All I can tell you at the moment is:

1. No, I am not dead;
2. No, I have not given up on the Vols in the wake of Lane Kiffin’s departure; and
3. Once again, there are about to be a bunch of changes here at the Gate—big changes—which I hope will be for the best.

At present, all I can tell you is that things are afoot and that I should have a big announcement later in the week or early next week.  Until then, it’s going to be a bit quiet around here.

For now, however, here is a little YouTubification of the Vols Winter workouts, courtesy of UTSports.com.

Video: Tennessee Football Winter Workouts: Day 1

HT / via: UTSports.com

In the meantime, thanks for understanding…

– So it goes …

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Lane Kiffin Leaves USC For Dream Job At GameStop | Onion Sports

… Lane Kiffin told reporters that he would be leaving the school indefinitely to pursue his dream of working at GameStop. “I was approached by a cousin who works at the GameStop on Wilshire Boulevard, and when he said there was an open sales clerk position, I had to take it,” said Kiffin, who then proudly placed a GameStop baseball cap on his head…

HT / via: PatrickAry on Twitter

I think that might actually be a good fit for him…

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Video:  Leave You Like Kiffin

The Newest from SwiperBoy:

HT / via: Rocky Top Talk

I’m loving that:  “Never leave you like Kiffin…”   That’s a keeper.

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GVX: Tennessee hiring Derek Dooley

“Multiple media sources are reporting that the former Louisiana Tech head coach has agreed to replace Lane Kiffin, who left UT for Southern California on Tuesday, and a deal is imminent. Several other media sources are indicating it is not a done deal.”

HT / via: GoVols Xtra

Considering all of the craziness over the last 72 hours, take this with a grain of salt, but it is the current story…

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Despite reports to the contrary, apparently, Troy Calhoun will not be the next coach at the University of Tennessee…

Calhoun to Stay at Air Force Academy

January 14th, 2010, 2:42 pm

Air Force has released a statement saying Troy Calhoun will remain coach at the academy in 2010.

Here is the statement from Calhoun:

“We are more than grateful and proud to be closely involved with the character building of our cadets and the mission of the United States Air Force Academy. We are diligently recruiting and working with our team to prepare for the upcoming season. We look forward to coaching and being a part of the Air Force Academy team both on and off the field in 2010.”

HT / via: Colorado Springs Gazette

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Here are a few more running links that I will try and update as the day goes on.

• 

  From USCSports.com

  And a little comic relief from both LSUFreek and Orson over at EDSBS with coverage of the USC press conference introducing Kiffin as the new head coach.

• Meanwhile, USCSports.com welcomes the new head coach of the Trojans (See Image)

• USC Blog HeismanPundit doesn’t care much for the Kiffin hire either.
• And from Fox Sports:

After he fired Kiffin in ’07, [Al] Davis famously noted, “It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy.”
The University of Tennessee now knows just how Davis felt.

And if history tells us anything, so — eventually — will USC.

• Brutally well written look at the Kiffin Debacle courtesy of Ed Berliner and the Examiner, who blames the UTAD for making the worst hire since Charlie Weis and noting that Tennessee fans “deserve someone who comes to work without a clown nose in his briefcase.“
• While Lane Kiffin was all fired-up about heading to USC, apparently some in Los Angeles aren’t nearly as excited about the hire.  L.A. Times Columnist Bill Plaschke calls Kiffin “a lightweight” and clearly thinks that the USC Athletic Director is deranged.
• First, you can check out Monte Kiffin on the Sports Animal and listen to the interview this morning regarding Lane’s decision to cut and leave town.  I’ve got to give Monte some credit for at least being willing to face the media. The reality is, however, that he is simply trying to clean-up the mess left by his son.
• Meanwhile, apparently the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees have already reached out to Phillip Fulmer about the possibility of returning as coach or as athletic director.  Not sure what to think about that either way, but I know that Coach Fulmer is dedicated — even now — first and foremost to Tennessee.
• Shotgun over at Blue Workhorse has put together a nice collection of  thoughts from various Tennessee students and fans via Facebook.  As you might expect, some of the comments are … colorful. (*NSFW: Language)

On another note, sorry to anyone reading for being so disjointed in my posts today, but I’m trying to simply post things as they come to the fore.  I hope to try and post a few thoughts of a substantive nature later today.

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Streaming video of the news conference will be available via UT Sports, and streaming audio will be available via The Sports Animal.

I am sure all eyes will be on Hamilton and listening to what he has to say. I know I will…

…and if he values his job, I hope he looks mad.

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According to the folks in Texas, Will Muschamp isn’t going anywhere:

No Muschamp news for now.

The rumors that defensive coordinator and Texas coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp is heading to Tennessee are in full force.

But people around the Longhorn athletic department aren’t worried.

One member of the Longhorns’ athletic staff said that “Muschamp was in the office yesterday and everything seemed normal. He talked about recruiting our players and our future. There was no mention of Tennessee.”

Another source said, “It would be very surprising if he left.”

Muschamp said a week ago that he was happy at Texas.

A month ago he said that every time one of these rumors pops up he runs down to Texas coach Mack Brown’s office and says that there is nothing to worry about.

According to a Knoxville News Sentinel reporter, Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton will be meeting with the media at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard time.

HT / via:  Bevo Beat / Statesman.com

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