The Ticket Chest

USC Trojans Hire Lane Kiffin as their New Head Coach

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 | College Football, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, Sports, Tennessee Volunteers, USC Trojans | No Comments

The USC Trojans have hired Lane Kiffin to replace Pete Carroll as the university’s new NCAA college football head coach.  Carroll left USC earlier this week to take the top post with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL.

Kiffin was a former coach and offensive coordinator under Carroll at USC for 6 years, so the hiring makes sense in that regard.  In every other regard, this could be one of the worst college football coaching hires in the history of the game.  Since leaving USC, Kiffin spent less than 2 years as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the NFL.  Raiders’ owner Al Davis ultimately fired Kiffin after just 4 games of the 2008 NFL season because he felt that Kiffin was “immature” and a “liar”.  Kiffin logged a 5-15 record as the Radiers’ head coach.

For whatever reason, the University of Tennessee felt it necessary to try to lock up Kiffin before he could land another gig in major college football.  Kiffin may be a great college recruiter (although ethics and rules-adherence may not mean anything to him), but can he really coach?  The Vols went 7-6 in 2009 and Kiffin racked up 6 secondary NCAA violations in just a year at the helm.  Two football players were also kicked off the team because of an attempted armed robbery scandal and the NCAA is now investigating how Kiffin used recruiting hostesses during visits.

Now, with USC facing a multi-sport NCAA investigation (potentially because of infractions committed by Kiffin while he was at SC), the university decides to bring this guy back?  Shouldn’t USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett realize that the Vols required a provision in Kiffin’s contract that he would have to pay the university $800,000 if he left the school after 1 season to take another job as a sign that the guy can’t be trusted?

Gotta love Kiffin’s quotes too – “This was not an easy decision.  This is something that happens very quick.  We’ve been here 14 months,, and the support has been unbelievable here.  I really believe the only place I would have left here to go was… Southern California.”

Ha ha ha.

The state of College Football is a joke.  This is a business just like any other business.  And it’s about time that the powers that be start allowing the players to reap some of the reward too.  The “student-athletes” that the NCAA is trying so hard to “protect” are at the mercy of these mega-universities and the NCAA.  It’s a complete charade and it’s about time something gets done to address the situation right now.

Tags: Al Davis, Lane Kiffin, Mike Garrett, Pete Carroll

Chicago Bears Retain Head Coach Lovie Smith, Fire Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 | Chicago Bears, General, Indianapolis Colts, NFL, Notre Dame, Sports, USC Trojans | No Comments

The Chicago Bears announced that Lovie Smith will return for his 7th year as Bears head coach in 2010, but that offensive coordinator Ron Turner would be relieved of his duties.  Smith has 2 years left on his contract with the Bears and would have been owed $11 million if the Bears decided to part ways with Smith in order to go with a more high-profile coach like a Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden or Brian Billick.

Lovie Smith took the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006 against the Indianapolis Colts, a game which they lost.  But since then, things have been downright brutal on the lakefront of Chicago – 7-9, 9-7 and 7-9 – and 3 straight years without making the playoffs.  Smith assumed the defensive play-calling role in 2009, but the Bears front took that play-calling role away from him after the season.  In 2010, Smith will be the head coach, and the Bears will have a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator.

Bears President Ted Phillips had this to say about the state of affairs with the Bears: “This has been a frustrating season to say the least.  We’ve had inconsistent play on both sides of the ball.  Personally, it’s been the most frustrating year since I’ve been here… The last three years, it’s been clear nobody did a good enough job in the organization.  Nobody did… If we didn’t believe as an organization that Lovie and Jerry [Angelo - Bears' General Manager] could turn this around and get us back to our winning ways, then there would have been other changes made… We all know what we need to do.  We’re not happy.  We’re not happy with the season we had.  We’re not happy with the last three years, and the expectation is to turn it around in 2010.  At the end of 2010, we’ll go through another evaluation process and see where we’re at.”

Pretty candid.

Former Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis, former St. Louis Rams Head Coach Mike Martz and current USC Trojans offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates have thrown their names into the ring for the Bears offensive coordinator position.

On the defensive side, former Detroits Lions Head Coach and current defensive line coach Rod Marinelli could be considered for the defensive coordinator position.  But the Bears could also go outside the organization.

Also on the firing line were quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, tight ends coach Rob Boras, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, and assistant coaches Luke Butkus and Charles London.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything from the Bears about the hiring of their new offensive and defensive coordinators.

Tags: Charlie Weis, Jeremy Bates, Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith, Mike Martz, Rod Marinelli, Ron Turner, Ted Phillips

Great College Football Match-ups – Oklahoma-Texas; Notre Dame-USC & More!

Saturday, October 17th, 2009 | College Football, General, Iowa, Notre Dame, Oklahoma Sooners, Sports, Texas Longhorns, USC Trojans, Wisconsin Badgers | No Comments

What a great day for college football on Saturday.  There are meaningful games all over the land with BCS implications galore.

Oklahoma and Texas will battle in the Red River Shootout on Saturday at 12 Noon EST at the Cotton Bowl.  Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will be back at the helm for Okalahoma (3-2, #20) after suffering an injury in the 1st game of the season.  Heisman Trophy hopeful Colt McCoy leads the Texas Longhorns attack.  At 5-0 ranked 3rd in the country, Texas controls its own destiny.  If they win out, Texas will play for the national championship in the BCS Championship Game at the end of the year.

Also at 12 Noon EST is a road test for the #11 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-0) at Wisconsin in Madison.  Iowa has its sights set on a BCS bowl game and a tough win on the road will go a long way for the Hawkeyes.

And at 3:30 EST, the USC Trojans will invade South Bend, Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  USC still has hopes of winning a national championship despite losing a few weeks ago at Washington.  The Trojans are still 4-1 and ranked 6th in the country and have one of the most formidable defenses in the land.  Jimmy Clausen leads the Irish passing attack and has Notre Dame on the right track.  With a 4-1 record and 25th ranking, the Irish are poised to pull off the upset on their home turf.  USC Has had it’s way with the Irish during the last decade, so it will surely be a hard-fought battle in the trenches all day long.

We’ll keep you posted with how everything turns out over the weekend here at the Ticket Chest blog.  Don’t forget to check back early and often for the latest team and player news…