COMMENTARY: Gotta love a coach who has the audacity to have fun
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Gotta love a college football coach with a sense of humor.
It’s OK to deviate from being politically correct in July.
That’s why Tennessee coach Josh Heupel got so much attention during SEC Media Days. He had the unmitigated gall to have fun at the expense of a fellow coach — a coach who is nothing short of hated around these parts.
You see, in 2009, Lane Kiffin used Knoxville as a layover between high-profile coaching jobs. He spent two seasons as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders before becoming the big-time hire to lead the Volunteers out of the doldrums. He wasn’t here long enough to unpack before he left again, this time for the bright lights of Southern Cal.
Much to the pleasure of any Tennessee fan worth their salt in moonshine, Kiffin’s adventure in LaLa Land lasted four years and unceremoniously ended with a tarmac firing in 2013.
Since then, Kiffin spent three years at Nick Saban’s “Frustrated Head Coach Redemption Program” before landing at Florida Atlantic and then Ole Miss.
It was Oct. 16, 2021, when Kiffin finally came back to Neyland Stadium. It was a very competitive game, one that ended with a 31-26 Ole Miss victory. The final score gets lost in the real backstory of the game. Vol Nation proved that it hadn’t forgotten — or forgiven — the lack of loyalty Kiffin showed fans who had bought into what he was selling.
Before the game ended, it had to be stopped, after fans — mostly from a student section filled with kids who were barely 10 years old when Kiffin did his treasonous action — serenaded him with an onslaught of boos and hurled all sorts of items they happened to have in their see-through backpacks.
Some of the more unusual items that hit the field in Kiffin’s general direction were a mustard bottle and a golf ball.
What are the odds someone comes to a football game with a mustard bottle or a golf ball?
Anyway, almost five years later, Heupel didn’t miss a chance for a dig, since Kiffin will be leading LSU into Neyland Stadium this season.
“I certainly hope our fan base hasn’t cooled off,” Heupel said. “So you know whether it’s the grocery stores being fully stocked with mustard or, you know, our sports stores making sure that they got reinforcements on the golf balls. Hopefully, Knoxville’s ready for his arrival.”
Tennessee fans aren’t going to forget. On Nov. 21, the last home game of the season, security is going to have its hand full. Louisiana state troopers are going to have an umbrella over Kiffin. Spies will have to be placed in the student section, which is behind the opposition bench.
It’s going to be a crazy night. Buckle up and let ‘er rip.
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