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Wiedmer: Wherever Lane Kiffin coaches, assisting is his specialty

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin yells instructions to his players during the first half of an NCAA college football game against top-ranked Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.
Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin yells instructions to his players during the first half of an NCAA college football game against top-ranked Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin yells instructions to his players during the first half of an NCAA college football game against top-ranked Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.

By Mark Wiedmer 5 min read

Maybe Kippy Brown knew the firestorm he’d create Monday afternoon throughout Vols Nation, and maybe he didn’t.

But when Brown, twice a University of Tennessee assistant football coach, was asked during his appearance at the Knoxville Quarterback Club about former Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin – who hired Brown a few weeks before Kiffin bolted for the Southern Cal job following the 2009 season – his quote threatened to bring down the internet. Or at least that portion of it painted Clorox Orange.

Said Brown: “I might get booed off this stage. Right now, (Kiffin’s) probably a good fit.”

Did he mean that right now he felt Kiffin might be a better fit than current coach Butch Jones?

photo University of Tennessee interim head coach Kippy Brown speaks at a news conference at Neyland Stadium on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010, in Knoxville.

Did he mean that he believed if Kiffin had stayed at UT the program would be a national championship contender these days?