Tennessee students get rowdy after Kiffin news

Associated Press

Tennessee students vented their anger Tuesday night after the announcement that Lane Kiffin is leaving after one season to take the head coaching job at Southern Cal.

Knoxville fire officials and university police were on campus after Kiffin's announcement as hundreds of students burned mattresses and piles of trash and gathered around the athletic department building in hopes of blocking Kiffin from leaving campus. It was not clear if Kiffin was still on campus at the time.

"I think the students have had kind of a violent reaction to that, and a lot of them are disheartened, upset and feel betrayed that less than a year in that he would be leaving and taking off," Knoxville Fire Department spokesman D.J. Corcoran said.

"The Rock," a giant boulder on campus where students often paint "Happy Birthday" messages, had obscenities directed toward Kiffin. Students tried to enter the room where Kiffin read his statement, holding a sign that read "Go home traitor. It's time," mimicking a campaign the university used to promote Kiffin when he was hired. But the students were turned back before Kiffin talked.