Season of Change

Today was the inauguration on the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. I live about 7 miles from the Capitol and the excitement and energy surrounding DC over the past few days was really a very cool thing to witness. Millions of people braved the cold and went down to the National Mall to be a part of history, I sat comfortably in my living room and watched the event on TV. I heard on the radio sometime last week that if you wanted to be a part of history go to the Mall and the events, if you actually wanted to see history stay home and watch it on TV. I did go down to the Capitol on Saturday and took in some of the sights and walked the grounds that today was the site of the swearing in our first African-American president.

Over the past week or so I've been thinking a lot about this great "change" coming to DC, it's exciting and scary at the same time. I know things in our country can't get much worse, we're currently fighting 2 wars, there's a recession and people are losing their jobs and homes at an alarming rate, but with a new president and administration taking over there's a fear of the unknown . Now since I am obsessed with college football and the Tennessee Vols I couldn't help but notice the fact that I had similar feelings to the coaching change the Vols made this season, it's exciting and scary. The Vols had a losing season and were blown out by rivals Florida and Alabama and suffered an embarrassing homecoming loss to Wyoming, things couldn't get much worse. The Vols hired Lane Kiffin as the new head coach, he's young and was an accomplished assistant coach at USC and a not so accomplished head coach for the Oakland Raiders, his ability to be a head coach in one of the nation's toughest collegiate conferences remains to be tested. Exciting and scary, all at the same time.

A Return to Greatness: President Obama enters the White House on the promise of change and a renewed hope for a better tomorrow. Coach Kiffin enters Neyland Stadium on the promise of turning around a program that has hit a low point in it's storied history.

Out with the Old, In with the New: President Obama (age 47) replaces former President George Bush (age 62), who at one point in during his presidency had the highest approval rating of any president, of course at the end of his second term in office President Bush's approval rating was the lowest of any president. Coach Kiffin (age 33) replaces former Coach Philip Fulmer (age 58), a man who gave over 30 years of service to the Vols, winning 2 SEC Championships and 1 BCS National Championship but had 2 losing seasons in his last 4 and was fired with 3 games remaining in his final season.

Build a Star-Studded Staff: There's nothing more important than having good people around you, in presidential terms it's called the Cabinet, in coach speak you have the assistant coaches. President Obama is putting together a cabinet of advisers to help guide him in making decisions that will effect each and everyone of us. He has to pick people that will represent our country to the world. Coach Kiffin is putting together a staff in Knoxville that could be considered the who's who of football minds. His staff needs to be knowledgeable and able to represent the university with class. Most importantly both the Cabinet and the assistant coaches need to believe in the philosophy of their leader, whether that means supporting a health care bill or running a spread offense. Neither man will be successful if they don't have the support of their staff and the ability to listen to their advisers.

Recruiting: President Obama based his campaign on the slogan "The Change We Need" and over the past 2 years he has been traveling the country convincing voters that he was the better candidate. He was on a mission to get every vote he could, the more voters he could attract the better his chances at success in the election. Obama's recruiting efforts were effective and did indeed lead to a successful bid for the White House. Since Coach Kiffin took office just over 6 weeks ago he too has been traveling the country talking to high school football stars convincing them that the University of Tennessee was the best choice for them. He is on a mission to get every top recruit in the country, the more top notch recruits he can lure to Knoxville the better his chances for a successful season come fall.

Evaluating Talent That's Still There: Both Obama and Kiffin are coming into systems that

already have major players on the roster. President Obama will go to work with a congress that is already in place and he will soon need to figure out who will help him and his administration pass the bills he wants and who will hinder his ideas and programs. Kiffin will start spring practice and have a chance to evaluate the players that have been left over from the Fulmer era. He'll quickly need to learn their abilities and figure out where they can best help his new offensive and defensive systems.

In the end both men have daunting tasks in front of them, granted I know President Obama's challenge is much more daunting than that of Coach Kiffin's but still they both are facing an up

hill battle. So to President Obama, best of luck to you, I look forward to seeing the change you have in store for our great country. If you can live up to half the expectations people have set for you I am sure your presidency will be a success. And to Coach Kiffin, best of luck to you as you work to return the Vols to national prominence and bring a championship back to Rocky Top.

God Bless the USA and Go Vols!