Dan On The Street - Sports and More from Dan Sheldon » Tennessee

Lane Kiffin says he’s received no recent contact from NCAA

Dan Sheldon — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:43:50 +0000

"That was amazing how that just happened to come out on the morning of National Signing Day..."

"New" information was leaded this past week about potential violations being investigated by the NCAA during Lane Kiffin's time at Tennessee.

Instead of answering the new report, Kiffin wonders about the timing of the leak when he joined the Petros and Money radio show in Los Angeles:

"That was amazing how that just happened to come out on the morning of National Signing Day, huh? Just crazy.

It's something that we have dealt with for a while. We've given all the NCAA information months and months ago, starting when we were there. About everything from there. We have not heard anything from them."

Kiffin and his staff did an effective job of bracing for the coming NCAA scholarship reductions. While the case is being appealed, USC was not restricted from signing a full class which included 22 on signing day and an additional 8 players who enrolled in January that count against the previous year's class.

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Duke Football’s Harshest Critic is Peyton Manning

Dan Sheldon — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:26:47 +0000

"He sends me a text right after our game..."

As David Cutcliffe attempts to negotiate through a disappointing 4 game losing streak with a visit from Miami on the horizon, he has one of the best quarterbacks on the planet in his ear (or on his phone) every step of the way.

Having coached both Manning brothers in college, Peyton (while serving as offensive coordinator at Tennessee) and Eli (while head coach at Ole Miss), Cutcliffe says his phone gets plenty of critical post-game texts from the elder sibling. Telling 790 AM in Miami:

"It'd be, 'What are you trying to do on 3rd down? I can't even figure out what your plan is.' Okay, Peyton. Let me call and explain it to you. That kind of thing. He's our strongest critic and it's fun because he's doing some of it in fun.
Or he may call. He went to Tennessee for a ballgame and here's how he'll mess with you. I've got a daughter who's a senior at Tennessee. He sends me a text right after our game and says, 'Hey, your daughter just bought me a beer.' I get that text and I say I know she's not that dumb. She's not buying you anything. Let Peyton Manning spend his own money.
She was around him that night with a group of people but she wasn't buying beer so I want to get that straight. That was Peyton just taunting me a little bit."

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Phil Fulmer is now rooting for Steve Spurrier

Dan Sheldon — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:05:15 +0000

"I'm thrilled for Steve, to see what he's done..."

Once bitter rivals at Tennessee and Florida, Phil Fulmer appears to have an appreciation for Steve Spurrier now that he no longer has to dodge barbs and beatdowns on an annual basis.

Fulmer on the Tim Brando radio show following South Carolina's win over then-top ranked Alabama:

"I'm thrilled for Steve, to see what he's done. I guess I pull for the old guy a little bit to do well.
And it's just great to see the kids respond as they have and had a huge win and upset the whole apple cart in the Southeastern Conference."

Considering the way Fulmer was ousted from his alma mater it's likely the, "You can't spell 'Citrus' without 'UT'" line doesn't carry with it the same sting that it used to.

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SEC Head Official: Penalty for Removing Helmet would be “Irresponsible”

Dan Sheldon — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:16:39 +0000

"We're going to always allow for that immediate, spontaneous burst of exultation..."

Those who thought the officials erred by not calling an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on T-Bob Hebert have an opinion that is counter to what the supervisor of SEC officials believes.

Rogers Redding, on the Tim Brando radio show, says the officials should allow for spontaneous reactions such as with Hebert who is shown throwing his helmet after he believes his LSU Tigers have completely blown another game due to hideous clock management.

"We're going to always allow for that immediate, spontaneous burst of exultation or frustration on the part of a teenage football player. So to penalize that at the end of a game like that would be just a very highly technical reading of the rule.
That would be irresponsible to penalize either team for that."

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Falcons GM confirms no Post-Game Handshake from Mike Singletary

Dan Sheldon — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:57:26 +0000

"No matter how tough it is, it's important to go across the field..."

Mike Singletary is a strict disciplinarian and fierce believer in protocol... except when it's inconvenient. That's the sentiment people are left with in Atlanta after Singletary apparently dipped out on that little post game meeting at midfield in the Georgia Dome.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff joined "Mayhem in the AM" on 790 AM in Atlanta on Monday:

"I didn't see it and that's what I understand.
That's one of those things that's sort of that unwritten rule as we all know. No matter how tough it is, it's important to go across the field and seek out the general of the other team and I don't know the situation at all. I don't know what happened. There's talk that he was attempting to find Mike (Smith). I"m not really sure about it.
It's a competitive game and he is an incredibly competitive person. We all grew up watching him and respecting him as a player and he always seemed like he had such class as a player. I don't know what happened on the handshake."

It's not an egregious sin but certainly something that could be seen as hypocritical from a man who does as much public preaching as Singletary.

What's the old cliche? Tough situations don't build character, they reveal it?

On Saturday, LSU coach Les Miles had to chase down Tennessee coach Derek Dooley who appeared to be forgoing a post game shake in favor of a dead sprint to the locker room.

It's even more troubling when you consider that Dooley tried to shaft the one guy in the building who did everything possible to hand him the victory.

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Patriots vs. Jets is just like Gators vs. Vols

Dan Sheldon — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:14:32 +0000

Among the similarities? Nobody goes to class...

Occasionally you get an athlete or coach to delve beneath the "one game at a time" and "next game is the biggest game" cliche vortex.

Such is the case with Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo who compares his team's rivalry with the Jets to the one he experienced in college at Tennessee when the Volunteers battled the Gators.

As told to the Dennis and Callahan radio show in Boston:

"It does feel a little different. Kind of like back in college. Florida week. Florida week was huge. Everybody trying to go super hard in practice so the game becomes easier and this is a rivalry game to us and it's definitely been a tough week for us."

Asked if he went to class during Florida week?

"Rarely...
You thought I was joking. We rarely went to class during Florida week."

Mayo was in Knoxville during the Phil Fulmer era. No word if the "no class" strategy was still being employed leading up to Saturday's showdown on Rocky Top.

Not that strategy really seems to matter at this point in a rivalry where one team can scuffle through another uneven offensive performance and still win by two touchdowns on the road.

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Former Titan: This is very unlike Jeff Fisher

Dan Sheldon — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:51:55 +0000

"He must have really pissed Fisher off something nasty..."

Jeff Fisher lost an assistant coach last weekend to USC and was more than happy to restate his case against Lane Kiffin on the Jim Rome radio show earlier today:

"Before I heard anything from Lane, my assistant coach told me he was leaving. That's the timeline and that's the way it went down and it is unprofessional. We were deserving of a phone call well before this process started and we didn't get that phone call."

As for the idea that the lawsuit is being filed because of Kiffin's messy divorce from the University of Tennessee, Fisher has this to say:

"I think it's ridiculous. I think it's absurd. They're two separate entities."

"The lawsuit and our reaction was a direct result of recent events that took place last weekend."

That would be a breach of contract lawsuit against USC.

Former UCLA and Tennessee Titans receiver Drew Bennett said earlier this week that this reaction from Fisher is quite out of character, as told to the 2 Live Stews on Sporting News radio:

"He must have really pissed Fisher off something nasty because this is very unlike Fisher. Fisher's the kind of guy that, throughout my six years there, he never wanted anybody to know that they pissed him off. Even Saturday night meetings before games, he'd be very hesitant to tell the team if another coach said something that made him upset. So the fact this is coming out as public as it has and the fact that he's going after him like this, not just letting it kind of go with a stern warning, means Fisher is pissed."

Not sure how a "stern warning" would work in Lane Kiffin's world. Wait, yes I do. This would be the reaction:

And while Fisher claims this has nothing to do with Kiffin's exit from Knoxville, the lawsuit cites four former University of Tennessee assistant coaches that were under contract when hired away by Kiffin as evidence of prior knowledge and disregard of contract law within the state.

A great local public relations move by the Titans... or maybe Jeff Fisher is just "pissed."

It's likely a combination of both.

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Pat Summitt not surprised by Lane Kiffin’s troubles

Dan Sheldon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:18:09 +0000

"Obviously, he's still got issues he's dealing with and I'm not surprised"...

Lane Kiffin's troubles with the state of Tennessee started with the Vols football team and recently extended to the Titans. This may shock you but you can count the winningest coach in women's basketball history in the "not necessarily a fan" category. Speaking to AM 790 in Atlanta, Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt expressed her satisfaction with a Kiffin-less campus:

"Obviously, he's still getting in trouble. I think when Lane was here it was very short-lived. I did get to know him because he was our coach but I think we're in a much better situation right now. Obviously, he's still got issues he's dealing with and I'm not surprised."

How do you know you're not well liked? When the team you left behind is picked to finish next to last in the SEC East and a former colleague considers it to be a "better situation" without you.

Let me repeat that: 5th in the SEC East. Behind Kentucky. Worst preseason placement since divisional alignment in 1992.

Better situation indeed.

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Urban Meyer Much Closer to New Tennessee Coach than Old One

Dan Sheldon — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:52:59 +0000

"I have a lot of respect for the new guy they got there..."

Evading an opportunity to take a swipe at his former nemesis in Knoxville, the new/old Florida football coach opts for the indirect route as a guest on the Paul Finebaum radio show. Asked if he'll miss Lane Kiffin at Tennessee:

"Oh. I gotta not answer that one because that'll be the front page of the USA (Today) tomorrow.
I have a lot of respect for the new guy they got there. I never knew him. Really didn't know much about him. Obviously, (knew about) his father but coach (Derek) Dooley and I spent a lot of time talking. It's the first time I talked to the Tennessee coach in a while so it was great."

Translation: the Florida-Tennessee rivalry is about to get a lot less interesting.

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Lane Kiffin isn’t on Derek Dooley’s Speed Dial

Dan Sheldon — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:32:08 +0000

Tennessee's new coach hasn't reached out to its old one and... doesn't plan to.

After just a few months on the job in Knoxville, the new leader of the Volunteers doesn't seem to be in need of picking the brain of the guy who blew through town the previous year.

Derek Dooley tells the Paul Finebaum Show:

"I haven't spoken with Lane and I don't know Lane. I wasn't interested in really looking back and I said that at our press conference. I know there's certainly some ill will that still exists and I can't change that and I'm really not concerned about it. I'm more concerned about where we're headed and I think all that sentiment will go away in time."

Where he may be "headed" is into a feud with his own mother. Barbara Dooley is a media darling, especially when it comes to sports talk radio, which has led the son to look to his father for assistance.

As much sway as he had for a generation in Athens, there's a limit to Vince Dooley's powers of persuasion in his own household as described by his son:

"I can tell you right off that I'm not responsible for anything that comes out of her mouth. She's never let the truth get in the way of a good story or a funny story so you gotta take everything she says and knock it down about 80 percent to find the truth.
And I've tried to issue a gag order in the state of Tennessee because when I got the job, any time I would turn on the radio or walk anywhere, everybody would tell me, 'Well, I just heard your mother on the radio.'
And there was a point where I was wondering if she got the head football coaching job, not me. But I had to kind of get her off the airwaves so I reached out to my father for a little help. It slowed her down a little but she can't stay quiet for long.
She's out there and she's relentless and she won't let up but that's who she is and I can't change it."

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