Fire Lane Kiffin: Irony Reigns as Tennessee Self-Reports Recruiting Violations

You have got to be kidding me. How do people this ignorant and arrogant become head coaches at major college football programs?

Last week I wondered aloud whether Lane Kiffin, while obviously in possession of a very attractive wife, is completely without a clue. Since taking over as Tennessee’s coach, he has famously accused Urban Meyer of recruiting violations that were not actually recruiting violations, and he has also disparaged his current crop of incoming recruits by saying, “Understand this class is far below the standards we have here and what will be here in the future.”

Yes, he actually said that. I’m sure the 2009 recruits and their families were just thrilled to hear it.

Now though, Kiffin’s idiocy is just becoming laughable.

You might think I was making this up, were it not for the link I will provide, because it almost seems too perfectly ironic to be true. But it is true. Yesterday, as first reported by the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the University of Tennessee self-reported two recruiting violations involving head cheat coach Lane Kiffin and director of ethics recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron. One of the violations involved a mock press conference set up for recruits during campus visits, the other involved the use of a fog machine when recruits walked into Neyland Stadium. Both of these are offenses because the simulate a game experience for recruits during an official visit.

Here is the best excerpt from the SI story, explaining Tennessee’s poor reasoning for following through with these pretty clearly illegal recruiting acts:

Tennessee’s coaching staff believed the mock press conference was allowed because it was not done in public. They thought the use of the fog machine was allowed after seeing it used at other universities.

So Lane, if all of the other coaches in college football jumped off a bridge, would — never mind.

Honestly, there really are not any punch lines or clever statements that do this justice. The facts themselves are the punchline. A week after calling out two-time national champion Urban Meyer for recruiting violations that weren’t recruiting violations, Lane Kiffin and the highest paid group of assistant coaches in college football history were found to have committed actual recruiting violations.

I’m speechless

I laughed when I first heard that Kiffin called out Meyer, but I also assumed that if Kiffin would say it publicly that there must have actually been a violation. The worst thing I’ve ever heard anyone say about Urban Meyer is that he is a bit of an egomaniac. At this point, that might be the best thing you could say about Lane Kiffin.

I do not consider myself a die-hard Tennessee football fan, but I do follow them more than any other college football team. Right now, the football situation at Tennessee is a complete mockery. I absolutely do consider myself a die-hard IU basketball fan, and after going through the last year and a half with the jackass-who-shall-not-be-named, I have a quick word of advice to Tennessee: fire Lane Kiffin right now.

I realize this has no chance of happening and is not feasible. But given truth serum, is there any doubt that Tennessee officials and boosters would like to have a mulligan on the Kiffin hire? Maybe he will eventually grow into the job, but he is in way over his head right now, and it becomes more obvious with each passing day.

Discretion, especially with respect to public speaking, can be hard to learn if you do not already have it (just ask Joe Biden…or better yet, ask President Obama). Lane Kiffin obviously has none, as he has consistently put his foot in his mouth during his short tenure.

And you most certainly cannot teach ethics and integrity. Look no further than IU basketball. They hired a cheater and he cheated again, despite promises that he would change. Yeah right. I don’t want to get into casting specific aspersions onto USC (Kiffin’s former employer, where he was known as a great recruiter) when no one has solid proof that they have committed recruiting violations and they have faced no recruiting penalties. But any college football fan with half a clue knows there are plenty of whispers about recruiting impropriety at USC.

Guess what Tennessee? You made a little deal with the devil in your haste to boot Phil Fulmer out of town as quickly as possible and bring in the best recruiters you could find, and know the University is getting what it deserves. When you value recruiting “ability” over experience and integrity, that’s what happens. Seriously — in the big, dirty business of college football does anyone think that part of recruiting “ability” includes one’s willingness and success at bending/breaking the rules? Just saying.

If Lane Kiffin allowed recruiting violations to occur in his first year on the job, he is either a completely clueless moron who did not respect college football and the University of Tennessee enough to know the rules; or, more likely, he is an inexperienced coach feeling the pressure of a big contract at an SEC school who does have the integrity to keep himself from breaking the rules in an effort to win.

Either way, he’s proven enough in a short time to tell me that he was the wrong hire. And I was openly trying to give him a chance.

If Tennessee has any integrity and foresight they will take the short-term hit and fire Lane Kiffin right now. Of course, they are a major college football school, so you can throw integrity out the window. Soon enough though, they’ll fire Lane Kiffin. And then we’ll all be able to look back at his first few months on the job and remember that it was only a matter of time.

Should Tennessee cut their losses and fire Lane Kiffin right now?

• Yes. No matter what. Fire Lane Kiffin now and save the future of the program.
• No, give him a chance. He'll grow into the job.
• If they could, absolutely; but obviously they can't because of the monetary concerns.

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Tags: College Football, college football recruiting, Lane Kiffin, SEC, tennessee volunteers

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