Former Tennessee safety and two-time unanimous All-American Eric Berry spoke at the Best Of Preps banquet at the Chattanooga Convention Center Thursday evening. One of the topics was the state of Tennessee football the day Lane Kiffin decided to leave after coaching the Vols for only one season.
Berry was a junior in 2009 during Kiffin's lone season in Knoxville, Tennessee. He spoke of the night when it was reported that the now-Alabama offensive coordinator was leaving the Volunteers' program for USC.
From the Times Free Press:
Asked about the one-year (2009) coaching reign of Lane Kiffin, Berry recalled the night the current Alabama offensive coordinator left the Volunteers to become the head coach at Southern Cal, at least momentarily leaving behind his 70-year-old father Monte, who was Tennessee's defensive coordinator.
"When everybody found out Coach Kiffin was leaving, the campus became one big riot," recalled a grinning Berry, who played three seasons for the Vols (2007-09), twice being voted a unanimous first-team All-American.
"Everybody was burning mattresses and stuff. Monte was in the football complex and he was in a panic. He wasn't going to leave his office until the fires were out. And he didn't. I think he slept there all night. I finally had to tell him, 'Coach, they're not going to do anything to you. It's your son they're after.'"
Can you believe that Kiffin would put his dad in a position like that? The man was legitimately scared for his life and fortunately nothing bad happened. That also paints a scene of just how truly angry Tennessee fans were at the coach for abandoning them after only one season.
[h/t CollegeSpun]
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