I was born in Tulsa, so naturally I'm an Oklahoma fan. Since moving to the southeast in 1995, I've been searching for a team in the SEC to call my second team. In recent years I've vascillated between Alabama, Auburn and Georgia because of various relationships in which I've been involved. As the relationship with the women would fail, so would my relationship with the team.
The team that always offered the most was Tennessee. I never was able to fully care how the team did - unless I was monetarily invested - but I always was lured to them a bit. The maternal side of my family tree has ties all over the state and several members of said tree bleed orange.
The problem for me was always Fat Phil Fulmer. Constantly miserable, repeatedly outcoached, not likeable by any stretch of the imagination ... it made it impossible for me to become seriously invested in the Vols.
But that era is behind Tennessee now, and a glorious dawn is on the horizon, thanks to Lane Kiffin.
I started to like Kiffin after the way he handled being fired from the Raiders. (For those who don't know, a general rule of thumb is that if Al Davis fires you, you will proceed to do great things in another job.) He took the high road, let Davis make himself look like a clown, and won the respect of people across the football landscape.
But it's not that Kiffin is scared of conflict. Far from it. He has sent shockwaves through the SEC with his brashness, starting with talking about how he was going to sing "Rocky Top" all night after beating Florida this year. Again, it's the perfect tactic, even though in a moment of honesty Kiffin would have admitted that was about as likely as the Raiders winning the Super Bowl.
Florida's Urban Meyer is a slick character, a coach who is virtually never rattled and a man who seemingly has an answer for everything. Somehow Kiffin has found a way to own him in their verbal jousts to the extent that Meyer was making excuses for his team - who had three starters bothered by the flu - after beating Tennessee last weekend.
Kiffin's answer? "I don't know. I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick."
Such a perfect answer. I can only imagine Meyer's rage. Kudos to him for finally having the sense to realize he has no chance of winning a battle of wits against Kiffin. Which begs the question, Why ever get involved in a war of words with a team predicted to finish near the bottom of the SEC?
Because the two men are so similar. Because Kiffin is going to do for Tennessee what Meyer has done for Florida.
This year's Tennessee team is saddled with the worst starting quarterback I've ever seen in the SEC - with all due disrespect to former Mississippi State starter Michael Henig - and the Vols still played Florida nearly even. Kiffin is already bringing in star recruits from all over the country. His California connections (he was a former assistant under Pete Carroll at USC) and his charisma mean that it won't be long until he can sing "Rocky Top" all night after beating Florida.
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