Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ó Even though Tennessee’s new coach is the youngest one leading a major program, Lane Kiffin has been around football for almost all of his 33 years.
The former coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders and son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, is five months younger than the previous youngest coach in the Bowl Subdivision, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald.
“During our process, Lane Kiffin stood out,” athletic director Mike Hamilton said. “He has great football bloodlines and has been part of a strong football tradition since birth.”
Kiffin remembers being surrounded as a child by chalkboards scrawled with defensive plays and spending weekends in pregame meetings with his dad’s teams.
“The experience has been unbelievable and then to combine that with still being young enough to be able to relate to recruits and be able to manage them and handle them, I think is very valuable,” Kiffin said Monday when he was introduced at Tennessee.
He’s the Volunteers’ 21st coach but only the third in the last 32 years. His selection came after “the first national search for a football coach in University of Tennessee history,” Hamilton said.
He took over the Volunteers two days after Phillip Fulmer’s 17-season tenure ended with a win over Kentucky and has a six-year contract worth $2 million in 2009 with the chance for bonuses.
“I’m extremely honored to follow him,” Kiffin said. “I’m not trying to be him. All I’m trying to do is carry on some of the things he’s done.”