And, in the last three months....
Have whiffed on their top five QB recruits...
And, in the last three months as deftly published by the T-town News...
n Signing a recruit who at the age of 13 was found by a juvenile court to have helped rape a relative.
āIf you research it enough, really knew the exact story of what happened from a number of sources, I think itās different than what was portrayed in the media,ā he said. āBut itās a very sensitive subject and one we took very serious.ā
n The large number of secondary NCAA violations.
āNot one of the violations that occurred to us was something we planned, set out to say, āWeāre going to create a violation.ā I donāt think any of the violations we had gained us an advantage in recruiting.
āWe are under a great effort as a staff to make sure we donāt have any more.ā
n His critical and insensitive comments regarding Pahokee, Fla., and accusation that Florida coach Urban Meyer cheated, during a post-signing day event (UF and the high school demanded apologies and the SEC publicly reprimanded Kiffin).
āAnybody I talked to that was there, including people in our athletic department at the time, thought nothing of it because they were laughing and joking. It was just amongst our people.ā
Kiffin also said Meyer was āvery nice in the (spring) meetings.ā
n Although assistant coach Ed Orgeron bragged heād build a āfence around Memphisā in recruiting, three of the areaās top players have committed elsewhere, including wide receiver Keiwone Malone to Alabama.
āI think wait ātil signing day happens. Then I think go back and evaluate, are we getting the players we really went after.ā
n On rumblings that recruit Janzen Jacksonās last-minute switch from LSU to Tennessee was because his father, a football coach, was promised a job at UT down the line.
āThereās no truth to that.ā
n The sudden replacement of strength coach Mark Smith in favor of Aaron Ausmus.
āI felt that we got to a point that we were plateauing a little bit. I felt that I had a chance to improve us in that area, just like Iāll improve us in any area, if you go to switch players at some point, you know, on a depth chart during the season.ā
The funny thing is I could go on...
There's the case where his ride was late and he claimed to fire the driver...the rumors of Ogeron and his drinking...the stories of the same happening in the football complex...