Jonathan Crompton Era Needs To End
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Here's the full column.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Saturday night at halftime, Lane Kiffin changed his clothes, ditching a black sweater in favor of a an orange pullover. Presumably the wardrobe change was a superstitious response to an awful offensive half, one that saw the Vols with nine yards total passing until the final two-minute drive. If only Kiffin were less stubborn about his signal-caller. News flash, Kiffin could coach on the sideline in a burka or a Japanese sumo outfit and the result on the field would be the same -- Jonathan Crompton is going to lose the game.
Early in the season Kiffin adopted the coaching cliche, "If you've got two quarterbacks, you've got none." I'd like to advance another version of that cliche: "If your one quarterback is Jonathan Crompton, then you still ain't got one either." Right now, Kiffin's refusal to make a change at quarterback is slowly bleeding his head-coaching legitimacy among the fan base. In his first season Kiffin has struck an iceberg, and he's going down on the S.S. Crompton. So is his team. It's time for a change.
Lane Kiffin has been brash, confident, and quotable. What he hasn't been is a winner. Anywhere. In 25 games as a head coach, Kiffin is now 7-18 (5-15 with the Raiders and 2-3 with the Vols). With Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina in the next three games, it's altogether possible that Kiffin and the Vols are going to be sitting at 2-6 by the time November arrives. Another season of 5-7 or worse looms. And here's the kicker, next year Tennessee is going to be worse. In this day and age if your second season isn't a good one, you're not going to truly succeed as a coach. Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Mark Richt -- every single one of those coaches had great second seasons. That's when their teams made a seismic jump.
Kiffin's situation is unique because his team, due to the graduating seniors on the offensive line and at tailback, and the presumed early departure of Eric Berry, is going to be worse next year. He needed to win this year, needed to beat inferior teams at home like UCLA and needed to beat teams of similar talent like Auburn. But he hasn't. And in the process Jonathan Crompton has become the albatross dragging down Kiffin version 1.0.
At this point in the season, standing at 2-3, what does Jonathan Crompton, a senior who has managed to win one SEC game in which he completed a pass in his career -- Kentucky last year -- actually give you if he plays great? The chance to finish 6-6? And then be gone from football forever?
Meanwhile, you have a redshirt junior in Nick Stephens standing on the sideline. Worst case scenario, Stephens comes in and only wins two games as your starting quarterback. But at least you give him a chance to prove that he can be your guy for a year in 2010.
My point is, I've finally come around to this argument: Stephens can't be worse. He just can't. And now it's time for a change.
Here are other observations:
1. Gene Chizik and Auburn, particularly Gus Malzahn, have blown Tennessee's highest paid coaching staff in the country out of the water this season in terms of performance.
Kiffin defenders scream, "Talent, talent, talent."
That's all well and good, but does anyone really think Auburn has more talent than Tennessee? Last year's Tennessee-Auburn game ended 14-12 and set back offensive football five decades. Now compare the two teams this year. Which looks different, which looks improved?
That's almost entirely a product of coaching, right?
In fact, this game was almost a perfect laboratory for coaching analysis. Compare the products on the field last night. Kiffin, who was supposedly an offensive guru at USC, has not improved Tennessee's offense. Chizik, under the direction of Gus Malzahn, has completely remade Auburn. They're now 5-0, loving football, and have completely bought in to what the coaching staff is selling.
Meanwhile, Kiffin and Tennessee are regressing offensively and defensively.
You can argue talent differential in games against Florida and Georgia, maybe, but you can't argue talent differential in games like Auburn and UCLA. What you can argue is inferior preparation. Again, I'll say what I did after the UCLA game: if Fulmer is standing on the sideline and makes every play call that Kiffin did, fans are outraged.
That first half of football was unwatchable.
Kiffin bears the blame.
Taking it further, there were two primary rationales to replace Fulmer: a. the team needed to be coached better and b. the recruiting had suffered.
So far Kiffin's offense and defense look no different than Fulmer's did. So now the rationale for the coaching change boils down completely to recruiting.
Kiffin is recruiting well, but Tennessee has always recruited well. Fulmer had better players than every other team in the SEC during his tenure (using the NFL Draft as the barometer). What have we seen on the field thus far that offers clear evidence that Tennessee is being coached better?
2. Crompton's receivers didn't help him by making catches, but that's partially because they don't believe in him at quarterback.
Offense is about optimism, the psychology of upcoming success. You can't line up and have any doubts about your ability to make plays. Watch Tennessee's receivers. Do you really think they expect Crompton to put the ball where they can catch it and make a play?
Of course not.
They're so worried about trying to make a spectacular play for the offense, that they can't make a simple play.
Why?
Because they don't trust Crompton to make plays. Even if they're not saying it out loud, their body language tells the story. Watch how long the receivers take to get up after another failed pass attempt. The downcast head. They're beaten before the ball is snapped.
3. It's time to toss practice out the window when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks.
I said it earlier, but it bears repeating, Jonathan Crompton has won a single SEC game when he completes a pass -- Kentucky. (He also "beat" Vanderbilt as the starter last year, but his only pass, the first of the game, was intercepted.) In fact, Kentucky is the only team from a major conference that Crompton has beaten in his career.
My point, there's enough game experience film to evaluate at this point to make a decision on what the game play is going to be like. Using practice as a proxy for games doesn't make sense anymore. For whatever reason, if the coaching staff is to be believed, Crompton's talents don't translate to Saturday.
So be it.
Nick Stephens deserves his shot to see what he does in games. By all accounts, he tends to do better in games than practice. Give him a chance.
3. This team is divided already. Changing quarterbacks won't make it any worse.
For the first time in two years, the defense buckled in a game. It happened at the end of the first half as Auburn was in the process of running up 49 offensive snaps in the first half.
Forty-nine!
Tennessee had to take two timeouts to rest their defense.
Let me repeat that, Tennessee had to take two timeouts to rest the defense.
I can't imagine any more glaring indictment of the offensive performance than this. It's downright shameful how wasted the Tennessee defense is. And if you don't think those guys on defense are looking out at the offense, watching Crompton give up a field goal to the other team by dropping the ball on the center exchange, for example, you're fooling yourself.
This team is already divided along offense and defense lines. And it's only going to get worse as long as Crompton is in there. At least if a change is made, there's a tangible sign that the offense is willing to try anything to get better.
4. Why the lack of offensive ingenuity?
I want one person to explain to me why Nu'Keese Richardson carries the ball for 40 yards on the first play of the game and we never see him again.
Kiffin went to war for Richardson, brought on the wrath of an entire nation, turned Nu'Keese into a modern day Helen of Troy -- with an apostrophe -- and he can't even use him for more than one direct snap after the first one is hugely successful? That makes zero sense.
If your offense is awful, isn't it the coaching staff's responsibility to find ways to get players chances to make plays?
Putting this into context, the majorettes twirled flaming batons at halftime of the game. It was the most explosive offensive performance on the part of anyone from Tennessee.
Read the rest here. Labels: jonathan crompton era needs to end claynation
Posted by Clay Travis at 3:25 PM
 
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The biggest fear is that Kiffin is dumb. After spring practice he should have been aware that he had no qb and an average wr corp, but instead of being creative and installing a makeshift wildcat offense to take advantage of Hardesty and gang, he's riding the sinking offense all the way down. This speaks to a lack of creativity and a need to use the "USC system" even when talent won't allow it to succeed.
I was all for Fulmer's departure since he displayed the same lack of creativity (with worse recruiting), but Kiffin's clearly a victim of misplaced self confidence and it's going to crater on him when he looks in the stands at the end of the season and sees late Fulmer era crowds of 60-70,000. I just feel sorry for Hardesty, Berry and the others who are giving a tremendous effort for naught. And for Crompton who has a coach who is allowing him to be embarrassed on a weekly basis.
Memphis Vol
First, I feel sorry for Jonathan Crompton. The coaching staff is apparently asking him to do things that he is obviously not capable of doing. Like working through his progression on pass plays.
But, I left Neyland last night feeling that, while Crompton did not win the game for us, he did not lose it, either. I believe that distinction goes to our kickoff coverage unit, our wide receivers and our defense.
(1) Our kickoff coverage was horri ble. This has been a consistent problem all year.
(2) Yes, our WRs have no confidence in JC's ability to get the ball to them. Yes, you can read that lack of confidence in their body language. But, when you get the chance - you are trying to get into the NFL, remember - you catch the ball. You don't let it clank off your helmet. You run a 4 yard route when you need 6 yards.
(3) Gene Malzahn definitely won the battle with Monte Kiffin. We never stopped Auburn. They ran up the middle, they ran wide, they ran swing passes (no orange shirt in sight). We never got any consistent pressure on Chris Todd. And how many tackles did we miss? Simply embarrassing.
After five games, my fear is that Lane Kiffin is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I fear the closed-mindedness he is exhibiting is a sign of low brain wattage. His refusal to play Nick Stephens has crossed the line from steadfastness to hardheadedness. Yes, I agree that he is hiding his own failings behind the skirts of a college senior.
As Vol fans, we swallowed our tongues when Coach Kiffin embarrassed us with his immature brashness during the off season. In doing so he burned much of his political capital. There is not much left to get him through the Vols falling short of our expectations, no matter how unreasonable they may be. And especially when the manner in which the Vols under his watch are falling short is no different than how they fell short under in the last eight years of the previous watch.
Fairly or unfairly, Lane Kiffin will not be given much time to prove that he can do the job. While many of us agreed that we needed to make a change (and will someone tell Phillip to shut up? He is diminishing his legacy every time he opens his mouth), we have no emotional commitment to LC and his staff - like everyone else in the SEC, we hired a mercenary. Get the job done, or we will move you on.
Right now, Auburn's AD wins the "Best Head Coach Hire at a BCS Conference School" for 2009.
One point I should have made in the column that I didn't, Auburn beat Tennessee in every facet of the game on Saturday. They were better on offense, defense and special teams than we were.
In light of what happened against UCLA, I think that's scary.
Now, beat Georgia and South Carolina at home in Neyland and Tennessee could still lay claim to being the second best team in the east this fall. A claim that, maybe more than anything else, would demonstrate just how far the SEC East has fallen behind Florida.
This is ridiculous. I have heard no other fans speaking of Kiffin in this manner. Are we really lowering ourselves to Alabama's level with expectations of our new coaches?
A few dropped passes and we could have one that game. Hell, a decent kickoff coverage could have won that game for us. My biggest gripe coming out of that game is that he never went back to the Wildcat after it was so successful.
Our offense this year is much improved over last year's.
Sorry Clay. I have your last two books and enjoy listening to your radio show. But you have shown a severe like of class with this latest post, not quite to the "Tebow virgin question level" but close.
Go Vols!
You show a "severe lack of class" when you question why the highest paid coaching staff in America has lost two home games they were favored to win?
And by questioning why they're sticking with a senior quarterback who only has 7 games left in his career?
Well reasoned on your part.
Good point. However, calling for a coaches head (as subtle as it may have been) after 5 games in his first season is certainly reminiscent of our 'friends' to the south.
Quoting Kiffin's record as a head coach is laughable at best. We all know the situation in Oakland. Al Davis is a complete idiot for hiring an OC with 2 years of college experience in the first place. Also, we are seeing how the decision (the drafting of Jamarcus Russell) rumored to have caused the biggest riff between Davis and Kiffin has turned out.
I would hesitate to blame the coaching staff for the struggles this year and I certainly wouldn't lay the Auburn loss on Crompton's shoulders. We don't even really know how good of a team Auburn will prove to be.
We saw last year how the Stephens switch played out. Has it really came to that? We have lost 3 games to teams with a combined record of 12-1 and UCLA's 1 loss came at the hands of a 4-1 team.
It may seem I am a huge Kiffin supporter, but I am not. I think we have a good coaching staff. But Kiffin is certainly not the best amongst them.
Let's not forget that Pete Carroll was 6-6 in his first season and Nick Saban was 6-7, losing to UGA, LSU, and Louisiana-Monroe at home and barely squeaking by Arkansas and Houston.
I know you are a blogger and have to write inflammatory posts to get traffic now rather than later. I just hate to see things being said that further damage our team. On the internet, that's an uphill battle for sure.
Go Big Orange!
Quoting second year records is not helpful. Kiffin's second year is going to worse than the first. No matter how good of a job he does he's not making a big leap.
The schedule is much tougher and the team will be worse.
If you don't go with Stephens are you really going to be comfortable trotting out a true freshman behind a brand new offensive line in 2010?
Do you really think a defense minus the best defensive player in Tennessee history is going to be better?
And try this schedule on for size:
We're playing Oregon, Florida, at LSU, at Georgia, Alabama, at South Carolina, and Ole Miss.
We only get 7 home games instead of 8. Next year we have an absolutely brutal schedule.
As for readership, I don't have to take ridiculous positions to get readers. I just have to be honest, which is what I am. If you want numbers, last week 2.5 million people read my columns on FanHouse.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that Kiffin needs to be replaced after five games, but constantly drinking the orange kool-aid isn't helpful either.
InCrompetence spreads like wildfire. If the QB play is lacking, it affects all facets of the game. We all make mistakes. I am certainly far from perfect, but when a QB makes mistake after mistake after mistake (bad reads, bad throwns, locking in on a receiver and not ever for any reason looking elsewhere, fumbles, etc.), it kills the rest of the team. In this case, the rest of the team has completely lost confidence in Crompton.
Receivers get down because they know the pass will be poor, and they will likely be left exposed to a massive hit even without a chance to make a catch. The defense gets down because the offense keeps going three and out without giving D a break. Special teams gets down because kickers are forced to try long field goals or to try to flip the field with long punts because O can't move the ball. Coaches get down because they see talent and hard work not paying off. Fans get down because we care.
It's time to make a change. If for no other reason than to lift the spirits and, hopefully, the level of play of the rest of the team. You might call it rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and considering the reaminder of our schedule, you may be correct for this season, but you also have to think about next season. Kiffin will have to raise everyone's spirits and confidence before next season if we are to be competitive at some point in the future. Otherwise, when we do have a decent QB, the rest of the team will bring him down and we're right back where we started.
Yea, rearranging the deck chairs when we have already seen what they look like the other way and didn't like it.
The week off after UGA will provide us a better opportunity to make the switch anyways. Though Stephens would likely have his confidence shattered by the beatdown Alabama is going to give us.
Clay,
I know you say we have only 7 home games next year and in this day in age it is not certain to count your chickens before the hatch but we play 2 of those road games in state at Vandy and at Memphis in 2010. In my lifetime (born in December 1983), those two teams amount to exactly two wins.
There won't be a year in my lifetime where I won't chalk those 2 games up before the season starts.
I'll give you Vandy and Memphis.
But how many of the 7 games that I listed do you feel comfortable saying Tennessee will win?
Anything above 2 is an insanely successful season. So in my mind we're playing to go 7-5 at best. Likely, worse.
That's why winning this year matters. And despite being favored in five of six games so far this season, we've only knocked down two wins.
Georgia is huge.