Tennessee Football: What if Lane Kiffin Never Left the Vols?

2. Tennessee football wins the SEC East in 2010.

With that recruiting class coming in, Lane Kiffin would’ve had a loaded and young roster going into the 2010 season.

Dooley inherited a badly damaged program and severely thin roster. That team went 6-6, but with Kiffin’s talent, they would’ve done a lot better.

On top of the recruiting classes, one elite player, Bryce Brown, likely stays in Knoxville as the Vols’ starting running back that year.

Brown would’ve supplanted Tauren Poole, who was solid but didn’t have Brown’s talent. They might’ve run a two-back set anyway.

Also, the late Aaron Douglas, who was an All-SEC freshman offensive lineman in 2009, left the program. Now, we don’t know whether or not that was due to Kiffin because he obviously had major personal issues. But there’s a chance he would’ve stayed if Kiffin stayed.

So the 2010 team starts the season with much more talent than it would have. Whether or not Kiffin had started Matt Simms or the freshman in Tyler Bray is irrelevant.

On top of that, let’s just face it. He and Monte were better X’s and O’s guys than Derek Dooley, Jim Chaney, and Justin Wilcox.

How does that impact their results? Well, with the better talent, they likely don’t have the 13-men on the field penalty to lose to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. That would never happen under Monte. So that’s one win.

Also, the offense would be much better, which would have translated to wins over the Florida Gators and South Carolina Gamecocks that year. Tennessee beats those three teams with better talent and Kiffin as a coach to finish 9-3 in the regular season.

That year, South Carolina won the East with a 5-3 SEC record. Tennessee would’ve finished 6-2. So they would’ve played the Auburn Tigers and lost in a blowout.

Then, they either win or lose their bowl game to finish either 9-5 or 10-4. So the program would be on the rise, which leads to our next happening if Kiffin stays.