Tennessee’s Kiffin stresses recruiting in completion of staff

By David Moorman  |   Tuesday, January 20, 2009  |  Comments( 2 )

Tennessee Volunteers
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It wasn’t hard to figure out what was important to new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin in completing his staff.

Recruiting, recruiting and more recruiting.

Former Alabama recruiting coordinator Lance Thompson became Kiffin’s linebacker coach after having been named Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year.

Eddie Gran is Tennessee’s special teams coordinator and running backs coach after having served in the same capacity at Auburn for the last 10 years. Kiffin was quoted as saying that Gran was “Auburn's best recruiter over the past 10 years.”

Kiffin also added former Southern Miss running backs coach Frank Wilson as the Volunteers’ wide receivers coach, and Willie Mack Garza, formerly of North Dakota State and Texas Christian, as defensive backs coach.

The moves were indicative of Kiffin’s earlier hires when he landed his father, Monte, as defensive coordinator, Ed Orgeron as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach, and David Reaves as quarterbacks coach.

Orgeron was the Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year in 2004. Reaves was South Carolina‘s recruiting coordinator before being hired by his brother-in-law. Reaves also is the son of former NFL quarterback John Reaves.

Monte Kiffin joined his son after being the NFL’s highest-paid defensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As accomplished as Tennessee’s new coaches may be, the younger Kiffin recognizes that without skillful players to execute what they’ve been told, the Vols won’t be successful. Thus the emphasis on recruiting.

HATCH HEADED TO HARVARD: Call it a no-brainer.

It certainly didn’t take a Harvard education to determine that former LSU quarterback Andrew Hatch made a good move in announcing his decision to return to Harvard. Not only does a degree from Harvard usually carry more weight than one from LSU, but it was obvious that the NFL wasn’t in Hatch’s future plans.

In fact, Hatch’s playing days at LSU likely were numbered. He opened 2008 as the starting quarterback, but a concussion preceded a season-ending broken leg. That thrust redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee into a starting role, but an ankle injury forced him out as well.

True freshman Jordan Jefferson started the last two games and led LSU to a 38-3 upset of Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Jefferson is the odds-on favorite to become LSU’s third consecutive new starting quarterback to begin the season and the fourth in five years.

Hatch appeared in six games last season and completed 26 of 47 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Hatch played on Harvard’s junior varsity as a freshman before going on a Mormon mission to Chile and then eventually transferring to LSU.
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About David Moorman

Dave Moormann is an award-winning journalist, who has covered LSU athletics since 1980. He began his coverage with the Baton Rouge Advocate, where he was a writer and editor from 1980-98. In 1996, he authored a book on the history of LSU football entitled, "Fighting Tigers Handbook: Stories, Stats ...
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