All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: Worst head coach hires in program history

By Josh Yourish

Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin calls to his players during the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 at Neyland Stadium. The Vols topped the Hilltoppers 63-7 to start the Kiffin era as head coach.Utwky Atb 11995 09
Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin calls to his players during the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 at Neyland Stadium. The Vols topped the Hilltoppers 63-7 to start the Kiffin era as head coach.Utwky Atb 11995 09 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
Mississippi Head Coach Lane Kiffin returns to Neyland Stadium before an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football
Mississippi Head Coach Lane Kiffin returns to Neyland Stadium before an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football /

Remember, The Office analogy from earlier? Yeah, Lane Kiffin was Robert California in that situation and ironically that’s exactly where he headed. And, like Robert California, Kiffin’s been known to use a fake name over the years. In 2009, Tennessee hired Kiffin at just 33 years old, making him the youngest active FBS head coach.

Then, after just one 7-6 season and a 23-point loss in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Kiffin fled for the head coaching job at USC to replace Pete Carroll.

Kiffin was a good hire a the time, he was an upstart offensive-minded coach, but it ranks at No. 1 on this list because his tenure was “brief” as Kiffin described back then. Kiffin’s departure caused a mass exodus of scholarship players from Knoxville and the hiring of Derek Dooley, which helped set the program back several years.

That was also the start of a tumultuous, roller coaster of a career, but Kiffin is back in the SEC now and in 2021 he returned to Neyland Stadium as the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin and Ole Miss won 31-26 and the teams haven’t played since.

Home/Vols Football All-Time Lists