Lane Kiffin Charged With Failure to Monitor While at Tennessee

The NCAA continues its fantastic (read: selective and illogical) enforcement of its antiquated rules as Lane Kiffin and Tennessee have been charged with a failure to monitor .

"In its investigation, the NCAA has determined that Reaves, then an assistant coach at Tennessee, made improper contact with recruits as well as providing written and oral instruction to the Vol hostesses about which top recruits to contact, how to contact them, and asked for updates on those conversations, which occurred either via Facebook, text message or phone call. The hostesses were also urged to inquire as to how official visits to other schools went and to make sure that recruits remained committed to the Vols. According to the NCAA these contacts were improper and amounted to a failure to monitor on the part of the football program.Upon receipt of the notice of allegations, the university and the coaches are expected to respond to the charges within 90 days, likely arguing that the hostesses acted alone and without direction from the coaching staff. Indeed, Reaves maintained to NCAA investigators that he provided no direction to members of Orange Pride. But the NCAA has evidence to counter these denials and that evidence in conjunction with interviews with the hostesses led the NCAA to believe that Kiffin, Reaves and the University of Tennessee football program have all violated NCAA rules."

Just so we are all very clear on this: Cam Newton didn’t know that his very own father was shopping him around, but Lane Kiffin and his staff clearly knew what the hostesses were doing when they went to high schools. Give me a break. Maybe Kiffin broke the rules; maybe he didn’t. Either way, recent rulings would reach a new level of comedy and absurdity if either Tennessee or Lane are given a penalty for this.

As the article mentions, few coaches have been given a penalty after they move on to a different school, but it has happened before. John Calipari is in a different sport, but he is the king of vacated wins. He goes to programs, commits numerous violations, and then skips town the second before the NCAA drops a punishment. Yet, Coach Vacate has never been punished by the NCAA. Punishing Kiffin if in fact he directed hostesses to break the rules would add to the inconsistency of the NCAA.