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?
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?
Could he possibly mean that the school should part company with Jones today and lure Kiffin back?
Later, the Knoxville News Sentinel's Rhiannon Potkey asked Brown for clarification and was told, "I was saying if he had stayed, because there is no doubt about his coaching talent and stuff, if he had still been here, I think things would have been great."
Would... have... been... great.
As opposed to - my words, not his - things have been anything but great for basically a decade or more.
Because isn't that what's really wrong with UT football right now? Isn't that what's been wrong with it pretty much since the 2001 season ended with that stunning loss to a much less-heralded LSU team and coach Nick Saban in the SEC championship game, a loss that reversed a win over the Bayou Bengals in the regular season?
What's wrong with the Butch Jones era isn't that the program isn't better off than when he arrived at the close of the 2012 season to clean up Derek Dooley's dumpster fire. What's wrong with it is UT's not a consistent Top 10 resident. And the fact that the Vols began this season in that rare air only makes the current 8-4 record (4-4 in the SEC) that much tougher on Volniacs.
If Coach Crewcut was still reproducing the 5-7 records Dooley did his last two seasons, the UT administration could easily cut ties with him and bring in the school's fifth head coach since 2008. But with Jones 16-8 overall and 9-7 in the SEC the last two years, axing him could be an ugly mess for all concerned.
So a bit of malaise has set in over Saturday's shocking 45-34 loss at Vanderbilt. You can almost here the words exploding like popcorn inside the rapidly heating heads of Vols fans: "We lost to Vanderbilt? We gave up 45 points to Vanderbilt, which scored all of 36 points combined in losses to South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Georgia Tech? Heads must roll! Immediately!"
Then Brown mentions Kiffin and how great things might be if he'd stayed and revisionist history instantly takes hold. Suddenly forgotten is the ballyhooed recruiting class that disappeared into thin air. And the NCAA investigation. And the punch to the gut that almost every UT fan felt when Kiffin left in the middle of the night for Southern Cal.
It all reminds me of a close friend who underwent counseling when his wife left him. After weeks of therapy, the counselor told him: "Look, you don't want to hear this, but I don't think she wants you, she just doesn't want anyone else to have you."
That's Vols Nation regarding Kiffin. Life with him wasn't really all that great, and it could have led to disaster, but nothing since has been as exciting. Besides, it's not fair that Kiffin's winning national championship rings at Alabama while the Vols are giving up 45 points to Vanderbilt.
And given that, a return ride on the Lane Train doesn't seem so bad.
Personally, I think of "The Peter Principle" each time I think of Kiffin. Its premise is that we tend to promote people until they reach a level of incompetence. In other words, one rung up the ladder beyond their skill set.
That's Kiffin. He has a brilliant offensive mind and an unmatched ability to develop quarterbacks. But he's been a disaster as a head coach everywhere he's been: the Oakland Raiders, UT and USC.
If the rumors are correct that Kiffin - who not so subtly wore a LSU purple tie when Bama visited LSU earlier this month - is about to become Ed Orgeron's offensive coordinator with the Bayou Bengals, then good for all concerned. Such a move might lessen Bama, would surely strengthen LSU and make the entire SEC a bit more wide open.
But UT never again should risk its future on the Lane Train.
This isn't to say concern over Jones is unwarranted. With two losses to Vanderbilt in his first four seasons he becomes the first Big Orange boss since the decidedly forgettable M.B. Banks (1921-25) to lose more than once to VU in his UT tenure. Gen. Robert Neyland did lose to the Commodores twice, but on separate coaching runs, losing in 1937 before leaving for military duty, then falling to VU in 1948 after he returned to the Vols.
Throw in a 2017 schedule that includes a season opener against Georgia Tech inside the new Mercedes-Benz Dome, road games at Alabama and Florida and a home date with LSU and it could certainly be a close shave for Coach Crewcut to reach the 2018 season.
But if Jones ultimately falls short, for things ever to be great again in Knoxville, UT probably needs someone who's previously been a successful head coach in a Power Five conference. Sad as this is to say, it probably needs to throw every dime it can find at current Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, then hope his checkered past won't soil Checkerboard U's future.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com