Contracts Class and Lane Kiffin (apparently the first coach to ever leave for a better job in the whole world, ever)...

There are many things I learned while in law school. The most important of which is that Contracts is not really my bag. Seriously...it was far and away my worst grade in law school. No, I didn't panic or choke during the exam...apparently I just didn't know (at all) what the heck I was talking about.

Be that as it may, if there is ONE thing I know FOR SURE from Contracts its that contracts are made to be broken...it's their raison d'etre! I mean all the loopholes, outs, and double speak in them are mind boggling.

Thus, I am surprised to see all of this negative pub aimed at Lane Kiffin. My favorite hater quotes coming from none other than SI's Peter King who says, "The gall of Kiffin. The unmitigated, outrageous gall of this kid. Where's the decency? The maturity? The gratitude? The simple sense of even a pinch of loyalty?"

This negative pub generally falls into 2 categories of hater-ade. Category 1) "Lane Kiffin is a mediocre-terrible coach, how'd he even GET such a good job?!" Category 2) "Lane Kiffin had a contract with Tennessee and he should honor his contract, because you know 'word is bond.'"

Both criticisms are ridiculous. 1) It is irrelevant how good of a coach Lane Kiffin is (and lets be honest a 7-6 record in the SEC--only the toughest conference in college football--for a Tennessee team that was not all that talented and a sub .500 stint with the Raiders--I mean really, who wins with the Raiders?!--is not really much to judge a man's coaching talents on). The only relevant issue is whether or not USC felt like Lane Kiffin was a good enough coach to coach their team. Critics hating on Kiffin because USC thought he was talented enough to offer him the job is as ridiculous as people hating on Obama because the Nobel Peace Prize committee deemed him worthy of its highest honor. Obama didn't give himself the Nobel Peace Prize and Kiffin didn't give himself the coaching job at USC.

If pundits have any beef at all regarding Kiffin's rapid ascension to one of the cushiest coaching jobs on the college landscape, their ire seems woefully misplaced. If there's anyone to be mad at at all it's the Athletic Director at USC, not Kiffin who didn't hire himself. Hence, sitting up on soap box and saying that Kiffin's mediocre coaching record or accomplishments doesn't merit the prestigious coaching job at USC and that he is spoiled is pointless. Apparently, the people making the hiring decisions at USC felt otherwise, and that's certainly not something to get mad at Kiffin about and make him seem like some spoiled kid because he's been fortunate enough to have 3 good coaching jobs in his very young career. Obviously the man must be doing SOMETHING right...maybe he's a great interview lol. At any rate, I'm positive that someone (possibly) overvaluing the talents of a head football coach is not a new phenemenon and it certainly doesn't mean that the college football coaching world is turned upside down on its head. And any coach who questions the hiring should be ashamed of themselves. Sounds more like sour grapes to me.

2) "Contracts?! We talkin bout contracts?!" (Allen Iverson). The facts are these. Lane Kiffin is not the first coach to have a contract and is not the first coach to leave one job for a better one. Nick Saban did it, Rich Rodriguez did it, Urban Meyer did it, Brian Kelly just did it, Rick Pitino did it, Spurrier did it, John Calipari did it, Pete Carroll did it, Mack Brown did it. And the list goes on and on...coaches are constantly trying to upgrade their stance in the profession and reach that dream job. Apparently, USC was that place for Kiffin. Another pertinent fact that those making the contract argument like to lightly gloss over or don't mention at all is that Kiffin did NOT break his contract. His contract had a buyout after one year, which Kiffin exercised and paid. Apparently, it was smart of Kiffin to negotiate this clause into his contract...

So the contract argument quickly boils down to "oh, well he recruited a bunch of impressionable kids and promised he would never leave them" and "Tennessee gave him a good job after he had been fired, so he owed them more loyalty." The latter is a presposterously hilarious argument considering, Tennessee showed no loyalty whatsoever when they unceremoniously fired and bought out Phil Fulmer (who coached the team back when Petyon Manning was a Volunteer for cying out loud!). As for the impressionable teens who were promised a national championship from Kiffin and now have been left in the cold...you've got to be kidding me right?? Where is all this media compassion and spotlight for these young impressionable student-athletes when it comes to actually holding coaches and universities accountable for actually providing them with an education?? Which presumably is why student-athletes go to college...Where is all this compassion when student-athletes get suspended for obtaining calling cards by "improper means" so they can make phone calls home because while the NCAA and universities are raking in the dough off of the blood, sweat and tears of its student-athletes the players have to work at the check in desk at the rec gym for $7 an hr to get the finer things in life...like calling cards. Save the compassion for the kids speech...Lane Kiffin is not the only man in the world who can help mold fine upstanding leaders, athletes and men at UT.

So in the end why begrudge Kiffin because he's achieved his dream?? Why say he's not ready or undeserved? When a once in a lifetime opportunity presents itself (and yes, the head ball coach job at USC is a once in a lifetime opportunity), you don't pass it up. You grab it! Did Barack Obama think I shouldn't run for President because I'm too young, am a Jr. Senator, haven't had enough political experience?? No! He said 'Yes we can!' because when the iron is hot...you strike. You don't wait for the chance of a lifetime to come back around, you seize the moment. That is what Lane Kiffin did. Who knows if/when the USC coaching job might have come back open? Who knows if Kiffin would have been in a position again to achieve his dream? Why take that risk? You don't. You thank Tennessee, the fans, and the players for everything, invoke your buyout clause and head for Hollywood and the beach where you can sit in the sun, sip on a daiquiri, gameplan for beating the mighty Washington Cougars (as opposed to the Tide or Gators) and read articles about how Peter King is the most upstanding man in the moral universe and would never leave his job if he signed a contract no matter what the job or how much money was thrown at him (and apparently no matter if he had a buyout clause in it).