Tennessee football: Ranking all 25 full-time head coaches in Vols history
21st head coach. 2009. Lane Kiffin. 16. 839. Pick Analysis. player. Scouting Report
7-6 (4-4 SEC)
Weighing on-the-field success so heavily forces us to put Lane Kiffin up here at No. 16. He did have a winning record his one year with Tennessee football, scoring a top 25 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, something Derek Dooley failed to do, and beating both Vanderbilt and Kentucky, something Jeremy Pruitt failed to do.
However, if what coaches inherited and what they left were as big of factors, Kiffin might be last on this list. He did inherit a team that was 5-7 the year before, but Phillip Fulmer still left some talent, and there were solid recruits coming in the next year. Kiffin derailed all of that.
It started with him pushing out commitments Tajh Boyd and Bryce Petty and not even targeting Cam Newton. Then he dismissed half the 2007 team to make room for his 2009 recruits. Finally, after all, that, he bolted for the USC Trojans after just one year and lured lots of his targets for 2010 away from the Vols to USC.
When you add in the fact that the 2009 class turned out to be a complete bust and that he left he program under NCAA investigation for numerous violations, something Derek Dooley had to fight off, it’s clear he left a disaster. That’s why keeping him even this high feels wrong.
Kiffin is a brilliant football mind. Had he stayed with Tennessee football, it was obvious success would have followed, and that one year, despite it being a 7-6 season, was a blast. However, the situation he left after that was brutal. You couldn’t leave a program in worse shape if you tried.