Lane Kiffin says outrageous preseason comments were calculated

KNOXVILLE, TENN. — To call Lane Kiffin's desk just a desk would be grossly insufficient.

It is big and sleek, set on a platform so that visitors seated before him must crane their necks slightly as if gazing up at a shrine.

And Kiffin doesn't like it much.

The new Tennessee football coach says this piece of furniture came with the office and he'd rather talk in a backroom where the mini-fridge is stocked with cold drinks and there are comfortable leather couches, one of which is strewn with blankets for late nights at work.

In this way, Kiffin doesn't seem too different from his time as a young USC assistant, low-key in a T-shirt and shorts. Though he remains extremely self-confident, it is a quiet sort of bravado.

Which makes his behavior over the last nine months all the more puzzling.

"Some of the stuff I had to do," he says. "I didn't like it."

The moment he arrived in Knoxville last winter, the guy began shooting his mouth off in every conceivable direction, promising victories, taking shots at rival Southeastern Conference coaches and bragging about stealing top assistants from their staffs.

"I had to be aggressive. I had to attack," he says.

Not that he is apologizing. Far from it. Still, there is a hint of remorse.

"People who don't know me, they think that's how I am," he says. "They think that's how I've always been."

Now, after opening the season with a blowout victory over Western Kentucky, his team preparing to face UCLA at home on Saturday, Kiffin wants those people to understand.

Big words

It started with his first news conference in Knoxville, the coach announcing his plans to sing "Rocky Top" all night long after defeating Florida on Sept. 19.

That would be the same Florida currently ranked No. 1 in the nation.

If the comment raised eyebrows, well, Kiffin was just getting warmed up.

With a tall, gangly frame and soft features, he can seem downright languid until you hear him on the practice field or during games, the edge in his voice, flashes of intensity that burn hot.

In early February, after national signing day, he criticized Florida Coach Urban Meyer for calling a recruit's cellphone while the player was visiting Tennessee. Receiver Nu'Keese Richardson ultimately signed with the Volunteers, prompting Kiffin to add: "I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him."