Spurrier blueprint: Kiffin says he has always admired Gamecocks' coach

Lane Kiffin figuratively bit his tongue, and it seemed to put him in literal pain.

Surely the Tennessee coach will have somebody on the other sideline this weekend who can relate.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier might not use his sharp jabs or poke fun at SEC rivals nearly as often as he used to, but he's still the original and made popular the vocal blueprint Kiffin has adopted.

So heading into his first meeting with Spurrier at home Saturday (TV: ESPN, 7:45 p.m.), instead of taking any shots at the No. 21 Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2 SEC), Kiffin went completely the other way - and only partly because he was trying to stay out of trouble with the conference.

"Yeah, I've heard (Spurrier's one-liners)," Kiffin said. "I think it's funny. You guys know me, I think it's funny. I guess we're not supposed to do those anymore - I almost made it this whole conference (season) without saying anything (about SEC rules).

"I think he's hilarious, I think he always has been, and I think the way that he acts is great for football and it's great for the league."

It's worked out pretty well for Spurrier's teams over the years as well, and that's the benefit Kiffin is most trying to duplicate with UT (3-4, 1-3).

The latest reprimand for his public comments on officiating clearly still bothered Kiffin on Tuesday, but like any subtle or blatant shot he's taken at other teams, they reaffirmed the confidence he has in himself and the Vols. And it's no secret who took that style to a whole other level a decade ago at Florida.

"I've always had unbelievable respect for what he's done," Kiffin said of Spurrier. "When I was growing up, he was probably the one guy that I looked at. To me, when you watched his teams play and the intensity and the swagger and the way that they walk, I think they represented him because he was so confident in the way he came across and how much his players believed in him that he could move the ball and win games.

"I think it was obvious (then), and here he is doing it again. As soon as people want to start counting him out he's back in the top 25. He's had a Hall of Fame career, and he's still doing it."

Kiffin has only just started, and clearly he's got a long way to go to catch a coach with a national championship and seven SEC titles on his resume.

But even early in his career it's clear Kiffin shares a few similarities with Spurrier, and there are certainly worse guys to be compared with on the sidelines.

"Oh yeah, it's all about the confidence in the team," UT senior Wes Brown said. "And you know, (Spurrier) is a very confident coach and our coach is very confident. He has confident teams like Spurrier has (had before), and at the same time here at Tennessee (Kiffin) is confident in us.

"That makes us feel better about ourselves and helps us go out and perform."

The Vols have had much more to feel good about lately, though the results haven't quite been what they're looking for.

A couple tough losses haven't done much to rattle a belief that a breakthrough is coming though, and there's no question that's a product of a trickle-down effect from the top of the coaching staff. It's also a trick of the trade Spurrier knows well.

"It's his personality, and it's how he walks on the sideline," Kiffin said. "It's how those great offenses and all those great receivers and quarterbacks had a confidence about them. You knew no matter what the score was when you watched the Florida games back in the day they weren't out of it and they were going to compete and they were going to fight for their coach.

"I thought it was always obvious when you watched them that his players had great confidence - they walked right, they had that look when they walked on the field. You knew they were coming on the field to win, and they still do it."

The Gamecocks won't be the only team with that swagger on the field this week. Spurrier won't be the only coach, either.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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