Lane Kiffin served as Tennessee’s head coach for one season in 2009.
Kiffin guided the Vols to a 7-6 record, beating Georgia, a blocked field goal away from defeating Alabama, and an appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
He did not return for a second season, resigning as the Vols’ head coach on Jan. 12, 2010 and becoming USC’s head coach.
Kiffin even held an outgoing press conference late at night on Jan. 12, 2010, letting media and fans know he enjoyed his time in Knoxville.
Kiffin’s final moments as Tennessee’s head coach on Jan. 12, 2010 took place in Orlando, Florida at the American Football Coaches Association Convention.
Ryan Bolinger served as Assistant to the Head Coach to Kiffin. Bolinger oversaw and monitored daily tasks and Kiffin’s schedule at Tennessee.
Bolinger said Kiffin’s departure from Tennessee to USC happened quickly.
“It happened all of a sudden,” Bolinger told Vols Wire. “Lane did not come to the convention until that morning for the coaches meeting and flew back that day. There was an SEC coaches meeting. That night when he got back to Knoxville is when all of that happened. I saw him one second and the next thing you know, bam.”
Bolinger began his coaching career at Tennessee as a defensive graduate assistant under Phillip Fulmer, learning under defensive coordinator John Chavis and working with UT’s defensive line and special teams.
After working on film breakdowns with graduate assistants, Chavis then asked Bolinger if he wanted to sit in on linebacker meetings and go to practices. That is when Fulmer hired him as a graduate assistant.
Fulmer was fired towards the end of the 2008 season and then-athletics director Mike Hamilton hired Kiffin as the Vols’ next head coach. When Kiffin came in, he immediately cleaned house with his own staff, but it did not take long for Bolinger to be re-hired after not being retained.
Eventually Bolinger was promoted after only three months to the title of Assistant to the Head Coach to Kiffin.
“I enjoyed working with him and I learned a lot,” Bolinger said of Kiffin.
Kiffin’s final day as Tennessee’s head coach was chaotic for Bolinger.
At the AFCA Convention, Bolinger was just as surprised as anyone regarding Kiffin’s departure. Bolinger even could not get in touch with him.
“How I first heard about it, some of the players starting texting me, saying there is a team meeting tonight, what is going on,” he said. “I was like ‘I have know idea.’
“I am trying to get a hold of Lane. I’m texting David Blackburn, anybody I can get a response from. Then, eventually, I heard about what was going on. I am like oh my gosh. A buddy of mine that lived in Orlando and was a scout for the 49ers at the time, he had a hotel room there where he was meeting with coaches, he called me over and I remember sitting in his room watching Kiffin on TV.”
Bolinger could not get back to Knoxville until the next morning. With protests on UT’s campus about Kiffin’s departure, the newly-hired USC head coach remained in Knoxville that next morning.
Bolinger’s flight back to Knoxville was as awkward as the day before with Kiffin resigning.
James Cregg, Tennessee’s offensive line coach under Kiffin, Kiffin’s brother-in-law and UT’s quarterbacks coach David Reaves, as well as Fulmer were on the same flight returning to Knoxville following the convention.
“I remember getting on that plane not knowing who was going to be on there,” Bolinger said. “There was James Cregg, David Reaves and Coach Fulmer. It was kind of an awkward feeling. None of us ever talked to each other at all. It caught all of us off guard. It was an interesting 24 hours, seeing Lane and then that happens. Then the flight home, with the guys on the flight.
“I immediately got to the office and saw Lane before he left that morning. He said it literally just came right at me and that any other job he would not have looked at. It was definitely an interesting night. Kind of unexpected and just kind of crazy.”
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