When students and other fans learned of Lane Kiffin’s resignation, in the evening of January 12, 2010, reaction was swift and negative. A large crowd gathered outside Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, where Kiffin was inside making his announcement, and chanted obscenities and ripped up Kiffin T-shirts. Other students burned mattresses and vandalized the sculpture on the pedestrian mall. A handful of students made their way into Neyland-Thompson and were escorted back outside by police officers. Unsure of what car would be carrying Kiffin away from campus, the mob approached all vehicles leaving the area, screaming obscenities.
A crowd massed at Neyland Stadium but was dispersed by police before the participants could get inside. Other students painted the Rock with obscenities about Kiffin, posting their handiwork on YouTube and Facebook.
Because Kiffin’s address and his wife’s cell phone number had been posted on Facebook and other message boards, police were on patrol outside the coach’s house. Kiffin’s wife, Layla, had called 911 to report suspicious cars near the house.