Lane Kiffin has earned our scorn, even our mocking laughter. He spent his first 11 months at Tennessee talking himself up and talking everyone else down, which is an ugly way to go about your business in the best of times -- and the past 12 days have not been the best of times. Four of his players have run afoul of the law, including two whose alleged offenses were so bad that, even with the presumption of innocence, they've already been kicked off the team.
And lo, there was much derision around the land.
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| Tennessee wasn't the only program that pursued recently dismissed Nu'Keese Richardson. (Getty Images) |
Me. I would, and I will. And with this story, it will become official: I'm the worst University of Florida alum of all time.
But I can't jump on Kiffin for what's been happening in Knoxville. Not any more than I did in the first paragraph. But going forward, I can't do it. Kiffin should be defended, up to a point, and that point is this:
The mini-crime spree by four members of Kiffin's first recruiting class at Tennessee isn't a reflection on the Tennessee football coach. This crime spree, I said. This one. Not the next one, if there is a next one. Not the one next year or the year after.
This one. This crime spree. It isn't Kiffin's fault. He has the perfect alibi, and although he hasn't used it and would be stupid to even try to use it, I'll use it for him:
How was Kiffin supposed to know?
How was he supposed to know that those guys would -- allegedly -- behave so criminally?
Look at the timeline, starting with the beginning of Kiffin's tenure at Tennessee. He was hired on Dec. 1, 2008. He signed his first recruiting class on Feb. 4. That was nine weeks later. And in those nine weeks, starting from scratch and recruiting in a frenzy, he was supposed to not only win over 20 or more high school seniors who had been recruited for years by other colleges ... but he was supposed to know which ones were capable of criminal behavior?
Nonsense. Kiffin had no chance. And while fans in competing college football towns -- most notably those in Gainesville, Fla. -- are loving Kiffin's struggles, coaches at lots of those schools are relieved. Because this could have happened to them.
This could have happened to Florida, where receiver Nu'Keese Richardson -- one of the two Tennessee players kicked off the team for an alleged armed robbery -- had originally committed. The Gators were shocked on signing day when Richardson switched to the Volunteers. They're relieved now.
This could have happened to LSU, where defensive back Janzen Jackson -- also arrested along with Richardson, but not kicked off the team -- originally committed. LSU didn't back off Jackson. He backed off LSU. Think LSU is still disappointed?
This could have happened to Notre Dame, where defensive back Nyshier Oliver -- who was charged with shoplifting in an incident four days before his Tennessee teammates' alleged armed robbery -- had originally committed.
And it could have happened to Cincinnati or to the myriad schools in the Big Ten that offered a scholarship to cornerback Mike Edwards before he chose Tennessee. Edwards was the other player, along with Richardson, who was kicked off the team for his role in the alleged armed robbery.
If those players were criminal time bombs, lots of schools are lucky to have avoided the explosion. Even so, the glee around college football is palpable. And the irony is enormous. Remember when Kiffin accused Florida's Urban Meyer of "cheating" by calling a recruit when that recruit was making an official visit to Tennessee? First of all, Kiffin was wrong -- calling a player while he's visiting another school isn't a violation. Second of all, that player was Nu'Keese Richardson. That's irony.
Kiffin hasn't helped himself with his mouth in the past week, either. Shocking, I know. After the arrest last week of Richardson, Edwards and Jackson on charges of armed robbery, Kiffin all but bragged that his program had "made it 11 days and 11 months without any incidents."
Technically, that was a lie. Four days earlier, Oliver had been cited for shoplifting -- and Kiffin knew it. He had suspended Oliver after the citation, but on Wednesday he went on a radio station in Knoxville and tried to cover his tracks by saying Oliver had been cited, not arrested. As if there's a difference, considering Kiffin had bragged about an absence of "incidents" -- not arrests, but incidents -- the week before.
That's what Kiffin does. He talks when he should shut up, which, given the way his foot fits so easily into his mouth, is most of the time.
But enough of that. If you want to be gleeful about the past 12 days at Tennessee, gleeful yourself into a tizzy. Me, I'm thinking it's pretty damned impressive the way Kiffin unloaded Richardson and Edwards immediately. Lots of coaches, most coaches, hide behind the legal system at times like this. They urge the public for patience, to let the process run its course. Not Kiffin. Police say Richardson and Edwards robbed some people at gunpoint, and that's enough for Kiffin. Richardson and Edwards are gone.
That says a lot about Kiffin, who would do well to give his vocal cords a vacation and let his actions do the talking.
