Publicity, Is it always good?

Just want to start off by first wishing my buddy Rob a happy 22nd birthday! Sorry I missed your birthday weekend but maybe I can make it up to you somehow.

Lane Kiffin has been the head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers for about ten months now, and it would be harder to find another coach that has been in the media more in those ten months. In his first press conference he said that he couldn’t wait till next year when they beat Florida. Well ten months later he had his chance, and even though they didn’t win a lot of people see this past weekend’s game as a moral victory, if those even exist.

The next day Kiffin fired at Florida again in the media. A lot of people are turned off by Kiffin’s actions, but I personally don’t have a problem with it. Sure it can be annoying but he is getting air time, something that the University of Tennessee’s football team desperately needed. Tennessee has not been the power house that they are used to being in quite some time. So even though he has said things that some people have a problem with, he has done what he needed to do to get people talking about Tennessee again. He brought in a top recruiting class and got the Alumni excited. Kiffin is currently the youngest head coach in college football.

They say all publicity is good publicity, so my question is when does bad publicity stop being good publicity? What is he going to have to do or say that is going to go too far? I am sure his wife loves him and his father-in-law supports him, but I want to know what they honestly think about what he has said about Florida. For those of you that don’t know, Kiffin’s wife and father-in-law both graduated from Florida. I am sorry, but if my wife said something bad about my school I would still love and support her but I would not be happy.

Young kids have been turned on to Kiffin’s style and it looks like he is going to be successful at Tennessee, but I would hate for him to take it too far and push the wrong button. I do have to say that he should be ok since his father is the defensive coordinator and I believe he will keep Lane grounded. I am willing to bet that people are already talking about the Florida game for next year, which will be in Tennessee.

More than Sport, It is Life.