This doesn’t change the fact that firing Phillip Fulmer was still the right decision. It also doesn’t change the fact that Tennessee football has had numerous missteps since the Lane Kiffin saga that Kiffin has nothing to do with. However, the damage Kiffin did to Rocky Top in his one year there can’t be ignored, and time alone can’t heal that wound.
When the Ole Miss Rebels visit the Vols Saturday night, it’ll be Kiffin’s first time facing UT as the head coach of another program since he left Knoxville for the USC Trojans in early 2010 after one season in which he went 7-6 as Fulmer’s successor. It seems that many are ready to forgive Kiffin.
That year was fun, after all, and he got his karma by getting fired by USC. You could make the case the Vols should have hired him again in 2018. However, that just ignores everything Kiffin did. Derek Dooley had no chance to succeed after Kiffin, and the reasons for that are major. Let’s take a look at the five ways Kiffin wrecked Tennessee football in a way that he shouldn’t be forgiven.
5. Sabotaging the 2010 recruiting class
It’s par for the course that your recruiting class takes a hit when a coach leaves, and the Vols suffered that in 2010. However, Kiffin and his assistant Ed Orgeron took it to another level. The rumor was that Orgeron, who followed Kiffin from the Vols to USC as an assistant, told early UT enrollees not to go to class so they could then decommit and join USC.
Orgeron admitted he spoked to them to The Los Angeles Times, despite Kiffin denying he knew of it in his introductory press conference. The good news for UT at the time was it didn’t have an effect, as no Vol commitments went to USC.
However, Tennessee football lost out on some talent. Four-star defensive lineman Brandon Willis, four-star defensive back Ahmad Dixon, four-star defensive end J.C. Copeland and four-star wide receiver Markeith Ambles all committed elsewhere. Ambles did follow Kiffin to USC. That doesn’t even include the guys they lost out. Dooley still got a top 10 class, but it could have been No. 1.