How do you know a Tennessee fan is going off the rails during a drama-filled search for a new head football coach? They talk about jumping back on the "Lane train" by hiring former head coach Lane Kiffin.
Crazy as it sounds, even legendary Vol Johnny Majors told the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday that Lane Kiffin could win if he came back to Tennessee.
Tuesday morning the message "Bring Lane Home" was spray-painted on the campus rock. Kiffin responded on Twitter by joking he secretly flew to Knoxville and had his third-grader son Knox paint the message.
That's the same campus rock where students painted the name Lane and a variety of vulgar four-letter words on January 12, 2010, when Kiffin vacated the Vols after just one season for his "dream job" at Southern Cal.
As he left in the dark of night for the top job at USC, fans of Tennessee were in an uproar. Fan comments included "there was no point in him coming here" and "we really hate Lane Kiffin." One fan even questioned Kiffin's name for his newborn child by rhetorically asking, "And you name your son Knox?"
Some students tried to sneak into the athletic facility during the departure press conference while others had a rowdy good time chanting outside Neyland Stadium and setting fire to a mattress.
Knoxville attorney Drew McElroy spent a few hundred dollars to file the paperwork to propose renaming the KUB wastewater facility along Neyland Drive the "Lane Kiffin Sewage Center." Even though McElroy knew this was not possible, he said the money was well-spent just to have it in the city's official records.
"We want to memorialize his stay here and I think this would be doing it appropriately," said McElroy in 2010.
Even with just one year in Knoxville when the Vols went 7-6, Kiffin and his staff made an impact that lasted several years via NCAA recruiting violations and probation for Tennessee.
Kiffin also left behind an unpaid $14 haircut bill at the Western Plaza Barber Shop. When Kiffin returned to Knoxville as offensive coordinator of Alabama, WBIR had fun with the forgotten tab by airing an intentionally sensational and dramatized tale of the "haircut heist."
Since Kiffin left, the Vols moved on to Derek Dooley and Butch Jones. Kiffin was fired from USC, ran the offense at Alabama, and is now firing up fans at Florida Atlantic University. At least, the team's 9-3 record fired up fans much more than his widely-mocked lethargic hype video for signing day earlier this year.
Kiffin's debut season at FAU is enough to convince some UT fans he is worthy of another shot. Those fans all aboard the "Lane train" know better than anyone that Kiffin will leave a team after just one season. Give those fans credit for not holding a grudge.