Courtesy and Karma

It's been awhile since I have posted something scout related (or anything in general I guess), but when I heard this I felt compelled to make one. I heard a story about a certain new coach at the University of Tennessee, Lane Kiffin. From day one Kiffin has had trouble fitting in with the other coaches of the Southeastern Conference.

Kiffin's first questionable act involved University of Florida coach Urban Meyer. At a breakfast celebrating the incoming recruiting class, Kiffin opined the following: "I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get [running back Nu'Keese Richardson]". This alleged cheating was Urban Meyer calling Richardson while the recruit was on an official visit to Tennessee. After promising to turn in coach Meyer, did Kiffin seek punishment for the Florida coach? Oh wait, as it turns out it's not a violation at all, but criticizing another SEC official is a violation of the conference's code of ethics. Can anyone say the pot calling the kettle black?

Criticizing other officials is in poor taste, but it's not the end of the world. Kiffin proved however that no one is safe from his discourteous behavior. ESPN blogger Chris Low reported that the night before National Signing Day (February 5), Kiffin called receiver Alshon Jeffrey to see if he had made a decision on schools and to give one last pep talk. I have never been a part of the recruiting process, and I'm sure it is intense, but what ESPN's Chris Low credits to Kiffin is unacceptable. "According to Jeffrey and Wilson (Jeffrey's high school coach), Kiffin told Jeffrey that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina." full story here

Since then Kiffin has denied saying it, and tried to assure fans that he does not intend to use negative recruiting techniques. It's really tough to believe that someone who had already signed with another school and his coach would simply make this story up though, and this is not Kiffin's first case of aggression. One can only hope that recruits will see the true colors of Kiffin and choose to attend different schools that offer more than dishonest accusations and classless threats as a means of diplomacy. I imagine that the Gators and the Gamecocks will circle the Tennessee game on the schedule for this year, and hopefully a certain freshman wide receiver might get a little payback and take a step toward a future in the NFL with a big game.

I hope that future articles regarding such treatment will take a less accepting tone as Mr. Low's, but until then public outcry will just have to be sufficient in assigning blame to Kiffin. It's quite shocking to hear such blatant rudeness from such a public figure, but hopefully it won't rub off on any of Kiffin's players

Now that Favre is gone

On First and 10 this morning, Stephen A. Smith (clearly not my favorite pundit to begin with) was charged with ranking the AFC East teams now that the Buffalo Bills have signed Terrell Owens. You may be asking where Brett Favre fit into all this. Well, in his infinite wisdom, Stephen A. has always argued that Favre was overrated in New York, and many of you may recall the final regular season game that the Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins in which Favre threw three interceptions. Many of you may also recall the storm of criticism Favre faced in the next week, especially from teammate Thomas Jones who felt that Favre should have been taken out of the game. I would venture to guess that Mr. Smith would agree with Thomas Jones, yet when asked where the Jets rank among the AFC East teams, he claimed this morning that they would miss none other than... Brett Favre.

While I will readily concede that Favre needed to retire, and that his shoulder injury clearly affected his performance in the back half of the football season, I think that the Jets clearly improved their team by signing him. I don't understand why pundits like Smith cannot understand that Eric Mangini had no other choice than to leave Brett Favre in the game. Let's be realistic: the other option was Kellen Clemens, who hadn't played all season long. Additionally, remember that it was only a seven point deficit. How many times in his career has Brett Favre thrown off a terrible day full of interceptions and won the game late? To argue that the Jets were better off without Favre is so beyond belief it should be considered hysteria.

Thankfully, Skip Bayless (ironically a man known for flip-flopping quite a bit) called Stephen A. Smith's contradiction. Hopefully this will make a few people realize that disparaging's Favre's contribution to the Jets is uncalled for. Maybe this will make Stephen A. Smith wake up and agree that Terrell Owens kills a locker room or that the Bill O'Reilly strategy for arguments does not equate to winning them; then again Rome wasn't built in a day.