Lane Kiffin Did Nothing Wrong

With the recent departure of Pete Carrol from USC to coach for the Seattle Seahawks, USC went ahead and tried to hire a great coach who can recruit top tier athletes and knows his X's and O's. But Nick Saban liked the job he had so they hired Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin instead. Kiffin is a very outspoken and charismatic guy (also "charisma" in NFL coaching terms means you're less monotone and boring than Lovie Smith and Bill Belichick) but also has comes with a bit of baggage. He had a tumultuous short career as a head coach under Al Davis (but that's in the contract of any head coach who plays under Davis, so that's understandable) and a rocky career at Tennessee leading them to an average record and claims of breaking NCAA rules.

But he planned to start things different at USC. At his press conference yesterday, he said he wanted to do things "the right way". This was an obvious reference to his head coaching days at Tennessee and Oakland. But of course, right after that, a reporter "informed" Kiffin that Kiffin's head recruiter, Ed Orgeron, had contacted all new Tennessee recruits not to go to class because if they did, according to NCAA rules, they would be committed to Tennessee and would not be eligible for USC if they so desired to go there. This seemed contradictory to what Kiffin said at his press conference when he told reporters that he would not contact recruits, but if recruits contacted him, he would gladly and honestly answer all of there questions. Sure, this was a pretty dumb thing to say to begin with, but it's not wrong.

First of all, it is not against NCAA rules to do what Kiffin and Orgeron did. Kiffin himself could have called all of his top tier recruits while he was on the plane from Knoxville to SoCal to tell them not to go to class. But what I think people do have a problem with is that Kiffin has a history of being slimy and scuzzy and then he says he won't do something while his staff goes around and does do the very thing Kiffin said he wouldn't. While if you technically dissect what Kiffin said, he said he personally wouldn't contact players and he didn't, Ed Orgeron did. But I think it's clear when he says "I won't contacts players" he means him and his new staff. So yes, his words were still pretty dumb and he should have just said "I'm happy to be here, this is my dream job" and just be done with it. But I'm not going to berate and chastise the man for saying one pretty dumb statement.

Next, the reality of the situation is that college recruits go to schools because of the program and because of the head coach, not because of the actual school they're attending. You think Arrelious Benn wanted to play in Champaign, Illinois? You think Lawrence, Kansas and it's University are all that great? You think Michael Crabtree went to Texas Tech for the education and the lovely sights of Lovett? No, these athletes come to these schools because of the head coaches and the programs. I've heard Illini football players tell me that Ron Zook is the coolest whiteboy they've ever met and that factored into their decision to come to Illinois. Kiffin's top tier recruits did not come to Tennessee because of the University, they came because of Lane Kiffin. That's why when John Calipari went from Memphis to Kentucky this year, John Wall didn't say, "Shoot, now I'm at Kentucky without the man that recruited me." No, he hoped in the next flight to Kentucky with Calipari (probably).

And think about these players. I'm sure the vast majority of high schoolers getting recruited would have much preferred to go play at USC where they'll at least play in a bowl game, as opposed to Tennessee. I'm sure these kids are thrilled to be playing at a school that has a better football outlook than Tennessee, a better education than Tennessee, and play in better whether than at Tennessee. And if the kids truly did want to play in Knoxville, nothing's stopping them. Orgeron didn't force these kids to not go to class. He simple told them that if they did, they're absolutely committed to Tennessee. Whereas if they didn't, they still would be eligible to play at either school.

And not only is USC a better gig for the players, it's a better gig for Kiffin as well. And this USC job became open much later than most other jobs because of the lengthier season of the NFL and USC's head coach took a job that may have been inconvenient for the college ranks, but was plenty convenient for the pro ranks. Thus, USC had to scramble to find a new head coach. And if I'm Lane Kiffin, and I'm offered one of the premier jobs in the FBS, why would I not take it? Kiffin owes more loyalty to USC than he ever owes or would owe to Tennessee. Players transfer all the time and nobody cares, but when a coach does it, it's blasphemy. Brian Kelly (although he took a lot of shit for this) went from the nothing school of Cincinnati to another top tiered job- Notre Dame. (Although Kelly took his job before his team went to play in a BCS bowl game which THERE is the dick move). But Kiffin didn't screw over his team. I'm sure the school is upset that it's top talent is going to USC and not Tennessee, but Kiffin still gives the school plenty of time to recruit. And it's not Kiffin's fault that "his dream job" was open so late. Think about this. If the CFO of Apple gets offered the CEO/President position of say Microsoft and he instantly takes it, is he a jerk for taking a bigger and better job? No. So why are football head coaches treated any differently?

Point is, on the surface it may appear that Kiffin is a jerk. But ask yourself why you feel that way. Kiffin did what any rational person would do. Hell, if you were in Kiffin's shoes, you would do the exact same thing. While maybe he shouldn't have said anything about bringing ethics and doing things right at USC, his actions still tell me and should tell you, that he did nothing wrong.