Tennessee football: Five reasons to never forgive Lane Kiffin for wrecking Vols

2. Bust of a 2009 recruiting class

We already brought up sabotaging the 2010 recruiting class, which made Lane Kiffin’s decision to push away current roster players in 2009 even more damaging. However, that damage triples when you take a look at what the one recruiting class he signed, the 2009 class, turned out to be.

Kiffin’s big signing in that class was five-star running back Bryce Brown. After Kiffin left, though, Brown left. His other five-star was Janzen Jackson. Derek Dooley had to dismiss him for too many off-field incidents before the 2011 season.

Speaking of dismissals, four-star NuKeese Richardson, the guy Kiffin was referring to when falsely calling Urban Meyer a cheater while trying to land him, was dismissed before the year ended, and four-star Darren Myles was dismissed before the 2010 season. Simply put, this class was disastrous all the way around, and that limited Dooley even more.

On the night he left for USC, Kiffin brazenly stated he left Tennessee football’s roster in much better shape than when he found it. That’s one of the most laughably false statements ever made by a coach. The attrition that hit the program wrecked Dooley from Day One. Way too many busts in Kiffin’s only class proved disastrous as well.