...was bc Spurrier quit in the middle of the year and gave them an early start on searches. I think Kirby was their #1 target, and he had been with Saban long enough.

Tanner was on Kirby from the start, and it was a major job he was interested in. He wasn't just gonna stay at Bama forever waiting for Mama to fire Richt after 20 seasons or whatever. He had his career to get on with.

So SCu letting Kirby know he was their #1 guy was definitely an impetus that helped our power brokers move on from Richt. Everybody has heard stories that the big shots were done with Richt after the UF game. Well, that's what made it easy. Kirby is going to coach at South Carolina unless we bring him home. Exit CMR. Now Kirby is OUR #1 target. When tanner heard that, he just moved on to Herman & Fuentes & whoever else he called.