(editor’s note: V,B’s PB6 dropping some knowledge)

Other than the obvious influence of his father, legendary NFL coach Monte Kiffin, Lane Kiffin’s primary mentor has been USC Head Coach, Pete Carroll. From what Tennessee fans have witnessed since his hiring, it appears that Kiffin has learned the lessons well.

As happens in the real world, when Kiffin landed the job as an offensive assistant at USC he was undoubtedly assisted by Monte Kiffin’s connection to Pete Carroll. While it may have helped to get his foot in the door at USC, no promises of future success were made. It was either sink or swim in the ocean that is USC football. Detractors of Lane Kiffin point to him as having little substance other than being Monte’s son. In rebuttal, I ask how can a young coach proceed from an assistant coach to co-offensive coordinator on a national championship team, to the youngest head coach in the modern era of the NFL (albeit for the wackiest franchise), to a D1 head coach by the age of 33 unless he has something special.

Many in the media place asterisks next to nearly every achievement in Lane Kiffin’s coaching career: success at USC, credit Pete Carroll’s ’system’ and/or Norm Chow’s so-called brilliance; on becoming the youngest head coach in the NFL, credit Monte Kiffin for pulling some strings or Al Davis’ deteriorating mental capabilities; on becoming the youngest head coach in D1 college football at the University of Tennessee, credit Mike Hamilton’s desperation; and, so on. Very few in the college football world outside of Tennessee have given Kiffin the slightest credit for his meteoric rise.

There’s a simple truth relevant to this situation: it is an advantage to both Lane Kiffin and the Vols to be underestimated.

The college football savants snicker about Lane Kiffin’s off-season ‘antics.’ Fans (and a few players) of other college teams have called him names ranging from ‘bozo’ to ‘f’n stupid’ to ‘Lame Kitten.’ Some Tennessee fans/alums loyal to the previous coaching staff spend their days and nights roaming restlessly through Tennessee football message boards spewing their negative agenda with the circular logic that ‘their’ coach will return from exile one day to re-assume his rightful place upon his throne at the helm of Tennessee football. What does this matter to Lane Kiffin? Absolutely nothing.

What does matter to Lane Kiffin? Since we are unable to get inside his head, we have to go with what we have seen since he was hired. He has had a plan and implemented his plan to near perfection. Hire the best possible coaching/recruiting staff; go after and pull off one of the best recruiting classes in recent Tennessee football history (as much as is possible to determine at this point); make the Tennessee football program one of the most visible during an off-season following a losing season; and, most importantly, making the Tennessee football players, inherited and new, compete for every opportunity for playing time on Saturdays.

Lane Kiffin has taken the equivalent of multiple public floggings, yet he has borne them with quiet indifference. What has mattered to him is that the members of his football team understand without any doubt that he is fair. No favorites and honesty. He told his players that those who proved themselves would play on Saturdays, regardless of prep star status or how much previous experience a player has.

Kiffin and the rest of the Vols coaching staff have labored over every possible detail in preparing the team for this season. From assigning PowerPoint presentations of plays as homework to following the exact schedule for scrimmages that will be used on game day to practicing the Vol Walk as part of game preparations. During his first press conference as Tennessee’s new head coach, Kiffin told the world that no one would outwork him and the staff that he would assemble. From the viewpoint of those of us who follow the Vols closely, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t done so.

With a professional approach to college football, Lane Kiffin and the rest of the Tennessee coaching staff have earned the respect of the Vols football team (and intrigue from blue-chip recruits everywhere). At this point, that’s all that matters.