Lane Kiffin was asked just now about Mark Smith, the strength coach he lured from USC then mysteriously let go after six months.
“Mark did a very good job. He established a lot of discipline in our program and I really like some of the things he did,” Kiffin said. “I felt like we got to a point where we were plateuaing a bit.”
Plateauing after just six months?
Kiffin went on:
“We had a chance to hire Aaron Ausmus. I felt our program was not progressing to the championship level that it should. We want to be (progressing) to a championship level in everything we do. I didn’t think we were getting that with our strength program. … It’s my job to make hard decisions, but you do that.”
He said a recruit’s mother told him earlier this week that a rival coach called Tennessee “a renegade program.”
“Well let’s talk about facts,” Kiffin said, then claiming that Tennessee has seen a big jump in its GPA since he arrived, and hasn’t had any arrests either.
“I think we’re most the disciplined program in the country,” he said.
As for relations with other coaches, some of whom he’s alienated (cough, cough Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier), Kiffin said he said he got along fine with the other coaches in Destin, including Urban Meyer.
“I think the reception was fine. I think you have a group of 12 people that understand that each job is different,” he said. “I’m hired different than each of those other coaches. I have a different athletic director.”
Later, Kiffin explained away the Meyer statement – Kiffin was reprimanded by the SEC after bragging that Meyer “had to cheat” to get a recruit and still failed – by saying that he had no idea there was a camera there.
So basically, if it’s behind closed doors, you can say whatever you want.