Students say they feel 'used,' 'betrayed'

The one word that sums up how many University of Tennessee students felt Wednesday about the departure of head football coach Lane Kiffin: betrayed.

"I feel like we were used - we've been taken advantage of," said Whit Shofner, a junior in civil engineering. "Maybe that stuff flies in California, but you can't come to Tennessee and treat people like this. We put our faith in him."

Wednesday was the first day of spring semester classes, but the mood on campus was glum and intensely focused on football rather than classrooms.

The Rock - covered with vulgar anti-Kiffin slogans and images Tuesday night - had been repainted by Wednesday morning.

At noon, the student artwork included what appeared to be a homecoming float relic, an image of Kiffin affixed to cardboard. Spray-painted on it were the words, "Heil Lane," with a X over Kiffin's face.

By day's end, the Rock was repainted again, proclaiming, "It's Time to quit" - a parody of UT's theme slogan during football season.

"UT is all about traditions, and to up and leave like that just goes against what we're all about," said Kelly Carter, a senior in chemistry.

Bart Weitering, a UT sophomore majoring in physics and geology, said "it's pretty bad timing."

"In the end, it's part of the business, but it really puts us in a bind," he said.

Added Greg Dowell, a UT sophomore in communications studies: "I'm disappointed. We were hoping Kiffin would come in and bring in a new era, but he kind of abandoned us."

Adam Martin, a freshman in computer engineering, said he "couldn't believe" the news - though he was a bit conflicted.

"I'm a Seattle Seahawks fan, so to see the USC (University of Southern California) coach go there, then see my college coach go to USC, it's kind of weird for me," Martin said.

LeAnne Francis, a senior majoring in chemistry, said it could "take a while" to rebuild a successful team - something that would require "more motivation and leadership."

"But we have the potential of being incredible," she said.

Many students, including Francis, said the next coach should be someone with Tennessee ties and "someone who knows the traditions."

"We'll find someone better," said Zach Edwards, a sophomore in history. "But we need someone associated with the school."

While a crowd of students were passionate Tuesday night in expressing their displeasure over Kiffin's departure announcement, they weren't destructive.

"There were no criminal arrests," UT Police Department Capt. Keith Lambert said Wednesday.

Some students repeatedly set paper and T-shirts ablaze, prompting officers to detain the students, he said. Those individuals could face disciplinary action from the Office of Student Affairs.

Shofner was part of the crew that painted the Rock Tuesday night, and he said the news of Kiffin's departure "brought (students) together."

"We all had a bunch of anger and energy and wanted to expend it," he said.

Lambert said the protests over the resignation of Kiffin erupted at shift change, allowing UTPD to pour maximum resources onto the campus. He said up to 15 officers handled the crowd.

"They probably had us outnumbered 50 to one," Lambert said.

Although estimates Tuesday night placed the crowd size at nearly 1,000, Lambert said about 500 students were actively engaged in the protests.

"The crowd was very manageable," Lambert said. "We asked them to move and they moved, so you can't say they were an unruly crowd."

However, the crowd of students caused enough concern that local police provided security to the coach and his family throughout their last night in Knoxville. Lambert said campus officers drove Kiffin home from the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center.

"We thought it would be best if we just took him home in one of our cruisers," Lambert said. "Our big thing was trying to mitigate (the situation), and try to get what the crowd was upset about away from the crowd."

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones also confirmed that his office dispatched a deputy to Kiffin's home in a West Knox County gated community after the coach's wife, Layla Kiffin, called E-911 to report suspicious vehicles in the area.

"We assured her that there would be somebody close," said Jones, who kept a deputy in a cruiser posted at the Kiffins' home overnight.

Jones said there were no further incidents reported.

Hayes Hickman, Dave Hooker and Don Jacobs contributed to this report.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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