Tennessee Football: Staying the Course
Tennessee football fans - what did you expect?!
A lot of fans expected Lane Kiffin to come in with his magic mouth and wave his magic wand and Tennessee, with its pro coaching staff, would suddenly transform into an 8-4 or 9-3 team. But after Saturday's 26-22 loss to Auburn, the cold, hard reality that Tennessee just isn't that good has finally settled in.
At this point in the season, many people had penciled in a win for the UCLA and Auburn games. The measuring stick of success was Auburn, another 5-7 program who had fired a revered coach in Tommy Tubberville and replaced him with Gene Chizik, the polar opposite of Lane Kiffin, a quiet coach content to stay out of the media spotlight.
So what is the difference in a 5-0 Auburn team and a 2-3 Tennessee team? It's simple: Auburn has a serviceable quarterback who has matured and won't lose games. UCLA, with a freshman quarterback in tow, managed to do enough NOT to lose. Jonathan Crompton, the poster boy of all of Tennessee's current woes, has played ineffectively and put Tennessee in a one-dimensional position where opposing defenses can line up 8 in the box and not worry that they will be beaten with the pass.
So has Lane Kiffin been a failure in his short tenure as Vol head coach? No, but he hasn't been a rousing success, either. The 2009 campaign is more of a testament to Phil Fulmer's recruiting over the past few years. It doesn't matter who is coaching. Even Vince Lombardi would have a hard time winning in the SEC with Jonathan Crompton as his starter.
So, will Kiffin’s mediocrity begin to erode his recruiting efforts? Possibly, but it's too early to hang Kiffin. No matter where you are, fans are always going to clamor for the backup if the starter is playing poorly, but not one, but TWO coaching staffs have determined that Crompton gives the Vols a better chance of winning over Nick Stephens, which says very little for Stephens, or Nick Lamaison. After five games, Kiffin's biggest issue has been the inconsistency in his play calling, regardless of Crompton's issues. Kiffin's game plan was first challenged publicly by Urban Meyer, who didn't believe the Vols were playing to win. Despite only a 10-point loss, the Vols never truly challenged the Gators, opting for runs on 3rd-and-long situations.
Kiffin's pass-happy game plan versus Ohio also puzzled most Vol fans as the Vols abandoned a successful running game in the first half while Crompton slung the ball all over the field. Realizing this approach was not successful, the Vols went back to a run-oriented attack and won a game that never should have been as close as the 34-23 score showed.
Against Auburn the Vols opened with a wildcat formation and Freshmen Nu'Keese Richardson ran for over 4 yards on the first offensive play of the game. Why didn't the Vols attempt this package again later in the game, instead abandoning it completely? Just like Ohio, the Vols were much more pass-happy than in previous weeks. Sure this kept the defense from stacking the line, but with receivers dropping the football like it was molten lead, and Crompton as inaccurate as he was, did it matter?
Most fans look at the Vols schedule and see Vandy, Kentucky and Memphis as probable wins. That leaves the Vols one win short of 6, and a shot at a non-losing season. That means Tennessee needs to find a way to win against Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, or Ole Miss, with Georgia the leading candidate for a victory. A 6-6 or 7-5 season would keep Tennessee's streak of back-to-back non-losing seasons intact. The Vols last had two back-to-back losing seasons 98 years ago when they went 3-5-1 in 1910 and 3-4-2 in 1911.
If the fans are going to give Kiffin the time he needs to recruit and play the players he wants in his system, then Kiffin needs to show more consistency in his game plan and play-calling. Casual fan expectations were high but at this point in the season the Vols record is a very strong indicator of where they are as a team. The Vols aren't an 8-4 team and they never were.
Kiffin can win at Tennessee; he just may not be able to win this season, or next.
A lot of fans expected Lane Kiffin to come in with his magic mouth and wave his magic wand and Tennessee, with its pro coaching staff, would suddenly transform into an 8-4 or 9-3 team. But after Saturday's 26-22 loss to Auburn, the cold, hard reality that Tennessee just isn't that good has finally settled in.
At this point in the season, many people had penciled in a win for the UCLA and Auburn games. The measuring stick of success was Auburn, another 5-7 program who had fired a revered coach in Tommy Tubberville and replaced him with Gene Chizik, the polar opposite of Lane Kiffin, a quiet coach content to stay out of the media spotlight.
So what is the difference in a 5-0 Auburn team and a 2-3 Tennessee team? It's simple: Auburn has a serviceable quarterback who has matured and won't lose games. UCLA, with a freshman quarterback in tow, managed to do enough NOT to lose. Jonathan Crompton, the poster boy of all of Tennessee's current woes, has played ineffectively and put Tennessee in a one-dimensional position where opposing defenses can line up 8 in the box and not worry that they will be beaten with the pass.
So has Lane Kiffin been a failure in his short tenure as Vol head coach? No, but he hasn't been a rousing success, either. The 2009 campaign is more of a testament to Phil Fulmer's recruiting over the past few years. It doesn't matter who is coaching. Even Vince Lombardi would have a hard time winning in the SEC with Jonathan Crompton as his starter.
So, will Kiffin’s mediocrity begin to erode his recruiting efforts? Possibly, but it's too early to hang Kiffin. No matter where you are, fans are always going to clamor for the backup if the starter is playing poorly, but not one, but TWO coaching staffs have determined that Crompton gives the Vols a better chance of winning over Nick Stephens, which says very little for Stephens, or Nick Lamaison. After five games, Kiffin's biggest issue has been the inconsistency in his play calling, regardless of Crompton's issues. Kiffin's game plan was first challenged publicly by Urban Meyer, who didn't believe the Vols were playing to win. Despite only a 10-point loss, the Vols never truly challenged the Gators, opting for runs on 3rd-and-long situations.
Kiffin's pass-happy game plan versus Ohio also puzzled most Vol fans as the Vols abandoned a successful running game in the first half while Crompton slung the ball all over the field. Realizing this approach was not successful, the Vols went back to a run-oriented attack and won a game that never should have been as close as the 34-23 score showed.
Against Auburn the Vols opened with a wildcat formation and Freshmen Nu'Keese Richardson ran for over 4 yards on the first offensive play of the game. Why didn't the Vols attempt this package again later in the game, instead abandoning it completely? Just like Ohio, the Vols were much more pass-happy than in previous weeks. Sure this kept the defense from stacking the line, but with receivers dropping the football like it was molten lead, and Crompton as inaccurate as he was, did it matter?
Most fans look at the Vols schedule and see Vandy, Kentucky and Memphis as probable wins. That leaves the Vols one win short of 6, and a shot at a non-losing season. That means Tennessee needs to find a way to win against Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, or Ole Miss, with Georgia the leading candidate for a victory. A 6-6 or 7-5 season would keep Tennessee's streak of back-to-back non-losing seasons intact. The Vols last had two back-to-back losing seasons 98 years ago when they went 3-5-1 in 1910 and 3-4-2 in 1911.
If the fans are going to give Kiffin the time he needs to recruit and play the players he wants in his system, then Kiffin needs to show more consistency in his game plan and play-calling. Casual fan expectations were high but at this point in the season the Vols record is a very strong indicator of where they are as a team. The Vols aren't an 8-4 team and they never were.
Kiffin can win at Tennessee; he just may not be able to win this season, or next.