On July 2, Jim Wyatt of the NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN reported of then-current Titans assistant coach Kennedy Pola, who coach Jeff Fisher had just hired away from Jacksonville:
Just got off the phone with Titans running backs coach Kennedy Pola and he sure doesn’t sound like a guy on the move.
He’s still in the process of moving into his home in Nashville, in fact, and said he doesn’t plan on going anywhere. As mentioned below, Southern Cal is looking for a new running backs coach and Pola has been mentioned as a possibility.
“I really enjoy Nashville and being with (Coach) Jeff Fisher and the leadership here, the management,’’ Pola said. “It’s really been a new sense of energy.’’
Today Wyatt reported that Lane Kiffin had hired Pola as USC offensive coordinator. The news reportedly upset Fisher, apparently because he was one of the last to know:
The Titans lost their running backs coach on Saturday, and Coach Jeff Fisher isn’t happy with former Tennessee Vols coach Lane Kiffin about it.
Fisher said Kiffin, now head coach at Southern Cal, never contacted him as he tried to convince Kennedy Pola to join his coaching staff. On Saturday morning, Pola accepted a position as offensive coordinator at USC, leaving the Titans without a running backs coach a week before training camp.
“I am very disappointed in Lane Kiffin’s approach to this,’’ Fisher said. “Typically speaking when coaches are interested in hiring or discussing potential employment from coaches on respective staffs there is a courtesy call made from the head coach or athletic director indicating there is an interest in talking to the assistant.
“So I am very disappointed in the lack of professionalism on behalf of Lane, to call me and leave me a voice mail after Kennedy had informed me he had taken the job. It is just a lack of professionalism.’’
Pola reportedly told Fisher on Friday he was considering taking the job at USC. Saturday he made the call to take the OC gig at USC, where he’d previously worked as an assistant under Pete Carroll.
Fisher expressed his, “disappointment in his lack of commitment. Kennedy is a fine ball coach, the timing is just a little unusual, a week before training camp.”
More: “I’ve always gotten a courtesy call from a head coach or athletic director in the past, but that wasn’t the case. I don’t know (Lane) well, so I am not going to pass judgement on his character. But I am surprised.”
The Titans begin training camp on July 31.
What’s semi-amusing in all of this is that as a resident of Tennessee, where Kiffin just experienced a turbulent departure as head football coach at the Univ. of Tennessee, Fisher may have been the only person in the state who was surprised by Kiffin’s stealth hiring method.
With Fisher also a prominent former USC football player, this makes you wonder how new USC Athletic Director Pat Haden will react to Kiffin’s poaching Pola away from a prominent USC alumnus.
UPDATE: Lane Kiffin has released a statement to the media on the timeline of the Pola hire:
We reached out to Kennedy Pola yesterday to gauge whether he had any possible interest in returning to USC before we moved forward with the process.
“Kennedy said he would think about it and get back to us today. Once Kennedy did call back earlier today, out of my great respect for Coach Fisher I immediately reached out to Coach to make him aware of the situation.
“I have spoken with Coach Fisher and he now has an accurate understanding of the timeline of events.
“We realize the timing of this isn’t perfect for all parties, but this is a great opportunity and promotion for Kennedy.”
What’s most interesting in this chain of events is why Kiffin would suddenly decide to hire an offensive coordinator, when Kiffin previously seemed dead-set on calling the offensive plays himself.
Could this move been influenced by some encouragement by Pat Haden? Why else would Kiffin be calling Pola out of the blue right before training camp for a job he apparently had no interest in filling?
3:41 pm on July 24th, 2010
Don’t worry about it Lane,
people were already very familiar with your complete lack of character, professionalism and ethics.
4:09 pm on July 24th, 2010
Maybe Al Davis was right about Kiffin after all.
4:14 pm on July 24th, 2010
More of the same junk coming out of USC. Al Davis was right about Lame. Name misspelled intentionally.
4:14 pm on July 24th, 2010
Great move by Kiffin. Last time I looked NFL coaches will screw anyone to get a better staff. Fisher is still upset at not being named USC’s coach. Nothing but sour grapes. Would you rather be OC at USC or running backs coach at a dying franchise? Duh!!!!!
4:16 pm on July 24th, 2010
One more thought. How smart is it of Kiffin to hire someone who can bring in the Samoan players? Brilliant move.
4:54 pm on July 24th, 2010
@kgar douche nozzle
4:55 pm on July 24th, 2010
I wonder how far apart these dates were. We know the chronological order but what were the dates?
4:59 pm on July 24th, 2010
I always thought Al Davis was a nut but looks like he was right about Lane Kiffin and the smart one.
This guy is nothing but a piece of trash and just watch it will all come back on him.
5:14 pm on July 24th, 2010
Student Desk commented, “One more thought. How smart is it of Kiffin to hire someone who can bring in the Samoan players? Brilliant move.”
You may just be on to something there student desk. Nevertheless, I get the sense Lane or Lame is going to reap what he has sown. He’s only been gone a short while from Vol country and he’s already alienated people right and left.
7:30 pm on July 24th, 2010
Sounds like Pat Haden is putting Kiffin’s replacement on the staff.
7:58 pm on July 24th, 2010
Just another hole dug by Pete Carroll and Mike Garrett, being a Trojan Fan in the Land of Ducks just isn’t gett any easier!
Good luck to Pat Hayden an he might wanna bring along JK McKay.
10:13 pm on July 24th, 2010
USC is over hyped anyway, and they really have a caliber of coach they deserved. They are constantly over rated and Lame Kiffin is certainly not the type of coach that will turn that program up a notch. He will eventually be demoted back to a water boy or something like that. something that he can do without making stupendous gaffes in public.
10:34 pm on July 24th, 2010
If I had the chance to be the head coach at the #1 NFL’s college football player placement and the ultimate football mecca…I believe I leave wherever I was and would do whatever it took to keep it #1. FIGHT ON!
11:01 pm on July 24th, 2010
Broooks, if this would have taken place in NYC or St. Louis or Phoenix it would have never been mentioned.
Only the inbreds on Rocky Top seem to be bothered by such goings on. Boo Hoo for Fisher…he stole Pola from another SC alum, Jack Del Rio. Have you or any of the tenisee clowns heard of CORPORATE RAIDERS…if not, Welcome to 21st Century College Football.
7:03 am on July 25th, 2010
Hmm Sounds like alfa1 has got her head stuck in kiffins rear a little too much she must be kiffins new found daughter or something…poor thing can’t even spell tennessee.
10:44 am on July 25th, 2010
Hilarious that everyone but the Trojan sheep clearly understand that the questionable part of the hire was the method by which Kiffin went about, not about him simply hiring the guy.
Good call on getting a OC though. He’s a top self recruiter and QB coach (the job he did with Jon Crompton cannot be downplayed), but his play calling was often questionable. Better offensive play calling probably equals wins vs UCLA and Auburn last year.
10:44 am on July 25th, 2010
Stop your complaining and lets play some football….
2:02 pm on July 25th, 2010
he’s a douch ??? no one knew this?
come on
4:38 pm on July 26th, 2010
Broooks, if this would have taken place in NYC or St. Louis or Phoenix it would have never been mentioned.
Only the inbreds on Rocky Top seem to be bothered by such goings on. Boo Hoo for Fisher…he stole Pola from another SC alum, Jack Del Rio. Have you or any of the tenisee clowns heard of CORPORATE RAIDERS…if not, Welcome to 21st Century College Football.
Inbreds? How many inbreds can you name in Tennessee? How many gays can I name from California?Well actually several. Which is more accurate then? Inbreds from Tennessee or California, the GAYEST STATE? Talk football and don’t embarass yourself you idiot. This would have been mentioned had it even occurred in Alaska.
8:50 pm on July 26th, 2010
Lane is not of good character as we folks from tennessee well know. What goes around comes around and Lane you should know we don,t want scum like you in our program at all. Shame on you. You are not a winner in our book anyway.
3:28 pm on July 27th, 2010
alfa 1 you need to go back to school……………to learn how to spell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! your comments make me sick
12:46 pm on July 28th, 2010
All of you Tenessee people thought a year ago that Kiffen was the next coming. And now you want nothing to do with him???? So what he left for a better and higher paying job. If any of you had a chance to go from a honeydipper to the head custodian at another institution you would jump at the chance, and nobody would think you were stabin em in the back. Fisher is peed off because the guy he hand picked and stole from Jacksonville made him look stupid. Maybe he marked the box not to contact his current employer on his application.
3:32 pm on July 28th, 2010
“Lane is not of good character as we folks from tennessee well know. What goes around comes around and Lane you should know we don,t want scum like you in our program at all. Shame on you. You are not a winner in our book anyway.”
Hey Jim, how did all those TN football player arrests work out, eh? They sure helped Dooley to get off to a great start…HIS program is in the s h i t t e r before a game is played. There is no doubt that Lane and his wife were more than ready to leave moonshine redneck county and head back to civilization.
3:37 pm on July 28th, 2010
What is ironic about all this is that Kiffin has motivated scum to come out from under their rock to praise Al Davis for totally unrelated reasons. The NFL has constantly raided the collegiate ranks for coaches, and that often leaves an entire collegiate football program in limbo for a few seasons. The NFL merely has to promote from within when they need to replace a position coach - it’s no big deal. It’s not like Kiffin stole a coordinator - he promoted a running backs coach to an USC offensive coordinator. That’s a high visibility position for an aspiring coach. No college or NFL team will ever hold his decision against him. It’s a career move.
8:44 pm on July 28th, 2010
on behalf of most all of the tennessee fans, thank goodness lame is gone.
12:16 am on July 30th, 2010
Where do I start?
Rednecks, inbred and moonshine. Okay, here we go.
First things first. It looks like all of you Trojan fans might want to think about the fact that you cannot even watch a friggin’ bowl game for the next two years. Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Secondary violations cost…How about if Lane, who racked up about 12 of them in the first week at Tennessee, can only get 10 of those in the first year and then your bowling will be put off even longer.
How many National Championships do you guys have again? Think of that number and subtract 1.
I am from Tennessee and don’t root for UT. I will say this, however, not matter who you root for, Lane Kiffin is the last person I would give a head coaching job. He would be absolutely nothing without daddy and Ed “Louis Armstrong” Orgeron.
Their recruiting practices will keep the Trojans on probation and on the NCAA’s radar for as long as they are there.
As for the comment about Jeff Fisher being “peed off”, he turned the job down before there was ever a fuss about it. Why don’t you google that!
The other comments made were completely unfounded, so next time, check your sources and shut the f u c k up!
6:05 pm on August 3rd, 2010
this guy will get screwed over by lane just like kiffin screwed tennessee over. im glad he took the job. we dont need him anyway.