The Kiffin Double-Standard?

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Let’s suppose I told you about an SEC coach.

A coach who had a string of secondary violations in a little less than half a year.

A coach who had to apologize at last year’s SEC meetings in Destin.

A coach who caught flak for giving a troubled defensive back a second chance.

Yep, I’m talking about Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt.

What?  You had someone else in mind?



All day, my inbox has been filled by Tennessee fans who are of the impression:

A)  Everyone is out to get Lane Kiffin

and

B)  The media plays up any and all troubles connected to UT’s coach.

Allow me to answer both charges: True and true.

That’s the price of being the kid in class who constantly picks on everyone else and who won’t hush when the teacher tells him to.

When you accuse another coach of cheating, everyone will look to see if you’re cheating.  When you question another coach’s discipline, everyone will keep a close eye on your discipline.  When you poke fun that another school isn’t playing its freshman receiver, everyone will write it up when your own freshman receiver complains about his playing time on Facebook.

A friend of mine often says, “The deer that makes the most noise gets shot.”

Folks, that’s not just true in the woods.



Whenever this site has covered Kiffin’s comments or actions — the same way we cover those of John Calipari, Les Miles, Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier, etc, I might add — many, many Volunteer fans write to say that they don’t care if folks like their coach or not.

But with ESPN, The New York Times and the NCAA checking into UT’s business, now’s the time that the chickens are coming home to roost.

Kiffin, because he’s disliked, doesn’t get the same leash as other coaches.  Coaches like Nutt, for example:

1.  Today it was announced that Ole Miss has committed five secondary violations in the past five months.  Kiffin — it’s been well-reported — was hit with six in his first few months in Knoxville.  But Nutt’s violations aren’t drawing near the attention that Kiffin’s have.  That’s probably because Nutt has never been one to take major public shots at other coaches and their adherence to the rules.  Not so for Kiffin who bragged to a booster group that he was turning in Meyer for cheating.

2.  Nutt’s 37-man signing class last February led the SEC to institute a maximum cap on signing classes (now 28).  Nutt’s reaction was to stand up in front of the other league coaches and athletic directors at the SEC meetings and apologize for any embarrassment he might have brought upon the league.  Compare that to Kiffin.  When Kiffin drew fire from the league for his comments about officiating, he mentioned the letter he would get from the SEC office and how it would mean nothing.  He then sarcastically joked on a postgame radio show that he was thankful for the fine officiating crew Mike Slive had sent to his game. 

3.  Nutt pressed and pressed to get Jamar Hornsby into the Ole Miss program.  Hornsby had been dismissed from the Florida program for numerous issues, the most serious being his use of a dead girl’s credit card.  (Hornsby never made it onto the UM team because of more criminal charges brought against him in connection with a beating he allegedly administered to someone in Mississippi.)  But while we made a pretty big deal of it on this site, most media outlets ignored Nutt’s attempted leniency.  Compare that to Kiffin’s decision to keep defensive back Janzen Jackson on the Tennessee team after charges were dropped in his attempted armed robbery case.  Why the difference in national coverage?  Again, check the coaches’ comments on discipline.

When Kiffin was asked about Meyer’s decision to suspend Brandon Spikes for one half after an on-field eye-poke, UT’s coach said, “He’ll discipline his team — or not — however he feels.”  Clearly, a dig.  A dig that most Vol fans (and Gator haters) liked.  But when Nutt was asked about the armed robbery at Tennessee, Nutt took the high road saying: “There’s some days that (coaches) make too much money.  And then some days where we don’t make enough.”



Neither man is an angel.  But Nutt and Kiffin go about their business in different ways.

Nutt plays politics.  Kiffin doesn’t.  Nutt doesn’t throw major stones.  Kiffin does.

Other coaches don’t despise Nutt the way they despise Kiffin.  And I’ll guarantee you the commissioner preferred Nutt’s mea culpa to Kiffin’s sarcasm.

Fair or not, that’s what all the talk and ‘tude will get you.  If you don’t care to be the jerk, then be one.  But don’t expect anyone to like you for it.

For example, the old guy in the neighborhood who runs all the kids out of his yard probably shouldn’t expect to get a Christmas gift from the folks next door.  That’s the price he pays for being who he is.  It’s his right.  Folks who like him might say that they support him.  But he — nor his supporters — should complain when he gets the cold shoulder from everyone else on the street.



Kiffin has often been compared to Spurrier.  For his part, Spurrier has made it pretty clear that he’s not a fan of Tennessee’s new coach, either.

But Spurrier’s worst comments (back when he could still dominate teams) were jokes.  They were needles. 

“You can’t spell Citrus without U-T” is a far cry from Kiffin’s recent comments about the Gators: “Florida has the better players, Alabama has the better coaches.”

One’s a joke.  One’s an insult.

Nothing wrong with delivering an insult.  Hometown fans love that kind of stuff.  But the man who insults other coaches, other programs and angers the league office to boot had better be ready when all the insultees start trying to get even.

That’s why there are rumors that other coaches are eager to rat out Kiffin’s program.  That’s why some coaches got the word to Ray Melick of The Birmingham News that Kiffin’s appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” might have been a breach of etiquette. 

Kiffin is a wanted man.  He made himself a wanted man with his statements and actions.

“The deer that makes the most noise gets shot.”

Whether it’s rival coaches, the league office or some insulted people in Pahokee, Florida who might come back to haunt him, it appears that folks are always going to have their guns trained on Mr. Kiffin.

And with the NCAA snooping around, it’s apparently hunting season in East Tennessee.

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