Who WIll Take Kiffin's Place at Tennessee

Even though Lane Kiffin, among several other football coaches, are in the business just for themselves, it's good to see that some coaches still have loyalty to their teams. In the news today and yesterday are statements that Will Muschamp, DC at Texas, and David Cutcliffe, head coach at Duke, have turned down lucrative offers from Tennessee. The Tennessee Volunteers head coaching position is arguably one of the top 5 coaching jobs in college football because of the Volunteer tradition, stadium and facilities, fan following, and national respect. Muschamp is in line for one of the few college jobs better than Tennessee - head coach at Texas, but that will have to wait until Mack Brown retires, and who knows when that will be.

Cutcliffe, on the other hand, has finished his second year at one of the worst football schools in the FBS. Fortunately, it's also one of the best academic schools in the country and a place where fans are ecstatic about having a 9-15 record over his 2 year tenure. The Blue Devils barely won that many games over the previous 8 seasons. He is definitely a great coach, evidenced by being one of Tennessee's top choices for their next coach. And I respect Cutcliffe a lot. He is a good genuine guy, I think, and he is committed to building a solid football program at Duke. For Duke, this means 6 and 7 win seasons, but the challenge is just as big as the challenge of having 10-11 wins a year at a place like Tennessee.

Another coach in the news that I have respect for are Norm Chow. Chow has chosen to stay loyal to UCLA instead of going to USC to reunite with Kiffin. USC is clearly much more prestigious a school as far as football is concerned so turning this offer down must have been hard, but I really respect the decision. I like seeing a man who wants to stay in one place and really get to know a school and just have a more stable relationship with the fans and media.