Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin speaks at a news conference in Knoxville, Tenn., Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. Kiffin announced he will leave Tennessee after only one season to take the head coaching job at Southern California. (AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, J. Miles Cary)

The University of Tennessee Athletics Department announced Tuesday night that first-year head football coach Lane Kiffin has resigned his post effective immediately. Kiffin, hired Dec. 1, 2008, has accepted the position of head football coach at the University of Southern California, where he served as an assistant coach from 2001-06.

Kiffin’s resignation left UT in a state of disarray, as national signing day for recruits is just weeks away. Kiffin took with him to Southern Cal both Monte Kiffin and Ed Orgeron.

Kippy Brown, who was recently hired as an assistant coach at UT, has been named by Athletic Director Mike Hamilton as interim head coach.

What will Tennessee do? Who will Hamilton hire to be the new coach? Will all the recruits that Kiffin’s staff sold on Tennessee now bolt somewhere else?

If you’d like to make a suggestion or vent, please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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There’s still time to make plans to attend the “Downtown Dialogue” public forum tonight. The event will be at 7 p.m. at the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian Church, 110 N. Main Street.

Also, please continue to submit comments on this “Downtown Dialogue” blog.

Thanks for visiting the blog and for participating!

Note: If you’d like to ask a question or make a suggestion for a topic, hit the ‘comments’ link under this article. On that page you can leave a comment that will be addressed at the meeting or in future posts.

Good comments, everybody. As of breakfast Sunday, there were 27 entries on our downtown on this “Downtown Dialogue” blog. Read on …

And write on. Please share your Comments.

Have a good weekend.

Note: If you’d like to ask a question or make a suggestion for a topic, hit the ‘comments’ link under this article. On that page you can leave a comment that will be addressed at the meeting or in future posts.

Click here to see a video of Jann Mirkov, executive director of Main Street Greeneville, commenting on downtown issues in the wake of a fire on Depot Street in Greeneville on Mar. 25.

Note: If you’d like to ask a question or make a suggestion for a topic, hit the ‘comments’ link under this article. On that page you can leave a comment that will be addressed at the meeting or in future posts.

Greeneville has been nationally recognized several times as being a good place to live and work, thanks in part to a viable downtown district.

Jann Mirkov, executive director of Main Street Greeneville, told me last week that the goal of “Downtown Dialogue” is to identify our strengths, opportunities and challenges to build a stronger downtown, a stronger Greeneville and a stronger Greene County. I’m all for that.

Last year, Greeneville is listed in the second edition of The 50 Best Small Southern Towns, and downtown Greeneville played a role in that distinction.

The 428-page book states, “Greeneville has been listed in such books as The 100 Best Small Towns in America and America’s Most Charming Towns and Villages, and was named one of only 10 All-American Cities in 1999 by the National League of Cities.”

The publication emphasizes Greeneville historic character, specifically citing the “charming, well-cared-for houses in the Historic District,” which includes downtown Greeneville.

In 2005, Greeneville-Greene County celebrated our distinction as one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People,” a honor bestowed by America’s Promise, a national organization founded by retired Gen. Colin Power, former U.S. secretary of state.

During the celebration reception, Tom Wright, who was then Greene County General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge, called the community’s national recognition “a verification of the work we are doing as a community.”

Judge Wright also said the honor demonstrates how important it is to involve schools, businesses and churches in working together for a community’s youth population.

Hopefully, many good things are in store for our entire community, including downtown Greeneville.

Please share your thoughts, ideas, wishes and hopes for downtown Greeneville in this “Downtown Dialogue” blog.

Note: If you’d like to ask a question or make a suggestion for a topic, hit the ‘comments’ link under this article. On that page you can leave a comment that will be addressed at the meeting or in future posts.

What would you like to see in downtown Greeneville in the next five years? 10 Years? The Main Street: Greeneville Board of Directors would like your input. On March 31, 7:00 pm, come to a community-wide open forum that we have named Downtown Dialogue!

Would you like to see a cleaner downtown? What types of businesses would you come downtown to shop in? Would you like to see underground electricity downtown? Is there a type of festival that you have been to before that you think might be successful in Greeneville?

Any questions you may have may be asked here and will be asked at the March 31 Downtown Dialogue, but we hope to see you there!

Note: If you’d like to ask a question or make a suggestion for a topic, hit the ‘comments’ link under this article. On that page you can leave a comment that will be addressed at the meeting or in future posts.