chances of playing don't look so good. Keep ignoring what's happening at Oregon and around the west in general and you'll just end up looking stupid.
Yes it is. Anything west of the Rockies OR north of the Mason/Dixon is another issue if you happen to be in the SEC. They rarely make it past Texas if they ever bother to go there.
Unlike the Pac-10, they don't need to travel thousands of miles to find decent competition, but they don't anyway.
Last edited:
You are so stupid that it really isn't worth continuing this. You may want to have a look at who oregon actually signed before you type.
Boyd did not go to oregon nimrod. if you can't even get that then why would anyone here assign any credbility to anything you post regarding them? Thanks for confirming yet again how clueless you really are.
done with this thread.
Amazing how much we see of Ferris Bueller's face in March, but come September he completely disappears from the college football forum. You don't suppose it had anything to do with the Vols brilliant 5-7 season do ya? Not much to beat your chest about there. Better to do the chest thumping now while they're still 0-0.
This guy does not know when to STOP opening his MOUTH.
Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">A peek into recruiting with South Carolina's Jeffrey
March 9, 2009 1:09 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
Ever wondered what the night before national signing day is like for a prospect being coveted from the East Coast to the West Coast?
Alshon Jeffrey knows all too well.
<TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD align=left>Tom Hauck for ESPN.com</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD align=left>South Carolina recruit Alshon Jeffrey's last few hours before signing day were intense.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"You're just glad when it's all over," said Jeffrey, who signed with South Carolina in February after a long, winding recruiting battle that also included Southern California and Tennessee.
Jeffrey, a 6-3, 220-pound receiver, was one of the Gamecocks' most prized recruits in a class that was ranked 12th nationally by Scouts Inc. He was ranked by Scouts Inc. as the No. 12 receiver prospect in the country.
Getting him was important on several different fronts for the Gamecocks. For one, he's the kind of playmaker on offense they desperately need. And two, he's from right down the road in St. Matthews, S.C. South Carolina kept most of the best players from the state at home this year, and landing Jeffrey was a real coup.
He'd been committed to Southern California since last June, and the Trojans remained in it right up until the very end along with Tennessee.
And the end got a little crazy, to say the least.
Everybody knew that Jeffrey had re-opened his recruitment. Alabama tried to get in, and so did Florida. But he wasn't giving much away publicly. He didn't make his announcement until signing day in the Calhoun County High School gym.
The night before, he had a basketball game. His team just recently won its fourth straight state championship, and Jeffrey scored 25 points in the title game.
On the eve of signing day, his football coach, Walter Wilson, sensed that Jeffrey needed to get away from everything and took him to a hotel in nearby Orangeburg, S.C., to stay the night following his basketball game. Also there was one of Jeffrey's high school teammates, Eric Mack, who will be one of the most highly recruited offensive linemen in the country next year.
"I knew I was going to South Carolina, and they knew," Jeffrey said. "But I wasn't ready to say it until the next day."
There was obvious pressure for Jeffrey to stay in state, but he said it never rose to the level of making him uncomfortable.
"It's just what I wanted to do, stay at home and help the home school," he said. "I started looking at it from all different angles and not just football."
There wasn't much sleep that night in the hotel. Jeffrey said his last conversation with South Carolina assistant Shane Beamer, who was recruiting him for the Gamecocks, was around 12:45 a.m. But it was just getting started then.
He was still talking to coaches from Southern California and Tennessee until nearly 3 a.m.
"Alshon knew what he wanted," Wilson said. "He'd turned down a chance to take a visit to Florida late in the process, so I knew that South Carolina was where his heart was. But you sit there and listen to those coaches all work their angles, and you're like, 'I wouldn't want to be in this kid's shoes.'"
Wilson heard it all, too.
As Southern California's Pete Carroll and Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, along with their assistants, did their best to make a final pitch to Jeffrey in the wee hours of that morning, Jeffrey made sure their conversations were on speaker phone. Mack was sitting there listening, too.
"It's a whole different level, and these guys don't give up easily," Wilson said. "I don't blame them. It's what they do. It's how they put bread on their table."
Because he'd been committed to Southern California for so long, Jeffrey said he did inform Carroll that he planned to sign with South Carolina. The Trojans had tried to put the squeeze on Jeffrey earlier in the recruiting process and told him that they were going to pull his offer unless he agreed not to take visits anywhere else.
To make a long story short, Jeffrey took his visits to South Carolina and Tennessee, and the Trojans never quit recruiting him.
"He tried his best to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up," said Jeffrey, who still refers to Carroll as "Pete."
Kiffin was equally dogged. But when it was obvious that Jeffrey wasn't going to Tennessee, Kiffin took off the gloves.
According to Jeffrey and Wilson, Kiffin told Jeffrey that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina.
Jeffrey was doing his best to stay awake at that point, but that comment from Kiffin woke him up. He clearly hasn't forgotten it, either.
"He said it, but it's not worth talking about," Jeffrey said.
Wilson was a little more diplomatic. He wrote it off as Kiffin pulling out all of the stops and simply not wanting to concede defeat. Wilson acknowledged that's about as negative as it got that morning.
"It was his last resort. That's all it was," said Wilson, who also attended high school in South Carolina. "When you get pushed against the wall and your back is there, you're going to come out with something. You should have heard coach Carroll. He was wide awake at 3 o'clock in the morning. Remember, he was on West Coast time and fighting to get Alshon to the very end.
"But the war was over at that point."
As things heated up that morning, Wilson shot a quick glance toward Mack, who also heard everything. It was as if to say, "Get ready big boy. This is going to be you next year."
And sure enough, Tennessee assistant coach David Reaves quickly made it known that the Vols weren't going to miss out on Mack next year.
"When you're desperate, you say things you probably don't mean, sort of like a husband and wife when they get mad at each other," Wilson said. "These coaches put so much effort into recruiting these kids. They take it hard when they lose one.
"I wasn't offended, because I know how the game works. That's just how competitive it is. You don't think coach (Nick) Saban isn't competitive? But one of the things I do know about South Carolina is that they take care of their own."
Finally, the cell phones stopped ringing that morning. Jeffrey was able to steal a few hours of sleep, and South Carolina had his signed scholarship papers by 7:30 a.m.
He didn't announce that he was signing with the Gamecocks until later that morning at his school's signing ceremony.
"It was a relief. The stress gets to you a little bit," Jeffrey said. "But the whole experience was a good one. You learn a lot about yourself, and you learn a lot about people."</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">A peek into recruiting with South Carolina's Jeffrey
March 9, 2009 1:09 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
Ever wondered what the night before national signing day is like for a prospect being coveted from the East Coast to the West Coast?
Alshon Jeffrey knows all too well.
<TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD>
Jeffrey, a 6-3, 220-pound receiver, was one of the Gamecocks' most prized recruits in a class that was ranked 12th nationally by Scouts Inc. He was ranked by Scouts Inc. as the No. 12 receiver prospect in the country.
Getting him was important on several different fronts for the Gamecocks. For one, he's the kind of playmaker on offense they desperately need. And two, he's from right down the road in St. Matthews, S.C. South Carolina kept most of the best players from the state at home this year, and landing Jeffrey was a real coup.
He'd been committed to Southern California since last June, and the Trojans remained in it right up until the very end along with Tennessee.
And the end got a little crazy, to say the least.
Everybody knew that Jeffrey had re-opened his recruitment. Alabama tried to get in, and so did Florida. But he wasn't giving much away publicly. He didn't make his announcement until signing day in the Calhoun County High School gym.
The night before, he had a basketball game. His team just recently won its fourth straight state championship, and Jeffrey scored 25 points in the title game.
On the eve of signing day, his football coach, Walter Wilson, sensed that Jeffrey needed to get away from everything and took him to a hotel in nearby Orangeburg, S.C., to stay the night following his basketball game. Also there was one of Jeffrey's high school teammates, Eric Mack, who will be one of the most highly recruited offensive linemen in the country next year.
"I knew I was going to South Carolina, and they knew," Jeffrey said. "But I wasn't ready to say it until the next day."
There was obvious pressure for Jeffrey to stay in state, but he said it never rose to the level of making him uncomfortable.
"It's just what I wanted to do, stay at home and help the home school," he said. "I started looking at it from all different angles and not just football."
There wasn't much sleep that night in the hotel. Jeffrey said his last conversation with South Carolina assistant Shane Beamer, who was recruiting him for the Gamecocks, was around 12:45 a.m. But it was just getting started then.
He was still talking to coaches from Southern California and Tennessee until nearly 3 a.m.
"Alshon knew what he wanted," Wilson said. "He'd turned down a chance to take a visit to Florida late in the process, so I knew that South Carolina was where his heart was. But you sit there and listen to those coaches all work their angles, and you're like, 'I wouldn't want to be in this kid's shoes.'"
Wilson heard it all, too.
As Southern California's Pete Carroll and Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, along with their assistants, did their best to make a final pitch to Jeffrey in the wee hours of that morning, Jeffrey made sure their conversations were on speaker phone. Mack was sitting there listening, too.
"It's a whole different level, and these guys don't give up easily," Wilson said. "I don't blame them. It's what they do. It's how they put bread on their table."
Because he'd been committed to Southern California for so long, Jeffrey said he did inform Carroll that he planned to sign with South Carolina. The Trojans had tried to put the squeeze on Jeffrey earlier in the recruiting process and told him that they were going to pull his offer unless he agreed not to take visits anywhere else.
To make a long story short, Jeffrey took his visits to South Carolina and Tennessee, and the Trojans never quit recruiting him.
"He tried his best to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up," said Jeffrey, who still refers to Carroll as "Pete."
Kiffin was equally dogged. But when it was obvious that Jeffrey wasn't going to Tennessee, Kiffin took off the gloves.
According to Jeffrey and Wilson, Kiffin told Jeffrey that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina.
Jeffrey was doing his best to stay awake at that point, but that comment from Kiffin woke him up. He clearly hasn't forgotten it, either.
"He said it, but it's not worth talking about," Jeffrey said.
Wilson was a little more diplomatic. He wrote it off as Kiffin pulling out all of the stops and simply not wanting to concede defeat. Wilson acknowledged that's about as negative as it got that morning.
"It was his last resort. That's all it was," said Wilson, who also attended high school in South Carolina. "When you get pushed against the wall and your back is there, you're going to come out with something. You should have heard coach Carroll. He was wide awake at 3 o'clock in the morning. Remember, he was on West Coast time and fighting to get Alshon to the very end.
"But the war was over at that point."
As things heated up that morning, Wilson shot a quick glance toward Mack, who also heard everything. It was as if to say, "Get ready big boy. This is going to be you next year."
And sure enough, Tennessee assistant coach David Reaves quickly made it known that the Vols weren't going to miss out on Mack next year.
"When you're desperate, you say things you probably don't mean, sort of like a husband and wife when they get mad at each other," Wilson said. "These coaches put so much effort into recruiting these kids. They take it hard when they lose one.
"I wasn't offended, because I know how the game works. That's just how competitive it is. You don't think coach (Nick) Saban isn't competitive? But one of the things I do know about South Carolina is that they take care of their own."
Finally, the cell phones stopped ringing that morning. Jeffrey was able to steal a few hours of sleep, and South Carolina had his signed scholarship papers by 7:30 a.m.
He didn't announce that he was signing with the Gamecocks until later that morning at his school's signing ceremony.
"It was a relief. The stress gets to you a little bit," Jeffrey said. "But the whole experience was a good one. You learn a lot about yourself, and you learn a lot about people."</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Kiffin won't rebound from rocky start
Posted: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:31 PM
<!-- Mike Condon -->
After spending the last three months looking mighty shaky tooling around Knoxville on a set of SEC training wheels, Lane Kiffin, the pugnacious new kid on the block, has finally found the comfort of the football field.
<o
> </o>
Tuesday’s opening of spring practice at Tennessee didn’t come a moment too soon for the 33-year-old rookie college head coach. Being able to talk about his Volunteers and how they are shaping up for the 2009 season will be a welcomed departure from what has been an undeniably ugly offseason.
<o> </o>
In the coming weeks, it will be refreshing to hear about who’s emerging at right guard to fill the massive cleats of Anthony Parker or how All-America free safety Eric Berry feels about the new defensive scheme, which figures to feature a lot of NFL-style “Tampa Two.”
<o> </o>
Up until now, most everything emanating from Rocky Top has been at best rocky bottom.
<o> </o>
Kiffin has seemingly spent every moment since being hired on Dec. 1, digging a monstrous hole for himself. Guaranteeing victory over Florida was one of the first things he did. Gutsy, yes. Smart, no.
<o> </o>
He followed that up by falsely accusing Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation. A stern reprimand by the SEC and a public apology from Kiffin were next. Alabama and Georgia also felt the affect of the first stages of Hurricane Lane.
<o> </o>
Then, came his own trio of recruiting violations. Minor infractions, but legit nonetheless.
<o> </o>
Lots of news. None of it positive.
<o> </o>
Kiffin and his supporters are saying it's all part of the plan. We don’t buy it.
<o> </o>
Continually screwing up is not how to start a new job, I don’t care how you spin it and if some people are actually foolish enough to believe that this is a well-planned campaign to burst upon the scene.
<o> </o>
Guess what, Tennessee was already on the scene. Say what you want about Phillip Fulmer, who won the first BCS national title in 1998 and captured the SEC East four times since then (most recently all the way back in 2007), but the Volunteers are not a fixer-upper. Tennessee is in no way a program that should be stooping to garner all the “at least they spelled our name right” publicity it can get.
<o> </o>
And because of this ignominious start, there is probably no end in sight. Kiffin has spent so much time with both feet in his mouth that he’s now under an incredibly intense microscope. From now on you can expect regular doses of reports about him -- good, bad or indifferent -- in the mainstream and blogosphere. He’s now the Britney Spears of college football.
<o> </o>
The latest allegations contend that he told a recruit from South Carolina, who chose the Gamecocks over Tennessee and Southern California, that he would “end up pumping gas for the rest of his life, like everyone else who played for South Carolina.” Kiffin flatly denied that he ever said that.
<o> </o>
No word yet on if he will call the player in question, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, and his high school coach, Walter Wilson, liars. Reportedly they were both listening to Kiffin’s last-ditch effort via a speakerphone, along with another high school football player.
<o> </o>
Assuming that there is at least some truth to the rude prediction, perhaps attributed to a combination of youthful inexperience and pressure to succeed, it’s interesting to consider what would have happened if Jeffery told Kiffin that he was going to the West Coast USC and not the East Coast one.
<o> </o>
How would the former Southern California assistant coach have played that hand? You wouldn’t think that he’d lash into the Trojans and his mentor Pete Carroll. But who really knows with this guy?
<o> </o>
Making waves is nothing new to Kiffin. He did lots of that during his brief tenure as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Of course, those stormy seas up in the Bay Area weren’t entirely of his own making, but he certainly did his share to rock the Raider boat.
<o> </o>
Al Davis is as wacky as they come, but he did make some points that are worth debating. We won’t do that here, but it is crystal clear that the Raiders were a complete failure on the field.
<o> </o>
So, the questions have to be asked. What exactly fuels this arrogance? What has Kiffin really done to deserve this lofty post? What was Tennessee thinking?
<o> </o>
Advocates will state that he did a great job at USC and is the next “Pete Carroll.” USC was a juggernaut when Kiffin served as an assistant coach there. That is certainly true. However, when he was promoted to become the Trojan offensive coordinator for two seasons (2005-06), there were costly missteps.
<o> </o>
Lost amid the stunning brilliance of Vince Young and the dramatic ending of the 2006 Rose Bowl/BCS title game, was USC’s utterly inept showing on crucial short-yardage plays from the first quarter to the final minutes. Either choosing to be too cute with play calls or too stubbornly arrogant to use Matt Leinart, LenDale White and Reggie Bush in the backfield at the same time, the Trojans lost the ball on downs one too many times.
<o> </o>
Eleven months later, in the same Pasadena location, the Trojans needed only to beat a beleaguered 6-5 UCLA team in the regular-season finale to advance to another BCS title game. But Kiffin’s offense laid a gargantuan egg, not even breaking into double-digits in an embarrassing 13-9 loss to the Bruins. (And then, of course, Florida went on to slaughter Ohio State for the crystal football instead of the Trojans.)
<o> </o>
One can understand the desire to hire “the next Pete Carroll,” but let’s remember that Carroll had actual accomplishments on his resume before lucking out and finding his comfort zone at USC. A winning record as an NFL head coach (33-31), along with six seasons as a highly-respected defensive coordinator, isn’t shabby.
<o> </o>
Perhaps more importantly, Carroll -- and all the other head coaches in the country -- knows how to behave.
<o> </o>
The Vols will find out the hard way. But that will ultimately come in a year or two. At least for now, we have spring football to obscure the weekly foibles of Lane Kiffin.
<o> </o>
Or do we?
<o> </o>
Stay tuned.
Posted: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:31 PM
<!-- Mike Condon -->
After spending the last three months looking mighty shaky tooling around Knoxville on a set of SEC training wheels, Lane Kiffin, the pugnacious new kid on the block, has finally found the comfort of the football field.
<o
> </o>Tuesday’s opening of spring practice at Tennessee didn’t come a moment too soon for the 33-year-old rookie college head coach. Being able to talk about his Volunteers and how they are shaping up for the 2009 season will be a welcomed departure from what has been an undeniably ugly offseason.
<o
> </o>In the coming weeks, it will be refreshing to hear about who’s emerging at right guard to fill the massive cleats of Anthony Parker or how All-America free safety Eric Berry feels about the new defensive scheme, which figures to feature a lot of NFL-style “Tampa Two.”
<o
> </o>Up until now, most everything emanating from Rocky Top has been at best rocky bottom.
<o
> </o>Kiffin has seemingly spent every moment since being hired on Dec. 1, digging a monstrous hole for himself. Guaranteeing victory over Florida was one of the first things he did. Gutsy, yes. Smart, no.
<o
> </o>He followed that up by falsely accusing Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation. A stern reprimand by the SEC and a public apology from Kiffin were next. Alabama and Georgia also felt the affect of the first stages of Hurricane Lane.
<o
> </o>Then, came his own trio of recruiting violations. Minor infractions, but legit nonetheless.
<o
> </o>Lots of news. None of it positive.
<o
> </o>Kiffin and his supporters are saying it's all part of the plan. We don’t buy it.
<o
> </o>Continually screwing up is not how to start a new job, I don’t care how you spin it and if some people are actually foolish enough to believe that this is a well-planned campaign to burst upon the scene.
<o
> </o>Guess what, Tennessee was already on the scene. Say what you want about Phillip Fulmer, who won the first BCS national title in 1998 and captured the SEC East four times since then (most recently all the way back in 2007), but the Volunteers are not a fixer-upper. Tennessee is in no way a program that should be stooping to garner all the “at least they spelled our name right” publicity it can get.
<o
> </o>And because of this ignominious start, there is probably no end in sight. Kiffin has spent so much time with both feet in his mouth that he’s now under an incredibly intense microscope. From now on you can expect regular doses of reports about him -- good, bad or indifferent -- in the mainstream and blogosphere. He’s now the Britney Spears of college football.
<o
> </o>The latest allegations contend that he told a recruit from South Carolina, who chose the Gamecocks over Tennessee and Southern California, that he would “end up pumping gas for the rest of his life, like everyone else who played for South Carolina.” Kiffin flatly denied that he ever said that.
<o
> </o>No word yet on if he will call the player in question, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, and his high school coach, Walter Wilson, liars. Reportedly they were both listening to Kiffin’s last-ditch effort via a speakerphone, along with another high school football player.
<o
> </o>Assuming that there is at least some truth to the rude prediction, perhaps attributed to a combination of youthful inexperience and pressure to succeed, it’s interesting to consider what would have happened if Jeffery told Kiffin that he was going to the West Coast USC and not the East Coast one.
<o
> </o>How would the former Southern California assistant coach have played that hand? You wouldn’t think that he’d lash into the Trojans and his mentor Pete Carroll. But who really knows with this guy?
<o
> </o>Making waves is nothing new to Kiffin. He did lots of that during his brief tenure as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Of course, those stormy seas up in the Bay Area weren’t entirely of his own making, but he certainly did his share to rock the Raider boat.
<o
> </o>Al Davis is as wacky as they come, but he did make some points that are worth debating. We won’t do that here, but it is crystal clear that the Raiders were a complete failure on the field.
<o
> </o>So, the questions have to be asked. What exactly fuels this arrogance? What has Kiffin really done to deserve this lofty post? What was Tennessee thinking?
<o
> </o>Advocates will state that he did a great job at USC and is the next “Pete Carroll.” USC was a juggernaut when Kiffin served as an assistant coach there. That is certainly true. However, when he was promoted to become the Trojan offensive coordinator for two seasons (2005-06), there were costly missteps.
<o
> </o>Lost amid the stunning brilliance of Vince Young and the dramatic ending of the 2006 Rose Bowl/BCS title game, was USC’s utterly inept showing on crucial short-yardage plays from the first quarter to the final minutes. Either choosing to be too cute with play calls or too stubbornly arrogant to use Matt Leinart, LenDale White and Reggie Bush in the backfield at the same time, the Trojans lost the ball on downs one too many times.
<o
> </o>Eleven months later, in the same Pasadena location, the Trojans needed only to beat a beleaguered 6-5 UCLA team in the regular-season finale to advance to another BCS title game. But Kiffin’s offense laid a gargantuan egg, not even breaking into double-digits in an embarrassing 13-9 loss to the Bruins. (And then, of course, Florida went on to slaughter Ohio State for the crystal football instead of the Trojans.)
<o
> </o>One can understand the desire to hire “the next Pete Carroll,” but let’s remember that Carroll had actual accomplishments on his resume before lucking out and finding his comfort zone at USC. A winning record as an NFL head coach (33-31), along with six seasons as a highly-respected defensive coordinator, isn’t shabby.
<o
> </o>Perhaps more importantly, Carroll -- and all the other head coaches in the country -- knows how to behave.
<o
> </o>The Vols will find out the hard way. But that will ultimately come in a year or two. At least for now, we have spring football to obscure the weekly foibles of Lane Kiffin.
<o
> </o>Or do we?
<o
> </o>Stay tuned.
