As a Tennessee alum, I knew I had to post something on PRettySocial about Lane Kiffin’s departure from UT football. However, while I love football and the Vols, I wasn’t the one for the job. So this morning, I bring you a guest post from PR pro & sports fanatic, Mike Schaffer…

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When I heard that Lane Kiffin was bolting from his position of head football coach at the University of Tennessee, as a non-alum and not even much of a college football follower, I thought “Wow, this moves around as much as Jay Leno!”

And after his refusal to answer questions at his final press conference in Tennessee, he came across looking like a jerk.  (In the industry, we call that a PR FAIL! Even when the answers may be uncomfortable or worse, you must address the issue at hand.)

However, to all the Volunteers out there, DO NOT WORRY!

Let me count the ways:

1. He was there one year.  Steve Spurrier lasted longer as the Washington Redskins coach.  And Washington completely forgot that era of awfulness.  He will be a nugget in the glorious history of Volunteer football.
2. Sure, the Vols made it to a bowl game.  But it was the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.  That restaurant isn’t even open on Sundays.  And they lost.  Seriously, though, it’s not like he set the world on fire.  The team competed, but  were not in the upper echelon of the NCAA.
3. His record was only 7-6, and 4-4 in the SEC.  Read: He’s no Bear Bryant…not even a Vince Dooley.  Nick Saban had infinitely more impact in the conference than Kiffin.  UT will find a coach that is interested in being the coach of UT…not someone that wants to coach everywhere but where he currently is.
4. He flopped horribly in the NFL.  After finishing 4-12 in his first year, Al Davis WROTE a letter of resignation for him to sign.  Seriously, if Al Davis thinks you aren’t worth it…enough said.  (For the record, Kiffin survived that off-season, but was axed with a combined NFL record of 5-15.  And filed a lawsuit.  Brilliant!)
5. While he was an NFL coach, he was rumored to be interested in college jobs.  He made it to the top of the mountain and couldn’t handle the heat.   Let’s face it, USC is THE football team in Los Angeles, the #2 market in the country.    Every move he makes will be scrutinized by the media.  And it won’t be pretty.
6. Throughout his coaching career, rules violations have followed him around.  In just one year at Tennessee, he registered numerous NCAA violations, mostly on the recruiting side.  Furthermore, USC is under some hot water right now, that is about to boil, so Kiffin will have to deal with that mess.
7. At USC, Kiffin will be replacing a LEGEND in his prime in Pete Carroll.  Sure, USC’s best days may have been a few years back, but Carroll was going nowhere.  What sane person would want to do that?  Sure, Carroll caused a lot of the trouble that Kiffin will be dealing with, but he is beloved on campus.

There you have it – 7 Reasons to Forget Lane Kiffin.  There’s ALWAYS a next year.

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Mike Schaffer is the Director of Social Media for BWF Communications in Washington, DC.  He is the author of The Buzz by Mike Schaffer and founder of #SportsPRChat on Twitter.  Through his career in sports PR, he was worked with NFL, MLB, ATP, PGA, NCAA, NHL and WNBA teams, leagues and active and retired athletes.   Follow him on Twitter.

For the past week and a half, most of Knoxville has been tuned in to the trial of Letalvis Cobbins, the first of four to be tried for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a Knoxville couple, Channon Christian and Chris Newsom. Myself, along with many others in the community, were tuned in 100% to the trial…more than I had ever followed any trial.

Why? Aside from the fact that all of Knoxville hates Cobbins and was patiently awaiting his conviction, the use of Twitter by reporters made it easy for us to follow every detail of the court proceedings.

No longer are the times when you have to sit in front of a TV all day to know exactly what’s going on in court. In this case, I just used the #c-n hashtag to follow everything. News Sentinel reporter, Jamie Satterfield tweeted minute-by-minute, and gave those of us who didn’t have the ability to watch the trial on TV a view into the proceedings. While at the office, I could glance at Tweetdeck through the day and know exactly what was happening.

Twitter is truly revolutionizing how we get our news. Everything is easy and in real time. We don’t have to rely on individual news articles that sometimes lack the very specific details. By following something such as a trial via Twitter, we are able to easily receive every little detail.

While it’s clear that I support Twitter in the courtroom, what do you think? Is this a good new trend? Or should social media stay out of the courtroom?

(On a related note, my thoughts and prayers are with the Christian and Newsom families. This post is in no way meant to make light of the terrible crimes committed against Channon and Chris. I think all of Knoxville is praying that these animals will pay for what they’ve done. Rest in peace, Channon and Chris.)

If you live in Knoxville or plan to visit the area on Thursday, September 10, I encourage you all to check out Knoxville Twestival! It’s only $25 to attend and it’s sure to be a good time! PLUS, all ticket sales will be donated to the Salvation Army of Knoxville!

As many of you know, I’m heavily involved with the first annual Knoxville Twestival on September 10, 2009. So far, we’ve gotten a lot of great charity submissions, but we’re still taking more (until Friday, August 7 at 11:59pm)…so please get yours in if you’re interested in being the beneficiary charity of this big event!

What’s Twestival? Well…Knoxville Twestival is part of a charitable event taking place in communities all around the world. Twestival uses the power of the local Twitterverse to encourage community members to come out in person to a fun event to be held in Knoxville on September 10, 2009, and to donate money to a designated local charity.

Knoxville-area, non-profit organizations interested in benefiting from the event should tell us why your charity should be chosen as the designated charity for this year’s Knoxville Twestival. The first 100 entries received by Friday, August 7 (at 11:59pm) will be published on the Knoxville Twestival blog on Saturday, August 8, where readers will be able to vote for their favorite charity. On August 11, Twestival organizers will choose one winner among the top three vote-getters.

As soon as the winning charity is announced, our Twitter-powered fundraising will begin on that organization’s behalf, culminating in the September 10 Knoxville Twestival event.

We haven’t announced the event details yet, but I can promise it’ll be an awesome event you won’t want to miss!

For more information, check out the Knoxville Twestival homepage!

Did I mention we’re also looking for sponsors and volunteers? For information on how you or your company can be involved, visit http://knoxville.twestival.com/get-involved!

As a co-founder of SMC Knoxville, here’s some shameless self-promotion for our Official Launch Party:

The Knoxville Chapter of the Social Media Club’s official launch party will take place on Tuesday, July 21 from 6-8pm in The Green Room at Oodles Uncorked in Market Square.

The event will feature speaker Trey Pennington, the founder of SMC Greenville and an influential social media practitioner.

Pennington will discuss the importance of using social media for meaningful engagement and how to take advantage of technology to redefine what it means to be members of a society, community or culture.

SMC Knoxville’s Launch Party is free to attend and open to anyone currently involved in social media or those seeking to learn. Appetizers will be provided and happy hour drink specials will be available.

The event is sponsored by Pyxl, a marketing services firm headquartered in Knoxville, and Mashable, a popular social media news blog.

For more information and to RSVP for the event, click here.

Hope to see you all there!

Yesterday, Mashable reported that Twestival is back!

In February 2009, Twestival leveraged the Twitter audience to raise more than $250,000 in the most ambitious Twitter fundraising event to date.

Last night at #140conf (the two-day Twitter conference in New York), Twestival organizer Amanda Rose announced the launch of the group’s next event: “Twestival Local” takes place on September 12th and encourages local groups of Twitter users to host events in aid of their favorite charities. Registration will be open from July 1st.

As a co-founder of Social Media Club Knoxville, I’d really like to get involved. So if you’re interested in helping, head on over to the SMCKnox blog and join the conversation!

Today, me and the rest of the team at Social Media Club Knoxville are announcing our first networking mixer!

This informal event will be held on the patio at Barley’s Taproom in the Old City (200 East Jackson) from 6-8p on Wednesday, June 3.

It will allow Knoxville’s social media professionals to network in a low-key environment. Members of other SMC chapters may also be in attendance. This mixer will also allow us to address any questions people may have about our organization and give everyone an intro to what Social Media Club is all about.

To RSVP, click here! We’re hoping to have a really great turnout!

I’ve been trying hard recently to not only get more involved in social media, but also to contribute a little more to the city I’ve spent the past 5 years in – Knoxville! So today, I am announcing that I am an official contributing blogger at Knoxify, a blog that’s tag line reads, “The insider’s take on what makes Knoxville great.”

I really love the blog, and the other bloggers have done an amazing job broadcasting their views about Knoxville and everything within it. I’m very excited to begin working with everyone and sharing my own opinions about Knoxville. My first post hits the feed tomorrow morning, so be sure to check it out!

Since 2006, the Social Media Club has been providing a place for people engaged in social media to network and collaborate while spreading social media knowledge to others. Currently, there are chapters across the United States and around the world…but there was one important city missing: Knoxville! That’s why Brenna DeLeo and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to lead the revolution in Knoxville – or at least to provide a place for those engaged in social media to network, collaborate and spread the word about web 2.0.

The Knoxville chapter of the Social Media Club (@SMCKnox on Twitter) has yet to “officially” launch. Instead of rushing it, Brenna and I wanted to take the time to speak to some local social media-ites and put together a really great leadership team that can help us make Social Media Club Knoxville the best it can be. Currently, four leadership positions are filled (among some general volunteer positions), and we’re getting closer to our launch – we’re just hoping to find one or two more social media enthusiasts to help us. If you’re interested, check out our wiki!

Even if you can’t help lead the team, we’d love to have you onboard as a general voluteer or member! We should be launching soon, so if you want to stay updated, join our Facebook group! We’ll also be launching our official city portal via the Social Media Club site next month!

We’re so excited to get moving on this! We’ve had tremendous support from other Social Media Clubs around the country, and we’re ready to bring this professional organization to Knoxville!