Poker Face

This past week everyone was getting on Lane Kiffin for rescinding his comments about Florida. Commentators were laughing at the way Lane went from bashing the Gator's to singing their praises. Guess they weren't able to read his poker face.

I think Lane pulled a terrific tactical move and that we're dealing with a pretty smart guy. First, he fired up the program with strong words. He instantly found success, meeting two major goals - recruiting and placing Tennessee back in the national vocabulary. This past week he did nothing but praise the Gators, building them up as the best team to ever play and look at what happened next. Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers went into the Swamp and kept Tim Tebow and Urban Myer at bay. Florida never had a chance to run up the score and Tennessee might have even showed the rest of the SEC just how to beat the defending national champions. The brilliance of Lane's strategy comes in hyping the Gator's and then by loosing by such a small margin. Now, Kiffin can go back to Knoxville touting that his team barely lost to the "best team in college football, led by perhaps the best college quarterback to ever play" (his quote went something like that). Plus, he essentially took the pressure off of his team prior to the game. His players could prepare mentally while he answered media questions.

Lane Kiffin got the last laugh. He will be able to use this game as a wonderful recruiting tool and he can feel pretty good about next year's meeting in Neyland stadium. I don't know if coaches would ever admit to a moral victory, but after this past Saturday, I'm sure Lane had a big smirk on his face all the way back to Rocky Top.

Finally, I should mention that I was one of the ones calling Lane out as too brash back in May. Guess you could say I too am singing a different tune...



Pat Forde also seems to think the Gator's weren't able to wipe the smirk from Lane's face.Enjoy.
Forde: Proving ground