Kiffin is Anything but a Weasel

I may come off as a little bit biased as a USC football fan, but personally I don't have a problem with Lane Kiffin leaving the Tennessee Volunteers after only 14 months for the bright spotlight of Hollywood and the USC Trojans. Reports coming out of Tennessee are that the Vols administration, players and fan base feel disappointed and betrayed because their ex-coach has left the school abruptly. I think the Tennessee fans need to get over themselves and understand that it's a business.

Kiffin told the Tennessee players during his exit farewell meeting with them that coaching at USC was his dream job and that coaches come and go. He was right on the money. The saying within the coaching profession ranks is you're hired to be fired. Kiffin was an assistant coach with Pete Carroll from 2001-2006 and saw first hand what winning at USC did to raise the school back into national prominence.

Lane Kiffin is no different than any other person in this world who has ambition. We as humans have been conditioned to learn all we can at one job and then move up for a promotion or look for something better, to keep our eye on the prize so to speak. Besides, USC was the one who contacted him about the job opening.

Sportswriters and volunteer fans have labeled Kiffin as a rat and a weasel because he didn't remain loyal to the Volunteers. Are you kidding me? Bobby Petrino was a weasel for quitting on the Atlanta Falcons 13 games into the 2007 NFL regular season to become the University of Arkansas coach. You want to talk about loyalty? Hey, volunteer fans remember Phil Fulmer? Yeah, that Phil Fulmer who went 152-52 in his career at Tennessee and won a national title in 1998. They basically run that man out of town after a mediocre 5-7 season in 2008. In my opinion, loyalty only exists between families, friends, and loved ones. Loyalty is results-based at the workplace. Any hard-working person in this world knows that first hand. When you stop producing, the employer kicks you to the curb, no questions asked. Even legendary coaches like Bobby Bowden aren't immune to being ousted after establishing Florida State as a powerhouse within college football for many years.

I have read articles and heard reports related to this story about sportswriters and fans calling Kiffin a jerk and only caring about himself. I understand he wasn't the most pleasant guy to play for when he was an assistant at USC under Pete Carroll. Let me clear up something right now. Some of best coaches in sports history are known as nomads. This is a group that includes Nick Saban, Pat Riley, and Larry Brown. These three coaches definitely didn't achieve their amazing results by being nice guys. If Kiffin wins at USC and I'm talking national championships, USC fans and administration won't care if he's a jerk towards his players.

Kiffin has been called a liar by some people, most notably by Raiders owner Al Davis in the past. I don't know about you, but I don't buy into anything that man says now days. This is the same guy that actually believes a fat; underachiever in JaMarcus Russell is going to be his franchise quarterback of the future. Al Davis is co-co for cocoa puffs.

Kiffin is a smart guy; he understands that he has the tools and resources at USC to succeed. Trojan fans have to be ecstatic about Kiffin's coaching staff thus far. He brought his father Monte from Tennessee to be the Trojans' defensive coordinator as well assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator Ed Oregeron. There's even speculation about UCLA offensive mastermind Norm Chow making a return back to the men of Troy as their offensive coordinator where he served in the same capacity from 2001-2004. Kiffin is the perfect fit for USC with the sudden departure of Pete Carroll because of his familiarity of the PAC-10 conference as whole, but also the familiarity of the Trojan way. He will run the same type of practices that Peter Carroll ran when he was the USC football coach. Known as a good X's and O's coach and master recruiter throughout the college circuit, Kiffin should be able to recruit top talent to USC. After that, all he has to do is win.