Tennessee Volunteers 2009 Football Season Quick Preview: Kiffin Has a Plan, Now Needs a QB
Not many people like new Tennessee head football coach Lane Kiffin.
A few years ago, Kiffin was named as the youngest head coach in NFL history by the Oakland Raiders. It is a role he is used to, as this season he will be the youngest active head coach in Division 1-A.
He takes over for Phil Fulmer at Tennessee, a man who was a bit of a legend for winning the 1998 national title, but had allowed the program to sink pretty low by the end of his career. After getting a taste of success with that national title, Tennessee is not a team that is ready to fall back into the pack. This is especially true in the very tough SEC East, where Georgia and Florida annually battle for supremacy.ÂÂ
It will take some time, but Kiffin has brought a new attitude to Rocky Top.
He has already angered Florida head coach Urban Meyer by accusing him of cheating. That drama has been played out on college football message boards and such around the country. He has also made insulting remarks about other teams within the Southeastern Conference.
Still, Kiffin knows how to recruit. He has already upgraded the talent level in Knoxville, especially with the signing of Bryce Brown. Brown was long thought to be the best high school player in the country for this incoming recruiting class. He had committed to Miami long ago, but Kiffin swooped in and stole him from the Hurricanes. This is an especially daring move in that Bryce’s brother, Arthur, is a linebacker at the U.ÂÂ
Tennessee was an uncharacteristic 5-7 last year and did not go to a bowl game. They also very nearly lost at home to Northern Illinois, a team that was barely above .500 in the Mid-American Conference. SEC teams obviously very rarely lose non-conference games at home, especially against teams from the MAC.
Tennessee’s biggest liability heading into 2009 is at the quarterback position. The Volunteers were so desperate for quarterback help that they tried to raid Miami once again. When Miami starter Robert Marve decided to transfer, Tennessee tried very hard to bring him to campus. Even though he would not have been able to play in 2009 because of NCAA rules, it still would have been a nice addition to the program. Marve chose Purdue instead, leaving Tennessee to debate its quarterback situation both now and in the future.ÂÂ
Saying the quarterbacks were awful is like saying the Tennessee orange uniforms are a bit loud and that Peyton Manning was an alright player when he was in Knoxville.  Three quarterbacks combined to complete fewer than half of their passes for 1,750 yards and eight touchdowns with nine interceptions. Those are the kinds of numbers that won’t have fans taking a sharpie to their media guides in order to write out Manning’s name. Indeed, those are the types of numbers Manning used to put up in about four games.
Simply put, Tennessee has to get better play from the quarterback position if it is going to improve this year.
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Brandon Chandler is a sports writer for www.sportsfantreasures.com. He would like to invite you to check out their Tennessee Volunteers Store and Tennessee Volunteers Apparel online today!
Tags: bryce brown, College Football, Lane Kiffin, SEC, tennessee volunteers
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