Adams: No joke: Extra motivation not needed

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess // Buy this photo

UT defensive coach Ed Orgeron talks with defensive tackle Montori Hughes (93) on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.

Did you year the joke Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt told about Lane Kiffin at a preseason booster club meeting?

Sorry, Vols. I did a background check. There's no talking-dog joke in Nutt's file. I even checked the Trite Jokes For Boosters archives. Nothing.

But don't worry. There's no lack of motivational material for Saturday's game at Ole Miss.

If the Vols could find inspiration from Memphis coach Tommy West's joke at Kiffin's expense, they're apt to go after Ole Miss with a grudge the size of Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter."

Memphis was just a bad joke, yet the Vols responded as though West had kicked Smokey in pregame warm-ups. They led 42-7 by halftime and probably regretted not scoring 42 more in the second half of a 56-28 victory.

A talking dog gives way to a fired coach this week. But it's no joke.

UT assistant head coach Ed Orgeron was fired by Ole Miss.

Sure, there were grounds. He had three consecutive losing seasons, which gets you fired by at least nine of the 12 SEC schools.

There were extenuating circumstances. Ole Miss' talent was at such a low ebb when Orgeron accepted the head-coaching job, he might as well have auditioned the general student body for a quarterback candidate. Instead, he tried the Brent Schaeffer experiment, which basically blew up the laboratory.

But wait till Kiffin presents his team with an ode to Coach O. The Vols will want to pin a badge on the smallest guy they can find, paint the hotel red and turn Oxford into Lago (So maybe I'm overdoing it, but I loved the movie).

For motivational purposes, this won't be about what Orgeron did at Ole Miss. He didn't win, but he recruited the Rebels a team his successor could win with.

Nutt's first team went 9-4. His sequel is 6-3. Putting that in perspective: With three more victories, the Rebels would have more than 17 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1961-62.

And whom do they have to thank?

"Coach O," Kiffin will tell the Vols.

Orgeron signed players like Peria Jerry and Michael Oher, who were first-round NFL draft picks this spring.

He also signed many of the best players on this team. Kiffin might point that out while the Vols are watching Ole Miss video this week.

Orgeron first distinguished himself as a recruiter as an assistant coach at Miami and Southern California. But his recruiting efforts at Ole Miss are more stunning.

Big-time recruits show up at your doorstep uninvited at USC and Miami. Compared to them, Ole Miss is a foreign outpost.

So it's no wonder Kiffin made hiring Orgeron a priority when he began assembling his first UT staff last winter.

"He's a great recruiter, and he got a lot of great players there (at Ole Miss)," Kiffin said after practice Sunday. "He didn't get a whole lot of time (three years as the Rebels head coach). I think you need more time than that."

Orgeron declined media requests to be interviewed after practice Sunday.

He probably won't talk to the media all week, UT publicist John Painter said.

The Rebels don't mind talking, though.

Hodge was quoted on clarionledger.com: "The first one against Tennessee is kind of personal. Coach O never did anything to me, but the way I saw him treat some people, I know some guys are going to come out with a real fire in their belly and get after (UT) pretty bad."

Defensive end Kentrell Lockett added: "Great guy, but he just wasn't that head coach. He was a great D-line coach but he wasn't that head coach. I haven't talked to him (since Orgeron was fired). I might get a chance to talk to him after the game Saturday - might not, but life goes on, you know."

My guess is the Vols won't find talking Rebels any funnier than a talking dog.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.

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