(Rocky) Bottom: Lane Kiffin Leaves Tennessee For USC

Sports News - January 13th, 2010 - Written By John

California's newest earthquake has reached the east coast.

The ripple effect from Pete Carroll's stunning departure from Southern California continues to create a seismic shift in the College Football world, as USC announced Tuesday that Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin accepted an offer to take the same position at USC. And just like that, Tennessee's promising hero is now it's biggest villain, causing a firestorm on Volunteer forums and a near riot outside the school's athletic center.

"This was not an easy decision," he said in a statement Tuesday night. "This is something that happens very quick. We've been here 14 months, and the support has been unbelievable here. I really believe the only place I would have left here to go was...Southern California."

ESPN reported the news first, and several correspondents have detailed the scene outside Tennessee's athletic building, saying thousands of students and fans are protesting the move, and chanting things not suitable to be repeated on SportsCenter. Blogs and posts all over the internet are asking for anything from Kiffin's home address, to his children's names and schools.

Kiffin replaces Carroll after an exhausting search to replace the coach that had been there for 10 years. After several secretive meetings following the '09 season, he bolted to become head coach of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

Kiffin's departure is equally stunning, and largely unexpected after he appeared to be entrenching himself at Tennessee for a long time. He endeared himself to fans with his daring introduction speech, which was part boastful, part proud and more than anything forthright.

When he was first hired, he poked fun at the Florida Gators, saying the team would sing "Rocky Top" all night long after beating their rivals in '09. He also got tangled in a war of words with Florida coach Urban Meyer after wrongly accusing him of recruitment violations.

He didn't beat the Gators, but the team actually played respectably and the Volunteers went on to gain a Chic-Fil-A bowl berth.

"I know that I can walk out of here and say this, that we've been here for 14 months and there's not one day I didn't give everything I had to the Tennessee football program," Kiffin said. "We're leaving here 14 months later a lot better team than we were 14 months ago."

But he has USC ties, spending 2001-06 as the teams wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Carroll.

"We are really excited to welcome Lane Kiffin back to USC," Garrett said in a statement. "I was able to watch him closely when he was an assistant with us and what I saw was a bright, creative young coach who I thought would make an excellent head coach here if the opportunity ever arose. I'm confident he and his staff will keep USC football performing at the high level that we expect."

It is Kiffin's third job in three years after being fired by the Oakland Raiders in 2008, then signing with Tennessee last off-season. He has already emptying the cupboard in Knoxville, bringing his father, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron with him. He is also reportedly trying to talk UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was the Trojans' offensive coordinator from 2001-04 into coming to USC, too.

"It's great news," starting quarterback Matt Barkley told ESPN. "I remember meeting Kiff way back on the recruiting trail when I was a freshman in high school. I liked him when I met him. I like that he knows how to live and breathe the Trojan way."

Other USC players were also excited.

"This is really good," running back Marc Tyler told ESPN. "Lane is great. He's got a lot of energy. I talked to him and coach [Steve] Sarkisian all the time when I was coming in. This is really good."