Lane Kiffin a realistic choice for Florida?

cuda.1973 · Nov 1, 2017

CrimsonProf said:
Three big cities spread across the a very long state - Knoxville is as close to Richmond as it is to Memphis. The rest of the state is small and rural.

Drive I-40, from Memphis to Nashville, and you go through one town. Almost as bleak as West Texas and New Mexico.

TideEngineer08 · Nov 1, 2017

Go Bama said:
Most of my Texas friends swear the Oklahoma football tradition was bought and paid for, especially in the Switzer years.

Of course they were. Still, Norman is closer to Dallas than Austin is. Just like Alabama benefits greatly by being so close to Florida and Georgia, so to does Oklahoma by being an extension of the state of Texas. It’s all about location, location, location. It’s also why Oklahoma has held up better than Nebraska over the past 20 years.

TIDE-HSV · Nov 1, 2017

MN-Tide said:
Why is that? I have always heard that is the case, but never quite understood why. Are they focused more on other sports?

As mentioned above, demographics has a lot to do with it. In the South, good skill players in particular, tend to be African American. Tennessee has a very low population in African Americans outside Nashville and Memphis. Memphis is much closer to Tuscaloosa, not to mention Oxford, than it is to Knoxville. Hell, even Nashville is equidistant with Tuscaloosa and Knoxville. Think about it...

cuda.1973 · Nov 1, 2017

TideEngineer08 said:
Of course they were. Still, Norman is closer to Dallas than Austin is. Just like Alabama benefits greatly by being so close to Florida and Georgia, so to does Oklahoma by being an extension of the state of Texas. It’s all about location, location, location. It’s also why Oklahoma has held up better than Nebraska over the past 20 years.

That, and a lot of folks dislike Austin and/or Bevo U. They prefer to go to Zero U. Not sure why. (Maybe in another 45 years, I'll figure it out.)

Redwood Forrest · Nov 2, 2017

Re: Lane Kiffin to Florida

If Florida wants to go all Michigan it would be a good hire. Loads of PR. If they aren't going to upgrade facilities then go for the Publicity.

ROTYDE · Nov 2, 2017

Re: Lane Kiffin to Florida

Kiffin does not have the focus or dedication to be a head coach at a real university.. JS

Go Bama · Nov 2, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
As mentioned above, demographics has a lot to do with it. In the South, good skill players in particular, tend to be African American. Tennessee has a very low population in African Americans outside Nashville and Memphis. Memphis is much closer to Tuscaloosa, not to mention Oxford, than it is to Knoxville. Hell, even Nashville is equidistant with Tuscaloosa and Knoxville. Think about it...

Of course this is exactly what I was alluding to earlier. I wasn’t sure how to word that. Leave it to a lawyer to know how to state this diplomatically. Thank you.

This is pretty off topic at this point, but since we’ve gone this far, I’ve always wondered how the Vols would have fared if African Americans had played from the start of the Bama/UT series. East Tennessee is predominantly white as you can see from this map:

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/tennessee/black-population-percentage#map

My father told me when he was a kid it used to take about 5 hours to drive from Fayetteville to Nashville because it was all bad roads. I seriously doubt UT would have been able to develop into a blue blood program in those days because most of their players would had to have been from East Tennessee.

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TIDE-HSV · Nov 2, 2017

Go Bama said:
Of course this is exactly what I was alluding to earlier. I wasn’t sure how to word that. Leave it to a lawyer to know how to state this diplomatically. Thank you.

This is pretty off topic at this point, but since we’ve gone this far, I’ve always wondered how the Vols would have fared if African Americans had played from the start of the Bama/UT series. East Tennessee is predominantly white as you can see from this map:

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/tennessee/black-population-percentage#map

My father told me when he was a kid it used to take about 5 hours to drive from Fayetteville to Nashville because it was all bad roads. I seriously doubt UT would have been able to develop into a blue blood program in those days because most of their players would had to have been from East Tennessee.

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Also working against UT is the makeup of its student body, which is about 90% from instate, against 40% at UA. Also, it's African American makeup is only about 6%, about half of UA's. (Off the top of my head from a couple of years ago.) Of course, football players sort of live in a bubble and you can encounter discrimination anywhere, but it has to work against them in recruiting to some degree...

Padreruf · Nov 2, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
Also working against UT is the makeup of its student body, which is about 90% from instate, against 40% at UA. Also, it's African American makeup is only about 6%, about half of UA's. (Off the top of my head from a couple of years ago.) Of course, football players sort of live in a bubble and you can encounter discrimination anywhere, but it has to work against them in recruiting to some degree...

Good insight...remember: perception is reality in life. I have always been amazed that AU is able to recruit top notch black athletes when their percentage on campus is so small. UA has always been more open and hospitable to the AA community in all manner of ways.

TIDE-HSV · Nov 2, 2017

Padreruf said:
Good insight...remember: perception is reality in life. I have always been amazed that AU is able to recruit top notch black athletes when their percentage on campus is so small. UA has always been more open and hospitable to the AA community in all manner of ways.

Several years ago, we had a member who had started his education at UT and finished at UA. He was an Alabama native and African American. His remarks were incendiary. He said that he always felt an outsider at UT but he always felt included in his time at UA. At the time, we had several active UT posters. (They sort of disappeared as the W/L ratio kept getting worse.) They took him to task, but he never backed down...

Redwood Forrest · Nov 2, 2017

Chukker Veteran said:
Maybe the topography has something to do with it. Many communities are in the hills or mountains...there are very few places big and flat enough to have a pickup game or even a practice field.

I'm not really being serious, but then again, when you think about it...

You may be on to something as far as East Tennessee goes. My wife and I love the State (hate the Vols) and spend a lot of time driving the hill and mountains there. I swear, it seems sometimes we drive for fifty miles before we find a flat spot. I am sure there is a football field at schools, but some towns and villages would have a hard time with pickup football unless it was in a parking lot.

Crimson1967 · Nov 2, 2017

I used to live in Knoxville and I did hear comments about the low number of black students and black population in general. Not much you can really do to change the demographics in East Tennessee as it probably goes back to the antebellum era.

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Alasippi · Nov 2, 2017

Redwood Forrest said:
You may be on to something as far as East Tennessee goes. My wife and I love the State (hate the Vols) and spend a lot of time driving the hill and mountains there. I swear, it seems sometimes we drive for fifty miles before we find a flat spot. I am sure there is a football field at schools, but some towns and villages would have a hard time with pickup football unless it was in a parking lot.

As far as a state, there's none prettier than Tennessee. Nashville is my favorite place in the world and also the toughest.

TIDE-HSV · Nov 2, 2017

The pretty part of TN is Nashville and east. That's barely half...

bamablood6 · Nov 3, 2017

There is already a discipline / drama problem at Florida.... Kif would probably make it even worse.

TideMan09 · Nov 3, 2017

Alasippi said:
As far as a state, there's none prettier than Tennessee. Nashville is my favorite place in the world and also the toughest.

Yup..I loved The Grand Ole Opera

Go Bama · Nov 3, 2017

Alasippi said:
As far as a state, there's none prettier than Tennessee. Nashville is my favorite place in the world and also the toughest.

I agree Tennessee is beautiful and Nashville is a great city.

What does it’s the toughest mean?

GrayTide · Nov 3, 2017

If Florida doesn't make a serious run at Dan Mullen they are crazy. He is a seasoned, proven SEC head coach and has shown he can develop the lesser talent he gets at MSU. IMO he has done all he can do at MSU and even if he stays there it is a perennial 6-9 win program. At Florida he would have access to a wealth of high school talent and with the exception of UGA, his Florida teams would challenge for the SEC title in most years. There is a huge difference in being a head coach and being an SEC head coach. I am glad LSU did'nt get him to replace Les Miles.

RTR91 · Nov 3, 2017

GrayTide said:
If Florida doesn't make a seriou run at Dan Mullen they are crazy. He is a seasoned, proven SEC head coach and has shown he can develop the lesser talent he gets at MSU. IMO he has done all he can do at MSU and even if he stays there it is a perennial 6-9 win program. At Florida he would have access to a wealth of high school talent and with the exception of UGA, his Florida teams would challenge for the SEC title in most years. There is a huge difference in being a head coach and being an SEC head coach. I am glad LSU did'nt get him to replace Les Miles.

Reportedly, he and Scott Stricklin don't have the best relationship. If that's true, Mullen won't get the job.

CrimsonForce · Nov 3, 2017

If I was Mullen I'd stay at MSU and wait it out until Saban retires. Mullen is already making around $4.5M. If he goes to another school he's not going to make that much more money but the expectations at a school like UF are sky high. He can win 8 games a year at MSU and be considered their greatest coach of all time but he'd get fired at UF for going 8-4 each year. Only advantage of going to a school like UF is he'll have a more realistic shot at winning conference and national championships..

Lane Kiffin a realistic choice for Florida?

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