Lane Kiffin is a name one should no longer utter when in Knoxville, Tennessee. The citizens of the proud city, and home of the University of Tennessee, still hold feelings of resentment, hatred, ill-will, and betrayal over their former football coach’s decision to leave town for a job in sunny southern California. Out went Kiffin, in came a southerner with a thick southern draw and strong ties to the SEC and promises of commitment, integrity and honesty. Tennessee fans and those in Knoxville were refreshed by the thought that the whirling dervish that was Lane Kiffin had done all he could to deface the Tennessee program. Then came the NCAA investigation.
The NCAA was prompted to investigate Tennessee after a series of self-reported secondary violations from the football team. When the NCAA investigates a program, they investigate all programs associated with that Athletic Department. They look at the football, basketball, and baseball teams of the specific university. In the course of this investigation, a picture was discovered of Bruce Pearl hosting prospective student-athletes at his home on their official visits. Pearl brought them over for a family bar-b-que to give some insight into the family atmosphere the coach tries to foster within his program. This is an NCAA violation. Hosting recruits at your house is a violation of NCAA rules. Why? You can show them the campus, athletic facilities, local restaurants, bars, southern bells (and believe me Tennessee has some), or Scrabble tournaments but, if you take them to your house, shame on you! Some of these rules are outrageous and do little to affect players’ decision making.
Pearl is in more trouble because he initially lied to NCAA investigators about having the recruits over. I probably would have as well. This is a man working his way up to the top of the coaching profession and faced with questions that could derail his career and livelihood. I wouldn’t want to be found out either. However, lying is never the answer and Pearl soon called another meeting with investigators and admitted to the violation.
Now, some 18 months after the bar-b-que incident, the University of Tennessee has received a letter outlining that it may have done something wrong. After Pearl has admitted to it, served an 8 game suspension from coaching activities, and docked over a million dollars in pay. Now, the big bad NCAA has acknowledged the violations. Kiffin is gone but the NCAA has acknowledged wrongdoings by the football program that the new coach will be held accountable for. No punishment has been set forth; that is likely scheduled for another 6 months from today.
The NCAA is a broken administration. In today’s fast moving society, for a corporation such as this to function successfully and adequately, they need to be able to levy punishment within weeks, not years. They need simpler rules and to control coaches on the edge of technology (there’s no rules on instant messaging but there’s rules on phone calls). With punishment coming down years after the fact, different administrations, student-athletes and coaches face the penalties of someone else’s actions.
Though people in Knoxville will say Kiffin got what he deserved for bolting his commitment to Tennessee, Kiffin and his players got a bad deal. Yes, Kiffin was around USC during the Reggie Bush recruitment process that ultimately lead to USC’s NCAA imposed penalties (which include loss of scholarships and ban from postseason play for two years). However, the players on the roster were not. They have been unfairly punished for the actions of someone they don’t know. Reggie Bush graduated 4 years before the NCAA decided it should punish USC. The head coach left before he was due to serve his time for his violations. Its a broken system that functions as a slow moving big brother to universities, coaches, and players trying to win games. Find a way to punish those responsible in a timely manner or don’t punish anyone and continue to serve as a useless administration stealing millions from the schools and players who dedicate themselves to competition.
-Sean Morash
