As a UT fan, I like Lane Kiffin. Really. I do. He’s grabbed a good recruiting class in less than three months of work, and all signs point to things looking well on the recruiting front in 2010 (has four early commits, two of which are four-stars by Rivals’ account). The guy’s been getting a lot of flak, and rightfully so — it isn’t very wise to come in and take shots at a coach that just won a national title and is building a freaking dynasty at Florida.

So despite the numerous recruiting infractions that Kiffin has had to go along with the numerous stupid things he’s said, he’s just misunderstood, according to his AD, Mike Hamilton.

And while the new coach has ruffled some feathers with his bold moves and brash comments, athletic director Mike Hamilton told The Associated Press Thursday that Kiffin’s statements have been “misunderstood.”

“Everybody says, ‘Does he really understand what he’s doing or saying?’ Yeah, he does,” said Hamilton. “He might have been shocked initially or surprised initially at the attention that anything he says will get.”

Bottom line: The guy’s getting recruits, something that hadn’t been done in a while at UT (okay, only two years). As far as I’m concerned, he could rip his clothes off and run around in panties screaming that Nick Saban is a drag. As long as he grabs recruits, we’ll take anything. And then we’ll spin it that it’s just misunderstood.

[AJC]

Lane Kiffin made some pretty harsh remarks in the direction of University of Florida coach Urban Meyer when he accused him of cheating while recruiting Nu’Keese Richardson, and one high school in Florida isn’t going to take it. They’ve banned him, as well as any bof his assistants, from their school.

An assistant coach from Tennessee, who was visiting the high school in the Florida town on the edge of Lake Okeechobee, found the welcome mat officially rolled up. Eddie Gran was shown was the door after Pahokee High principal Ariel Alejo asked him to leave.

The story doesn’t say much else, except that the principal couldn’t be reached for comment. Gran said he hopes his actions or a principal’s actions don’t stop a kid from going to college. I don’t think it’ll stop these kids from going to college — just stop them from going to UT, which, based on the few classes I took there (no, really, I did go there), can’t really be considered much of a college. Academically, y’know.

[AJC]

Lane Kiffin has been one to — how should I best put it? — pop off at the mouth since he joined UT. He said he was going to beat Florida. He accused Urban Meyer of cheating. He stole two of UF’s players, and then accused Meyer of cheating. And then he accused Urban Meyer of cheating.

Am I getting repetitive?

Urban Meyer hasn’t forgotten about being called out for lousy cheater that he is, and he’s making it clear that he’s going to do his talking on the field this September. His players, too.

“I couldn’t believe what he said,” Florida junior safety Ahmad Black said Monday. “Not trying to be cocky or anything, but we’ve beaten them four years in a row … by a lot, too. But taking shots at our coach is like taking shots at us. We’re family. It’s definitely personal now.”

“That’s OK, because they’ve got something coming,” Florida center Maurkice Pouncey said Monday. “[Kiffin] went public with all his stuff, but we’ll do all our talking on the field. That’s when we’ll have something to say about it.”

Oh, and Florida has pictuers of Kiffin everywhere, reminding them of what a prick he is and how badly they want to kill him. Kiffin’s response when he found this out?

“First, I think it’s a neat thing that Tennessee’s logo is all over Florida’s locker room,” Kiffin said, smiling, during an interview Tuesday morning with “ESPN First Take.”

“We have great respect for Florida and Urban Meyer and what they’ve done there,” he continued. “It’s a big-time place and big-time program. I don’t think bulletin-board material makes a difference.”

We can say what we want about Kiffin. But the bottom line is that he just made this game worth watching again.

[ESPN]

[AJC]

UPDATE: Kiffin says he’s done apologizing, according to the AJC. He said he’s already apologized to the university and to Coach Meyer, and the entire thing has been blown out of proportion. You can read the full story at the link above, but like I said: This makes this series matter again.

Trying to be as much like Terelle Pryor, last year’s prized high school recruit, Bryce Brown waited as long as humanly possible to announce which school he’ll attend in the fall. And his decision?

Bryce Brown, the No. 8 prospect in the ESPNU150, will play his college football at Tennessee. Brown picked the Vols over a list of finalists that included Oregon, LSU, Kansas State and Miami.

It’s a big boost for UT, who got Brown even though Florida cheated. Congrats to Kiffin & Co. on landing Rivals’ number one overall rated player. Bigger question here: Did UT lure Brown in with their clinching, sealing moment of Ed Orgeron ripping his shirt off and running around like a crazed fifty year old man?

[ESPN]

It’s an article on the AJC, and though it’s probably a long shot, Michael Carvell argues that with all that Kiffin is doing, he’s creating quite the name for himself amongst high school juniors and seniors. As a recap, Kiffin accused Urban Meyer of cheating, said he wasn’t all that happy about his current recruiting class, and, ironically, has been cited for three NCAA recruiting violations himself (though all minor, and none expected to harm the University).

Carvell’s point in all of this? That Kiffin is making a name, and high school players, who don’t know the names of the Auburn or Clemson coaches, do know the name of Lane Kiffin. And they also know if they don’t sign with the Vols, it’s because the other guy cheated.

[AJC]

Two days after Phillip Fulmer had his final walk from Neyland Stadium, Lane Kiffin was introduced as the 21st ever Head Coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.

Said Kiffin, in what to expect out of him this year and years to come:

“I’m not promising how many wins we’re going to have, how many championships. I can’t do that, there’s too many variables in all that,” he said. “But I can tell you this right now, no one’s going to outwork us, no one’s going to outwork me as a head coach, and no one’s going to outwork our staff that we put together.”

There were early reports when the news that Kiffin was heading to UT first surfaced that Monte Kiffin, his father and defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Bucs, was going to follow his son to UT. The elder Kiffin said those reports were “mere speculation,” but ya gotta think — part of the draw and reason for hiring Lane is that his dad is one of the best defensive minds in football. It’d be a big loss to UT if he doesn’t indeed come along on the staff.

What everyone knew would happen at the end of the year has happened today. Phillip Fulmer, who has been the head coach of Tennessee for 17 years and won a national title a decade ago, has decided to step down.

“I love Tennessee too much to let her be that divided,” Fulmer said, “therefore I accepted Tennessee’s decision that this be my last season as football coach.”

“Anybody that likes Tennessee and cares about what the product looks like on the field is frustrated,” Fulmer said Sunday night, according to The Tennessean.

In a seven year extension that was signed just last year, there was a $6 million buyout clause, which Tennessee has complied to. Fulmer will finish off the remainder of the ‘08 season, and then UT will begin its hunt for a new coach.

Rumors should fly rampant as to who the Vols will hire. I’ve already heard that they’ll make a push at Tampa Bay head coach John Gruden in the NFL, and also a strong push towards Butch Davis, who’s rebuilding job in North Carolina is going better than expected.

Was this hit on Knowshon, also getting killed. The Vols’ season is over, but at least we’ve got Eric Berry for another year (my guess is he’s jumping ship after his junior season; no reason to hang around a team that’s going to win 6 games a year when you can make millions in the NFL and be the first defense player chosen).

It’s rare to catch two of the worst coaching jobs ever within two days of one another, but we were given such a priviledge this weekend after watching Tommy Bowden’s useless attempts in beating Alabama, and then getting the pleasure of watching Phillip Fulmer look like a deer in the headlights against UCLA.

My question: Of the coaching jobs, whose was worse? To Bowden’s credit, Alabama is ranked and coached by Saban. They’ve got more talent than UCLA, but Clemson also has more talent than either.

To Fulmer’s credit: Well, I can’t find much. He’s got a new QB, but he chose the QB, and he continued to allow his offensive coordinator to call pass after pass when the pass wasn’t working and the halfbacks were getting six yards every carry.

Any thoughts? My vote is for UT, but I’m a fan, so I may be biased.

Opening weekend of college football is just about done, but the game I’ve really been looking forward to — when my Vols head to California to face UCLA — will close the weekend tonight (and Rutgers and Fresno St. are about to go at it right now).

With that said, here’s a few thoughts on what’s transpired thus far.

Jackonsville State 14, Georgia Tech 41: The Jackets were able to run for 385 yards in its first game running the triple option. You don’t watch a D-I school beat Jackonsville State and say a system will work, but if Thursday night was an indication, then the system will work.

UGA 45, Georgia Southern 21: This isn’t the kind of game you want to see from the No. 1 team in the nation. That offensive line of Georgia has got to be a question mark.

Youngstown State 0, Ohio State 43: The biggest thing about this game wasn’t the score but the health of Chris Wells. If he’s out for a duration of time, and from what I saw from USC, you’ve gotta give the Trojans the nod during their showdown in two weeks.

USC 52, Virginia 7: Ouch. The ACC really showed that they’re an inferior conference this weekend.

Chattanooga 2, Oklahoma 57: Sadly, the score wasn’t even this close. It was 50-0 at halftime, and then the reserves came in.

Hawaii 10, Florida 56: They didn’t look as sharp as I expeted, but keep in mind that Percy Harvin is still out, but expected to play next week against Miami.

Illinois 42, Missouri 52: Chase Daniel had 323 yards and 3 touchdowns. As good a start as that was, he was outplayed by Juice Williams, who had over 400 yards throwing and 5 TD’s.

Appalachian State 13, LSU 41: There wasn’t going to be another miracle this year. Not against that defensive size and speed.

Villanova 21, West Virginia 48: They’re one of the teams I’ve said will play in the BCS Title game. It wasn’t the best showing, but a win’s a win.

Alabama 34, Clemson 10: Again: The ACC just didn’t show up. The Clemson game was never close, and Tommy Bowden proves again why you can’t rely on Tommy Bowden. You can’t say Alabama has more talent, but they sure did look like it Saturday night.

Louisiana Monroe 0, Auburn 34: I watched this game, and though the score shows a blowout, this game was a lot closer. Auburn’s offense never did click, and that’s hopefully just some rust in the new spread system they’re implementing.

Northern Arizona 13, Arizona State 30: Does anyone really think Arizona State will beat UGA? I hope they do, but I’m not really buying into it.

Virginia Tech 22, East Carolina 27: Again: Wake up, ACC.

Washington 10, Oregon 44: Say goodbye to Ty Willingham. He’s on thin ice as is, and losing by 34 points in the opener isn’t the way to start the season.