Mr. Kiffin...can I have your autograph?

I stated early in the season that I figured Lane Kiffin’s team was going to sneak up and beat someone that they were not supposed to beat. I feared that “signature” win would be against my beloved Bulldogs. Well, it happened. Not only did the tick-infested hounds from Obknoxiousville win the game, they dominated the game. There is no reason that Jonathan Crompton, as inept as he has looked prior to this game, should have looked like an All-American on Saturday. I was out and about with the family during the game since, to my knowledge, it was not being played on television up here and was listening to the Volunteer feed on XM. The commentators were in disbelief at how well he was playing. One of my Vol friends sent me an excerpt from a previously unpublished and apparently unabridged dictionary giving the definition of the word “InCrompetence” a few days prior to the game. He was certain that the Dawgs were going to go into Neyland Stadium and come away with a victory. I was cautiously optimistic at the time. That may be the final time I will be optimistic about any game this year.

This coaching staff is now at a crossroad. We have heard Coach Richt many times in the past state that he’s not sure how good his teams are, and that he can really tell by how well they handle adversity. Well coach, it’s your turn. How well will you handle the adversity of underachieving with talent that 98% of the schools in the nation would die to have? The current situation has not snuck up on anyone. If people (me) chose to stick their (my) head in the sand for the past couple of seasons in denial that this crossroad was coming, shame on them (me)!!

The crossroad is here and we, as a program stand in the middle with some tough decisions to make. Does the head coach continue on this same path of mediocre expectations for our coordinators, thus ensuring mediocre performance from a far-from-mediocre talent pool? Or does he make some inevitable tough decisions and make a change or two at the end of the year? I don’t expect any changes to happen during the season, so for anyone expecting that, you will likely be disappointed. Unless the coordinators come forth and offer themselves as a supreme sacrifice, we will have to endure the remainder of this season and hope for the best. Only time will tell.

I love my Dawgs! I love the players and up until Saturday, when they appeared to simply give up, I loved their effort. I will always support them. That’s just the way I am wired, I guess. It’s time for the team to come together and reach an agreement that they are going to play the rest of the season as if their lives depended on it. The coaches need to coach as if their livelihoods depend on it (and hopefully, for a couple of them it will) and we fans need to get behind them and support them like our happiness depends on it. Sadly, for many fans it does.

Final thought....is the turmoil down in Tallahassee clouding the judgment of our head coach? Would he rather be coaching somewhere other than Athens, Georgia?

Only time will tell...