Lane Kiffin – Clown Extraordinaire

In a week notable for beclownment (think Nobel Prize committee), Lane Kiffin may have outdone everyone with his post game comments in the Vol’s win over Georgia.

From “Get the Picture” –

“I don’t know all the Tennessee history and tradition with all the matchups, nor do I ever intend do,” Kiffin said. “There’s a lot of great teams in this conference, but I told (players) that, to me, this is the biggest matchup. To me, because of what we need to do in recruiting, this will be the biggest matchup for this staff and for our team."

“So this was a great win for us.”

As Senator Blutarsky points out, it would have been something if coach Quittin’ had mentioned his fierce intensity for this “rivalry” sometime prior to the game actually occurring. In light of the fact this was his first SEC win, one might suspect he intended to brand whoever they first beat as their “biggest rival” ex post facto.

I’ve been watching SEC football for a quarter century. Never have I heard Tennessee and Georgia referred to as either’s “biggest rivals”. Unlike you young Lane, some of us actually want to know the traditions of the SEC schools, even ones we don’t coach at.

A good overview of Tennessee’s historical rivals can be found at this Wikipedia post.


The Vol’s five main rivalry games all have names, with none of them being Georgia.

They are-

Alabama – Third Saturday in October (there is even a blog dedicated to this premise).

Florida – Third Saturday in September.

Kentucky – “The Border Battle”. Traditionally they played for a trophy “The Beer Barrel”, but this was discontinued.

South Carolina – “The Halloween Game”

Vanderbilt – No name, but in-state rival.

Where does Georgia rank in the traditional realm of Tennessee rivals? Well, according to the Wikipedia post, not on the radar screen.

Or, take a look at this thread from VolNation started at the end of this September (you know, before the UGA game).

Ten pages posted of opinions on this topic, with Georgia rarely mentioned. Alabama seems to be the hands-down opinion of the fans.

The SEC is a conference notable for it’s impressive collection of asshat coaches, but coach Quittin’ may be in a class by himself.

And then there's this -

“Coach Kiffin made a big emphasis on beating these guys,” said UT junior All-America safety Eric Berry, a former Atlanta-area high school star. “He actually made a promise to us that we would never lose to them anymore, ever, until he leaves.

Assuming coach Quittin' can keep his "promise", Vol fans may have to ask themselves fairly soon - "Is beating Georgia every year worth all those losses to Florida, 'Bama and all those other teams that aren't our greatest rivals?"