Kiffin's first staff built around recruiting

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess
Buy this photo »

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin leaves the arena floor while greeting fans during halftime of the basketball game at Thompson Boling Arena on Saturday.

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess
Buy this photo »

Tennessee coach Monte Kiffin leaves the arena floor during halftime of the basketball game at Thompson Boling Arena on Saturday.

It took Lane Kiffin a little more than six weeks to complete his first staff at Tennessee. But for the Vols’ first-year coach, it was worth the wait.

“As I said in the first press conference, this staff was going to take some time,” Kiffin said in a release Saturday announcing UT’s final four assistant coaches. “It wasn’t about doing it fast, it was about doing it right.”

Assembling his staff also had a lot to do with recruiting.

Eddie Gran, a longtime Auburn assistant who will be the Vols’ special teams coordinator and running backs coach, was a consistent recruiter with Tommy Tuberville at Ole Miss and Auburn.

Frank Wilson, who UT hired from Mississippi State to be its wide receivers coach, has strong ties to New Orleans, where he was a high school coach and later athletic director for the city’s public schools.

Willie Mack Garza, who will coach defensive backs at UT after spending four seasons as defensive coordinator at North Dakota State, has connections to Texas, where he starred for the Longhorns and was inducted into the Texas High School Hall of Fame.

And Lance Thompson, who will coach linebackers for the Vols, left Alabama as one the Crimson Tide’s most effective recruiters.

Just last year, he was named Rivals.com’s national recruiter of the year after helping Alabama haul in a top-rated class. He was instrumental in landing prospects from talent-rich Mobile, Ala., and he has ties to Atlanta after spending 11 seasons at Georgia Tech.

UT’s newest assistants join three coaches who spent last season on NFL sidelines, former NFL assistant and Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron, as well as David Reaves, who was South Carolina’s recruiting coordinator.

“With the staff now complete, not only do we have the best recruiters in the SEC, but some of the best in the country,” Kiffin said. “Two of the coaches (Orgeron in 2004, Thompson in 2008) have been recognized as Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year. It was imperative to not only find great recruiters, but great recruiters that knew the conference.”

All told, Kiffin hired three of his staff members away from other SEC schools. Gran, who has coached in the SEC since 1994, had been let go after Tuberville was fired following a 5-7 season.

“To be able to take South Carolina’s recruiting coordinator, Mississippi State’s recruiting coordinator, Alabama’s best recruiter and Auburn’s best recruiter over the past 10 years was a great accomplishment for us,” Kiffin said. “Once again, I would like to thank (athletic director) Mike Hamilton, the athletic department and our donors for making this possible.”

In addition to officially announcing Thompson, Gran, Garza and Wilson, UT also released final positions for its remaining staff.

Jim Chaney, who was an assistant with the St. Louis Rams and former offensive coordinator at Purdue, will be UT’s offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.

Reaves will coach quarterbacks, and James Cregg, a member of Kiffin’s staff with the Oakland Raiders, will coach tight ends and tackles.

The Vols introduced Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator and Orgeron as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach on Jan. 2.

UT also hired Mark Smith to be its head strength and condition coach last month.

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

EDDIE GRAN

A native of Escondido, Calif., Eddie Gran comes to Tennessee with more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience. He spent the last 10 seasons on Tommy Tuberville’s staff at Auburn after coaching stints at Mississippi, Idaho State, Cincinnati, Southeast Missouri State and California Lutheran, his alma mater. Gran also served as a graduate assistant at East Carolina and Miami, where he worked with Orgeron.

Seven NFL running backs tutored under Gran at some point in their careers, among them Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Rudi Johnson and Deuce McCallister. He also produced an SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in Auburn kicker John Vaugn, who won the award in 2006. That same season, Gran’s special teams units led the SEC in kickoff coverage, field goal percentage, PAT percentage and punting.

Gran is married to the former Rosemary Scaife and has three daughters: Hannah, 14, Dillan Rivers, 11 and Lucy Grace, 3.

FRANK WILSON

Frank Wilson arrives at Tennessee having spent his entire coaching career in the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. He spent the 2008 season mentoring the running backs at Southern Miss and the previous three seasons at Ole Miss under Orgeron coaching running backs and assisting with special teams. Prior to entering the college ranks, Wilson coached from 1997-2003 at Edna Karr High School (La.) before being named the head coach O. Perry Walker High School (La.). He also student coached for one season at his alma mater, Nichols State.

Wilson coached NFL back BenJarvus Green-Ellis to back-to-back 1,000-yards seasons and Mico McSwain to Freshman-All-America honors while at Ole Miss. In the high school ranks, he led his team to the 2002 Class 4A Louisiana State Championship while at O. Perry Walker. In his seven seasons as a high school coach, he guided 22 players to Division I football scholarships.

Wilson and his wife, Tiffany, have three children, Alaina, Sa’bree and Frank IV.

LANCE THOMPSON

Lance Thompson comes to Knoxville after two seasons as a linebackers coach at Alabama and three seasons as a defensive coordinator at Central Florida. He had previous coaching tenures at LSU, Alabama and two different stints with Georgia Tech.

He was a part of two of the most successful Crimson Tide teams in recent memory as he helped the 1999 team to the SEC Championship and an Orange Bowl win before helping lead the 2008 team to a perfect 12-0 regular season and an SEC west crown. In 2005, his Central Florida defense produced two first-team All-Conference USA selections and helped the Knights to the Eastern Division Championship. Thompson was a recruiting coordinator for Nick Saban at both LSU and Alabama.

A native of Riverdale, Ga., Thompson is married to the former Stacy Cambron and the couple has three daughters: Allie, Christina and Lane.

WILLE MACK GARZA

Garza has spent the last four seasons at the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at North Dakota State. Prior to that, he coached one season at Tarleton State University, three at Texas Christian and four at Western Michigan. The Horned Frogs played in a bowl game all three seasons of Garza’s tenure and won the 2002 Conference USA Championship.

During his final season at Western Michigan, the Broncos’ defense ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense, ninth in total defense and 13th in pass defense. Garza also served as a graduate assistant at Texas for three seasons after playing four seasons in the Longhorn secondary. He was a Freshman All-America selection in 1988.

JIM CHANEY

Jim Chaney takes over the offensive coordinator position for the Vols after spending the last three seasons as an assistant offensive line and tight ends coach. Prior to that, the Holden, Mo., native spent nine seasons as the offensive coordinator at Purdue where he coached six units that ranked in the top-10 nationally in total offense. He also tutored NFL quarterback and former Heisman Trophy Finalist Drew Brees throughout his collegiate career.

He broke into coaching at Cal-State Fullerton in 1985, where he coached in various capacities until he left for Wyoming in 1993. During his playing career, Chaney was an all-conference nose guard at Central Missouri State.

Chaney and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Elizabeth and Sara.

DAVID REAVES

David Reaves, a native of Columbia, S.C., and Kiffin’s brother-in-law, spent the previous five seasons in various capacities under Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. He started as a graduate assistant and later became the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. In both 2006 and 2007, Reaves quarterbacks combined to throw for over 3,000 yards.

Prior to joining Spurrier’s staff, Reaves spent the 2003 season in the high school ranks as the assistant head coach at Tampa (Fla.) Catholic High School. He was a team captain and three-year starter at quarterback during his playing days at Appalachian State University.

JAMES CREGG

James Cregg comes to Knoxville after spending the last two seasons as an offensive line assistant for the Oakland Raiders. Prior to that, he coached the defensive linemen at Colgate from 2000-03, where in his final season the team advanced all the way to the NCAA Division I-AA Championship game.

He began coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Colorado State, where was an All-Western Athletic Conference offensive lineman his senior season.

Cregg and his wife Dayna have one daughter, McKenzie.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!