The Greatest Vol Villain: Steve Spurrier vs. Lane Kiffin
by Will Shelton on Jun 2, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
in Tennessee Volunteer Football
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PrintTime continues to heal all wounds.
If it's true that the opposite of love isn't hate, but indifference, then some flame still burns for both of these men. It's been my experience that in the worst break-ups, the last thing that goes is a reason to care. Even when there's no hope or desire for reconciliation, it's those last ideas we hold on to: "If I could just get an apology,"..."If they would just admit they were wrong,"..."If this one thing would happen, then I could really move on."
For Tennessee and Lane Kiffin, indifference is somewhere off in the distance. I'm not sure what it would take for us to get there - beating Southern Cal head-to-head, winning a championship with Derek Dooley while the Trojans struggled through their scholarship reductions, or maybe just the eventual end of Kiffin's time in Los Angeles. But one day no one in Knoxville will care what Lane Kiffin is up to...and I hope that day is coming soon.
It's not at all that Tennessee fans are indifferent to Steve Spurrier, it's that the relationship changed. While no one was a better Vol Villain than Spurrier from 1993-97, the Vols were able to get the closure with the ballcoach we never could with Kiffin. Not just beating Florida, but winning the National Championship in 1998 killed almost every demon - in fact, I would argue we enjoyed winning the title in '98 more, or at least in unique fashion, because we had suffered for so long against the mighty Gators. And when Spurrier traded blowouts for heartbreak via Alex Brown and Jabar Gaffney in 1999 and 2000, the Vols got the last and most meaningful word in 2001.
Spurrier is the best kind of villain: the one who keeps it interesting, the one who demands your respect with his actions but makes you hate giving it up with his words. And as in any truly great rivalry, the one that beats you enough to make you care...which then makes it all the better when you beat him.
All of this makes that picture up there interesting: Tennessee victorious over Spurrier with Kiffin on our sideline leading troops dressed in black. The whole thing laughs at the history of the Vols and the OBC.
Maybe we'll cross from hatred to indifference with Kiffin soon. Maybe South Carolina will stay on top while the Vols climb the ladder again, and we'll open new wounds in our rivalry with Spurrier. But the final answer to today's poll really comes down to this: is a betrayal after one year really worth more than a decade-long battle that brought out the best in both of us?
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I voted Lane
Steve Spurrier, as salty and insulting as he is, has always just done his job. He’s actually kinda likable if he’s not beating you into the ground every year.
Kiffin, on the other hand, came in, acted like he was one of us, lied, cheated, and betrayed his way into being my greatest Vol Villain. He set us back 4-5 years, and made the NCAA investigation worse with his and the chimera’s antics. He gave us hope with his big talk and big coaching staff, when we needed it badly after suffering through Fulmer’s slow demise in the 2000s. He left at one of the worst times of the year, and forced us into a coaching search when no great candidates existed (Dooley may end up being great, but only time will tell).
If you do this poll in 10 years, will my answer change? Maybe. But today, Lane Kiffin is the greatest Vol Villain.
Whatchoo talkin' bout, Bilas?
by Huge Alien Head on Jun 2, 2011 10:00 AM EDT reply actions
I voted Lane, too
I’m surprised so many people are voting for Spurrier. I actually like the guy now that he’s not at Florida.
I definitely voted Spurrier
When I think “Vol Villain,” I don’t think “most damage to the program.” I think “who do I love to hate the most?” And that’s definitely Spurrier. He creates the kind of “it’s personal” dynamic that is so indicative of college football and so difficult to replicate in the pros. Beating him is always incredibly satisfying, losing to him makes me want to beat him all the more, and everything about him just makes the game more exciting.
Lane Kiffin was a one-hit drama-filled wonder. Most of us liked his brashness when it was directed against other teams, but we knew what we were getting. Lane Kiffin was a mistake. Steve Spurrier is part of why I love this sport.
Will's stat is just too much to overcome
Our run in the mid-90s…where do we get if we pair our 37-0 against the rest of the SEC with 3-2 or 4-1 against Spurrier instead of 1-4 against him? He was an antagonist not just for beating our best, but also for rubbing it in our faces afterwards. TwoStrangers is right…Spurrier’s coaching abilities and his ability to needle us afterwards are the things that make college football awesome.
Aside from the obvious
that Spurrier cost us the opportunity to play for a number of SEC Championships, the two biggest losses were ‘93 and ’96. There’s no way we would’ve beaten ‘95 Nebraska, so I think finishing second that year was as high as we were ever going to go. The ’97 team still won the SEC and could’ve won it all, but again, Nebraska. And the ’99 team still lost to a respectable Arkansas team.
But the ‘93 team would’ve been 10-0-1 if they beat the Gators, later 11-0 after the NCAA had their say with Alabama. And if the ’96 team gets a correct call on the kick return against Memphis and Manning throws just three interceptions instead of four against the Gators, they play for the National Championship.
1999...
I’ll say that I’m not entirely convinced that we wouldn’t have been able to overcome a loss to Arkansas, particularly if we followed it up with a second win against Alabama.
Honestly the most frustrating that about Spurrier was that we simply imploded year in and year out… other than the 4th down pass in the 96 game, he never did anything particularly special for us. We’d just come out and consistently fail to recover fumbles or catch interceptions thrown right at us… while they’d be picking interceptions right out of our WRs hands.
From the exact second Jay Graham dropped the ball on the ground at the beginning of the second half in 1995 until Al Wilson stripped the ball at the goal line in 1998 we could do no right, and they could do no wrong.
That's a fair point on '99
since we were ahead of undefeated Virginia Tech with one loss in real life
Must not give the little kid the attention he craves!
There was a time I would have loved to welcome our native son SOS home with open arms as the UT commander in chief. Alas, I think his time has passed. But he is one of our own and deserves his rightful place as the supreme villain. Much water under the bridge since then but when he made those comments against us back in the day he was universally hated in Vol Nation. Little Lame isn’t deserving of much of anything. Capitalized on his daddy’s name and still hasn’t proven anything. Steve Superior won a NC.
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