Tennessee football: Coaches responsible for Vols worst draft decade ever

2. Lane Kiffin

Future NFL Draft picks signed: 0

Years at Tennessee in 2010s: 0

It’s hard to overstate the damage Lane Kiffin did to Tennessee football during his one year on Rocky Top. Kiffin never signed a future NFL Draft pick for the Vols, as his 2009 class is arguably the biggest bust of a recruiting class in UT history.

Now, to be fair, Kiffin had two players who signed with Derek Dooley but committed to him in 2010. But when you consider two players for what you could roughly consider a class and a half, and when you consider the fact that he tried to take those recruits with him to the USC Trojans after bolting, his numbers are still horrible.

Kiffin, ironically, could potentially be the second best or even the best X’s and O’s coach on this list. But in Knoxville, he showed no regard for character when it came to recruiting, and he played fast and loose with the rules.

Sure, other coaches bend the rules, but while they do it carefully, Kiffin did it recklessly. The result, after only staying one year, was a series of NCAA investigations to follow as Derek Dooley took over. Add in the attrition of him staying only one year and the budget issues because of half his staff bolting for USC after commanding high salaries, and he truly left the program on fire.

As a result, half of the struggles Dooley had in the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes to find NFL talent are somewhat on Kiffin as well. So yes, by that one year alone, he did more damage than anybody we’ve previously named on this list.