Every time I think that college football season is over, I find myself getting sucked back in by some major breaking news.
At first, it was the news that Pete Carroll was leaving USC (some would say ahead of the NCAA posse) to take the job as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Okay, fine. It would leave a gaping hole for USC before next season, but that's life, right? Especially when a coach moves on to the NFL; since their season ends after college football, this is what occurs.
And so after the dust had started to clear and I was almost ready to write my reactions about how he would do in the NFL for this go-round. I think it's too easy to quickly dismiss his potential simply because he flamed out the first two times as coach. See Philips, Wade and Turner, Norval for more on retread coaches finally getting it together in the right circumstances.
But then, news broke last night that Lane Kiffin was bolting the Tennessee Volunteers after one year to head back to USC. He is bringing his dad, Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator, Ed Orgeron as recruiting coordinator and is apparently interested in hiring Norm Chow away from rival UCLA and bringing him back into Troy.
Which is funny, because I thought Norm Chow hated Lane.
Tennessee fans, obivously, are livid about Kiffin leaving. Unsavory things were written on the Rock, and there are pictures available detailing the scene last night in Knoxville over at Rocky Top Talk.
I can understand the rage that UT fans are feeling. And the students on campus, I feel for them as well.
Whoever gets the job will be the third full time head coach for the program in three years. That is a level of instability that no program wants to have ever—but especially not one that had two head coaches in 32 years.
And no matter what, we all have dream jobs. It sucks for Tennessee that Kiffin's just happened to open right now.
