Kiffin Inspires Confidence

Whether or not you agree with Lane Kiffin's many comments directed at Tennessee's SEC rivals over the past three months or so, you cannot deny their positive effects.

I'm not talking about the effect these comments have had on the UT fan base, nor am I talking about the positive effects many say these comments have had on Tennessee rivals Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and particularly Florida.

Yes, we all know the Gators put pictures of Lane Kiffin all over their locker room, talking about how now, well, it's personal. Please. If you heard my show Monday, you already know what I think about that.

What I'm talking about here is the effect Kiffin's words have had on his own team. I think we're going to find out not only that Kiffin is crazy like a fox, if you will. We're also going to find out that he knew better than anybody what his team needed first and foremost, and that's confidence.

Sure, it's an easy conclusion to come to, with the team coming off a disastrous 5-7 season, and having been blown out by rivals Florida and Alabama, and having lost to lowly Wyoming in Knoxville.

But let's be more specific. Let's talk about how these same Tennessee players look at those comments. They love it. They love that their new coach isn't backing down from these teams. coaches, and programs. They love it that Lane Kiffin talks confidently and assertively when confronting these other SEC programs.

That kind of thing trickles down to the players, players that include three quarterbacks who were among the worst at their position in college football last year. Players that include an offensive line that significantly underachieved a year ago.

Not that they'll shoot off at the mouth toward their rivals like Kiffin did, but simply that confidence will once again be making it's way back into the mindset of the players.

Could you even begin to imagine that Jonathon Crompton would have enough confidence in himself to call out the defense to play out another goalline situation (as he did in the last scrimmage)? And then win it? I couldn't.

This not only fuels players' confidence in themselves, but in their teammates. Crompton believed that his OL would perform, and that they would score on that stingy defense. When they did, the defense immediately returned the favor and said, "let's do this again!"

Obviously, this is only spring practice, but you have to start somewhere, and you have to start by reintroducing confidence to team that had little to none. Kiffin has done that in a number of different ways, but most notably, of course, he did it by calling out his rivals.

Those comments have helped inspire the team as a whole, but Kiffin has also inspired confidence in individual players, and has translated his belief that they can get the job done. As an example, let's talk about the quarterbacks......

I've always believed that winners think about what they're going to do, and losers think about what they're NOT going to do. Tennessee's quarterbacks, under the previous regime, were doing the latter. They were told NOT to turn the ball over, NOT to make the bad throw, NOT to check into the wrong play.

Lane Kiffin immediately addressed that with his players, especially the QB's. Note the following quote from Kiffin, which I also read on my show a few weeks ago. He was talking about last year's Tennessee players.......

"You watch film from last year to get an idea athletically what you have, but you can't base it off of that because you don't know what they were told. If we start looking at that film and say, "This guy can't play. This guy can't play". Then they won't be able to play because you'll put your mindset that they can't, and that's what they'll become. Whatever you talk about, whatever you think about is where they draw to. So that's why we haven't given up on anybody. Everybody has a clean slate."

Note the quotes I put in italics.

Given the above, I believe this Tennessee team will execute much better than last year, and as a result, will be much improved over last year in every area.

Does that mean they'll have a better record than 5-7? Yes, I believe so. Will they go to a bowl game this coming season? Again, yes, I think so. Will they win a game they're not supposed to win? They might.

Now, does this translate to a team that will compete for the SEC title? I don't think so.....Rome wasn't built in a day. But the foundation is being laid for great success in Big Orange Country, and that foundation is........confidence.