"I think in a lot of ways Phil Fulmer was guilty of one thing, and that was hanging around and being successful for a long period of time," Brando said on Thursday. "When you do that, you have a tendency of saying some of the same things in the preseason and during the season. And in my estimation, the thing Lane Kiffin, to this point, has done is energize the base, which right now in this economy is what big-time business and big-time college football is about.

"It’s sort of what Sarah Palin did for the Republican ticket. Maybe not get more votes, but energize the base of the Republican party. It doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily going to be successful, but if that’s what (Tennessee) wanted to do when they hired Kiffin, that’s what he was able to accomplish in the offseason. Now we’ll see how much staying power he has, and how successful he can be. He’s got a long way to go, in my view, to be as successful as Phil Fulmer."