The Lane Kiffin Era is a clean break with the past. A storied past, to be sure, but one that in recent years hasn't been quite so glorious as everyone would like. The similarities to 1964 are striking.
Tennessee surprised the national college football community when it hired a coach in his early 30s. Such a young man to be charged with such vast responsibility.
A coach whose opener at Tennessee would be his first game as a college head coach.
An outsider to the UT family.
Whose challenge is to not just compete but thrive in a conference of iconic coaches with national-championship resumes.
But Doug Dickey turned out all right.
That was 1964. Flip the calendar forward 45 years and 538 football games.
Now Tennessee is trying to strike gold with another fresh start.
The Lane Kiffin Era is a clean break with the past. A storied past, to be sure, but one that in recent years hasn't been quite so glorious as everyone would like.
The similarities to 1964 are striking.
Dickey was 32, an assistant at Arkansas with only faint ties to Tennessee. As a Florida quarterback he had played under a former UT player, Bob Woodruff, who would be his AD at Tennessee. At Arkansas he coached under Frank Broyles, who had been coached by UT great Bobby Dodd.
Dickey inherited a 5-5 team and faced a schedule that included three SEC coaches who had won national titles: Bear Bryant at Alabama, Shug Jordan at Auburn and Johnny Vaught at Ole Miss.
Kiffin was 33 when Tennessee hired him and turned 34 after his first spring practice.
A table showing Tennessee's 2008 leaders
His 2009 schedule includes three SEC coaches who wear national championship rings: Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
His head-coaching resume is 20 games with the Oakland Raiders, an opportunity he earned after a successful run as Southern Cal's offensive coordinator.
And following 16 years of former Vol Phillip Fulmer, which followed 16 years of former Vol Johnny Majors, Kiffin has no UT connections whatsoever.
"I was kind of like a cousin coming in,'' Dickey said. "This fellow is a little farther out than I was.''
Dickey went 8-1-2 in his second year and won an SEC title in his fourth. He left after a second SEC title in his sixth season, amassing a 46-15-4 record.
Kiffin inherits a program that rose to great heights under Majors and even greater heights under Fulmer. But the Vols have not won an SEC title since 1998 and athletic director Mike Hamilton fired Fulmer after a second losing season in the past four.
It was a turn of events that rocked Rocky Top.
"The decision was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to go through and I hope I never go through anything like that again,'' Hamilton said in a recent interview.
Hamilton's pick to replace Fulmer was clearly an indication that he sensed the program needed fresh blood, a new direction.
Kiffin appears to emit a golden a California glow. He's young, handsome, casual, frequently referencing his days with the high-flying USC Trojans.
He is, however, a Minnesotan, born and raised. His upbringing in Minneapolis traces to his dad Monte Kiffin's days as an NFL defensive coach with the Vikings, among other teams.
The NFL background, in fact, is one of Kiffin's main selling points. Monte Kiffin left a 26-year NFL career to join his son in Knoxville. Three other Kiffin assistants were on NFL staffs last year.
It's a good pitch to recruits, but first it was a good pitch to the current team to get them on board and heal the trauma of losing their previous coaches.
"Me and coach Fulmer had a very special relationship,'' said senior center Josh McNeil. "And just making that transition, I'm not gonna lie, it was very hard for me.''
Senior tailback Montario Hardesty said Kiffin first asked for the team's trust that he would put a good staff together.
"For me, a senior, this is my last time around,'' Hardesty said. "I want to win. I was ready to go.''
So was perhaps the most important guy in the locker room: Eric Berry. He recalled the advice of his former defensive coordinator, John Chavis.
"Chief used to tell us to focus on the things we could control,'' Berry said, "and that (the coaching change) was one of the things we couldn't control.
"The thing we could control was buying into coach Kiffin's system, learning his scheme, rallying behind him and getting ready for this season.
"And that's what we did.''
That season is almost here. What will it look like, Tennessee's fresh start, its new direction?
Hamilton points to striking a balance between the past and the future.
"There are some sacred things that should be cherished and honored and there are things this staff needs to do their way,'' he said.
Perhaps the program never changed more than it did when Dickey arrived. He was hired to bring the Vols from the outdated single-wing days into the modern T-formation offense.
"It was a time that signified change,'' Dickey said, "so we decided on some other things to go along with it to brighten up the scene.''
The team ran through "The T" to take the field. The end zones were painted into checkerboards. A "T" went on the helmets.
Eventually, "Rocky Top" became the unofficial fight song.
But Dickey also honored the past, as will Kiffin 45 years later.
"The road you went to work on was Neyland Drive and you played in Neyland Stadium,'' Dickey said. "Some things you weren't going to change.''
Change, however, is good. It's even necessary in the what-have-you-done-lately world of big-time athletics.
Earl and Judy Brown have followed UT football religiously since 1972, when their honeymoon was arranged to include the Kentucky and Vanderbilt games.
They cheered for Bill Battle's teams, for Majors' and for Fulmer's. And they welcome Kiffin with open arms.
"If anything,'' Earl Brown said, "it was time for a complete change. We didn't need status quo.
"I'm excited about Lane Kiffin. Bruce Pearl didn't have any ties to Tennessee and I think Kiffin is going to do the same thing with the football team.''
Not all fans are on board yet. Some Fulmer loyalists are still hurting.
"Phillip did a tremendous job here,'' Hamilton said. "His time here should be reflected on positively.
"But I sense a good feeling. That's what I hear, in restaurants, at gas stations. It's a daily occurrence. People come up and say, 'I'm genuinely excited about the season,' or, 'I know it was a tough decision, but I'm looking forward to 2009.'''
Ready or not, 2009 starts Saturday afternoon at 12:21 p.m. It leads quickly to Florida, Alabama and the rest.
"We're coming to the end of the honeymoon phase,'' Hamilton said. "Now is when the rubber meets the road as far as fans forming opinions about this coaching staff.
"I think we'll be successful. Our fans need to be a little patient. We're in a transition period, trying to get it back to where Tennessee football should be. That will come.''
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Comments » 57
TennesseeTuxedo writes:
It is a clean break from the past...period. Lets move beyond clinging to the past. Lane Kiffin is not Doug Dickey. This is not 1964. It is a new era dawning in Tennessee, so please treat it as such instead of living in the past.... http//www.thevolunteeronline.com
TheVolMan writes:
That's the best you've got: "Living in the past"? Huh? Been drinking again?
Great article--it just flew over someone's head.
xvolx writes:
anything but a nervous head coach, a mustang defense and a clawfense.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Earl Brown - "it was time for a complete change".
Now let's really get to work on installing that change.
9-3.
longertimevolfan writes:
Adding to tradition is good for all Vol fans.
Change can help with tradition and Vol pride.
I am ready for the past tradition of being in the game until the final gun sounds and the Vols win.
Yes the past is no place to live but you can't forget or live without the past.
GBO
Mansonlamps writes:
"Not all fans are on board yet. Some Fulmer loyalists are still hurting."
Tell me about it. When do you think Jimmy Hyams will finally get over it?
SEC__Headgear writes:
This coach and his staff demand process and performance. Don't follow the process and you are out. Don't perform and you get to watch from the sideline as someone else performs.
Now, just as 45 years ago, the changes are positive.
The process gives fans much hope because it appears to be uncompromising and fair. The performance standard should at least insure that we do not see the same non-performer making the same mistake game after game.
It all adds up to improvement.
give_him_6 writes:
Time to turn the page. The Kiffin era is here!!! I'm making the trip all the way down from Connecticut for this. I had season tickets for 15 years before I moved up here. And I am as excited now as I was the first year I recieved them. Let's get it on!!!!
ROCKY TOP...you'll always be,
home sweet home to me.
Good Ol Rocky Top
ROCKY TOP TENNESSEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STNVol09 writes:
Take out Florida......take out Florida
eefor10c writes:
Strange, You forget to mention how Dickey threw the bowl game to Florida and then became the head coach at Florida in a few days. Will we have the same kind of loyalty from this coach?
DennisVols writes:
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you already got.
People who do the same thing every day and expect different results are fooling themselves.
This team will be better this year, not championship level yet, but a clear improvement in competitiveness, physical and mental excution.
It took a decade to go from National Championship to a 5-7 season with a loss to Wyoming thrown in. It cannot be changed in just one year but you have to begin somewhere.
Keeping it Real
Go Vols!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
How about not covering our eyes on 3rd and 6 awaiting the 8 yard pass?
NoMoreWooAfterGoodOleRockyTop writes:
You forgot to add "NO WOO".
Thanks
douglasawilliams#582863 writes:
Yea, you could tell the nervousness of CPF since the 2005 season. He could sense the growing calls for him to be fired and I'm sure he read the media bashing of his teams performance. Back comes Cutcliffe and restores some credibility to the offense in 2006 and 2007 and after Cutcliffe left it was over for CPF. Still, 152-52, a NC, 2 SEC titles and 5 SEC east titles is nothing to regret. It was not the way I wanted him to go out but his teams were no longer competitive against our main rivals even with Cutcliffe. I really don't understand the CPF bashers and I guess I never will. Good luck CLK hope you can win here for a long time to come. GO VOLS!!
imw8n4u writes:
I was thinking the same thing. I hope if Kiffin has the kind of success we are all hoping for, he also has the loyalty to stick around and finish what he started. Still a little early to start worrying about that though.
OrangeMagic writes:
i think it was a good hire and that Lane and his all-star staff will do well.
GainesvilleVol1 writes:
I think you just made a backhanded quote by Albert E. who stated thed defination of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I'm like Mr. Brown, been a lifelong UT fan, but it was ready to change. I'm ready for the changes to start this Saturday! I'm more excited about UT football since the mid 1990's. I agree with your assesment of how this team will improve. Take some chances, and put the best players on the field. Don't make the same stupid mental mistakes that cost us from being competitive early and took us out of so many crutial games. If we get beat and we played well, I can live with that.
GO VOLS!!
tennesseeike writes:
As a former UT student and a season ticket holder since the mid 60s, I have seen many ebbs and flows with our football program.
I have supported every coach who has walked on the field since the first game I either watched or listened to for the past 55 years. I will continue to support coach Kiffin and his staff until a major change is needed,if this ever happens.
I will not attempt to predict the 2009 record.There will be ups and downs as the season progresses. I will be happy if there is improvement with this team and I think there will be a great improvement in effort and dedication from 2008. I set in the stadium last year and watched a group of coaches and young men under acheive. There is no reaon for an athlete with an expense paid ride to a great university not giving 100% and I think this is what this staff demands.
I plan on making the long trip to Knoxville eight weekends this fall.If we have a winning season I will be elated. If there is not improvement,all has been in vain.
Go Vols!!!!!
Voluvr writes:
Mike,
This was a great article that landed with perfect timing. Just like any great story, as this year has been, the end reflects the beginning. I thought this was a creative tie-off to the most heavily worded pre-season in our history.
Now, let's tee it up and put a toe on it!
GerryOP writes:
Dickey took us from traditional college, rah, rah football to high intensity, competitive big time football. I was there. (Anybody else remember TB Mallon Faircloth standing back in the single-wing?) Majors and Fulmer continued the winning tradition that we all came to enjoy.
And now Lane Kiffin has his challenege ... bring Tennessee football back to a level of greatness. It's going to be a wild ride and fun to watch!
6 -- Fear The Kiffin...
leedsvol2007 writes:
Personally when I think Tennessee football my first thoughts are defense, kicking, great quarterbacks(in Neyland's time tailbacks), physical offensive lines and great backs and receivers, disciplined play with great enthusiasm.
From my perspective Kiffin is not a break with the past but a return to it in the modern sense.
I was a supporter of Fulmer's but in parts of the last several years we saw lack of execution, at times lack of enthusiasm, the worst overall kicking game in my memory and a failed experiment with a finesse offense.
So rather than a break with the past I see a return to its fundamentals in a modernized way.
I'm anxious to see how it takes hold.
GoVols!
Orangeblood13 writes:
everyone worried bout Florida, Alabama and the rest? Let us worry bout Western Kentucky, period. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will another Championship.
One yard at a time
doubledown writes:
Dickey was great practice and game day coach. Tough practices and off-season conditioning were the norm, that rolled out stars like Dewewy Warren, Frank Emmanual, Bob Johnson, Curt Watson, Richmond Flowers, Steve Kiner and Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds.
I like these tough(er) practices by Kiffin to get us game ready, and the all-star recruiting already underway.
VolGrad writes:
Let's make that "one play at a time." I agree with the spirit of what you said, but "one yard at a time" will only bring us to 4th and 7. :)
Go Vols!!! Beat the Hilltoppers!
GerryOP writes:
... and Bobby Petrella, Steve Delong, Dcik Evey, Whit Canale, Paul Naumoff, Ron Widby ... and ... and ...
FranklinCo_VOL writes:
I wouldn't consider myself a CPF basher. In fact, I stood up for him when many of my friends called for his firing as far back as 2005. It always gave me pride that a hometown guy was the Vols HC. However, during last season it was obvious to me change was needed. I recently read an interview with CPF, and I must say I lost a little respect for him. He was asked about CLK being hired as HC. He said, "the guy has only won five games and I won 150". As I recall CPF replaced Johnny Majors. CPF had NEVER been a HC. I wonder if CPF would have wanted the same criteria applied to himself back then?
Hounddog writes:
Well said.
Let's play football. Hounddog.
Major_Magilicutty writes:
We all want to win, but keep it in perspective Vols Fans.
jcherrie#219531 writes:
Hey - I thought it was time for Fulmer to go - but I wouldn't classify him as nervous. I think his greatest strength was his 'ice in his veins'. Many times on a 4th and inches - nursing a small lead Fulmer would punt and trust the defense. If I was head coach - I probably would have went for a lot of those 1st downs - but Fulmer won a lot of those close games with his patience.
As for the mustang - Chavis ran a lot of blitzes out of the mustang and they worked very well. Of course, I agree that we did play a super-soft zone out of that package too often.
As for clawfense - I'd have rather seen us run a wishbone.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Amen, brother! Let the good times roll--AGAIN! Almost time! I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!! GO VOLS!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
You have to admit we had the 4 yard out down pat.
And put some work in on fumbling thru the end zone.
dvols writes:
not a clean break! need to get a few new sports writers???
VolsR4real writes:
If this doesn't get you pumped for the season then you don't bleed orange! GO VOLS!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8t2l...
tennezz writes:
I believe we have the best coaching staff in the SEC, If they stay together a few years we`re going to have something special!
bspurlingcac#225603 writes:
That is great. Go Vols!!!
TommyJack writes:
That was weak.
Vol43 writes:
Question. You said his teams were no longer competitive. Why do you suppose that was?
doubledown writes:
Dick Evey was my neighbor in Maryville.. he left UT in 1963 to as a first round pick of the Bears, so he wasn't a Doug Dickey recruit. Ron Widby was a basketball scholarship player for Ray Mears that got "loaned" to football. Dick Evey though was touch as nails, played with Dick Butkus during the 60's who I also got to meet one morning... wow..
murrayvol writes:
Uh, I thought it was 3rd and 8 awaiting the 6 yard pass. I could be worng.
Go4Two writes:
The truth is the 2000's was the 2nd winningest decade since 1950. the 90's being the best.
SuckTheseVols98 writes:
couldnt have said it better!
PennVol writes:
Here's what I'm looking for this year:
A good game plan for each opponent.
Great adjustments during the game.
Flying to the ball on defense; attacking on 3rd down.
Very rare stupid penalties.
The guy with the hot hand in the game (any position).
Go for the kill when we get a team down.
Never quit in any game.
I can handle 7-5 if we're doing these things every week.
oldervol writes:
Let the good times roll! ah the Lanetrain!
corrinebrown writes:
Does this mean he will be leaving in a few years for Fla?
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Referring to the pecky bird 2-9 3rd down defense.
gnm53108 writes:
Is anybody else dealin with a monday morning after spending the weekend going through pre run at allday kool-aid partaking.
daniellovesutfootball writes:
That was an awesome video! I've been ready for season to start, that my friend just made it that much stronger! Nothing like seeing guys get nailed by Berry and go flying or even seeing Knosho Moreno get clocked by Berry and leave the field lol.
GO VOLS!!!
BERRY FOR HEISMAN!!!
1974Vol writes:
Mike you are right - facts are facts. But most people think the program was going in the wrong direction. If you look at Bill Battle's overall record it looks good; but he like CPF had gotten to a point where they were no longer meeting Vol fan's expectations. Battle never had a losing season, but he set up a couple for CJM. You may not have been around for the 70's Vols but after about '75 it got real ugly. Many thought after 2 lossing seasons in the last 4 we were headed back there again. CPF did a great job for alot of years as did CJM. Both bleed orange, but its the nature of the business, its all about the "W's".
Orangeblood13 writes:
Well you catch my drift. Looking to far down the road gets us deer in the headlights look. I would just like to see us play with some passion :)
seventysevenvol writes:
The one big difference between the two(Dickey/Kiffin) is the culture of the fans and media- basically level of expectation. We live in an instant gratification time- no honeymoon; win, and win big coming out of the gate. Dickey inherited a 5-5 team, but the expectations were different. Building was anticipated, not 9-3 or 10-2 in the first year with limited material which Kiffin inherits. The media wasn't as nasty in 1964 either. Watch the media if Kiffin begins to stumble...like sharks, reliving his wide open mouth when he first arrived. And, though this will elicit some ugly feedback- the same bunch of our fanbase who are talkin' smack today and frothin' at the mouth to kill hapless Western Kentucky- will launch into negative girations if the unimaginable should happen- a loss to the likes of Auburn, UCLA or Kentucky or Vanderbilt...
Yes, like '64 in generalities, completely different culture. Good luck, Coach Kiffin. Win, and win early and often...
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