In case you're wondering, here is the complete list of outrageous things Lane Kiffin has not done since becoming head coach at Tennessee:
1. Paint himself orange and skydive naked into Bryant-Denny Stadium. 2. Ask what Urban Meyer has done that's so great. 3. Consult with the UT astronomy department to see whether the universe would be annihilated if his ego was ever in the same room as Bruce Pearl's. 4. Coach in, and win, a football game.
For a moment, I had to cross off "make an outrageous scholarship offer to a middle schooler" because, well, there were reports that he just did that. Evan Berry, 13-year-old son of former Vol running back James Berry and brother of current Vol Eric Berry, has officially committed to the Vols. Or so said Rivals.com and ESPN, sort of.
Last summer, the SEC signed a new $2.25 billion television rights deal with ESPN. The amount was staggering. ESPN is now on the hook for $150 million per year for the next 15 years. Now we know that every SEC football game will be televised on the network's broadcast partners, infinitely more basketball games will arrive on the network, and sundry lesser sports will also be featured.
It's a deal of tremendous implications that catapults SEC sports coverage into the realm of professional sports. What's been left unexamined is how this will change ESPN's news coverage of the league, and how that resulting coverage is going to make the SEC the de facto national college league of choice. Why? Because ESPN has spent so much money on the rights packages, the SEC has to be front and center.
When Houston Nutt signed 37 players to football scholarships at Ole Miss back in February, he knew several would not qualify academically. After all, the NCAA only allows a maximum of 25 scholarship players in any one recruiting class. Thus it was no surprise last week when SEC Commissioner Mike Slive told his coaches they would only be allowed to sign 28 prospects to letters of intent from now on.
This puts the Tennessee Volunteers in a bit of tight spot. The website Gridironstuds.com has counted up and found that Lane Kiffin (above) and his staff have already made scholarship offers to a few more prospects than that. And by "a few" I mean "a metric boatload." The Vols have 187 offers out there for the class of 2010.
Insert your own "doesn't Tennessee have a math department?" joke here. Kiffin went to Fresno State anyway. But what are the Vols going to do?
In the past few years, many colleges have begun to roll out all-day football camps for women. Sometimes these situations become borderline awkward, such as when hundreds of female Virginia Tech fans took photos of players as they flexed in their underwear. Nothing kills the fun of college athletics more than your wife coming home with pictures of your favorite players wearing nothing but compression shorts. Now Lane Kiffin and Tennessee are joining other SEC schools like South Carolina and Georgia which have been offering women this experience for several years.
Only they're rolling out the university's No. 1 starlet to open up the festivities ... Layla Kiffin.
The SEC coaches meetings rolled into Destin, Fla., this week, and Lane Kiffin washed ashore.
You know Kiffin, the man who brought a Molotov cocktail to the SEC tea party, the guy who coaches like tickets have to be sold for the latest WWE event. You halfway expect for him to enter press conferences wearing orange tights, grab the mike, scream invectives at his rivals, then spike the microphone, kiss his biceps, and leave without taking questions. Kiffin coaches college football like Vince McMahon helms the WWE, it's all about creating a buzz.
Tuesday, Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers received a commitment from a high school defensive end named J.C. Copeland. "Kiffin" exulted via Twitter, "It's a beautiful day in Knoxville, Tennessee today. I was so excited to hear that J.C. Copeland committed to play for the Vols today!"
There's just one problem with this twit, er, tweet. You can't comment on a recruit by name until they've officially signed with your program. Oops.
Meet Twittergate. As a result of the Twitter post, the Vols have been forced to self-report a secondary violation to the NCAA.
Last season, the Raiders paid DeAngleo Hall $8 million for eight weeks of service before cutting bait. Not the best use of the salary cap, but it makes sense when put in perspective: Oakland has had four coaches, four quarterbacks and 16 wins in four years. Blowing $8 million on Hall is nothing.
Hall wasn't out of work long; he signed with the Redskins and played well enough to get a long-term deal (apparently, leaving Oakland is good for your career).
Why might Principal Alejo (right) be upset? I don't know, it could have something to do with the fact that his public profile page for Pahokee High School features a Florida Gator at the bottom [Now replaced with the Pahokee High seal. Alejo's e-mail address has also been removed.] Alongside this quote, "I would also like for every student to graduate and go to college." What needs to be added to the end of the quote is this, "Unless they go to Tennessee." No matter which school you support, I think we can all agree, this is ridiculous and colossal misplacement of school time, energy and focus.
The University of Tennesseeextended a scholarship offer to 6-foot-5, 255 pound Daniel Hood of Knoxville Catholic High School. Hood has solid grades, a great ACT score, hasn't gotten in trouble in high school, and is a three-star recruit. There's just one problem: At the age of 13 he was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and the rape of his first cousin with a toilet plunger after covering 70 percent of her body with duct tape. Hood later appealed the conviction, which the appeals court rejected.
On Tuesday, Hood signed scholarship papers with Tennessee, and the university immediately began the public relations campaign to justify his admission. University president Mike Hamilton, coach Lane Kiffin, and the head of public relations for the university all issued statements on the signing. So did officials at Knoxville Catholic High School and Daniel Hood. But Hood's conviction raises a couple of intriguing questions, can you do something so bad at 13 that you don't deserve a second chance? And do sports really even qualify as a second chance? Especially when playing sports for the University of Tennessee is a privilege, not a right. (Warning: Court transcripts after the jump involve mature language.)
The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.
We recently welcomed renowned lawyer turned author/blogger/athlete Clay Travis (read his new book!) to FanHouse. Naturally, we fired up the podcast machine. The result? Ye olde epic two-parter. The first half is after the jump and in it we answer the pressing questions: Is Tim Tebow a virgin? Is "fat-ass" an inappropriate term to use in intramural sports? Should you let your wife time your 40-yard dash? Is working at Deadspin fun? How many crazy pills did Lane Kiffin swallow? And, of course, who's more evil: Urban Meyer or Nick Saban? Do enjoy.
In case you're wondering, here is the complete list of outrageous things Lane Kiffin has not done since becoming head coach at Tennessee:
Last summer, the SEC signed a new $2.25 billion television rights deal with ESPN. The amount was staggering. ESPN is now on the hook for $150 million per year for the next 15 years. Now we know that every SEC football game will be televised on the network's broadcast partners, infinitely more basketball games will arrive on the network, and sundry lesser sports will also be featured. 
When Houston Nutt signed 37 players to football scholarships at Ole Miss back in February, he knew several would not qualify academically. After all, the NCAA only allows a maximum of 25 scholarship players in any one recruiting class. Thus it was no surprise last week when SEC Commissioner Mike Slive told his coaches they would only be allowed to sign 28 prospects to letters of intent from now on..jpg)
In the past few years, many colleges have begun to roll out all-day football camps for women. Sometimes these situations become borderline awkward, such as when hundreds of female Virginia Tech fans took photos of players as they flexed in their underwear. Nothing kills the fun of college athletics more than your wife coming home with pictures of your favorite players wearing nothing but compression shorts. Now Lane Kiffin and Tennessee are joining other SEC schools like South Carolina and Georgia which have been offering women this experience for several years.
The SEC coaches meetings rolled into Destin, Fla., this week, and Lane Kiffin washed ashore. 
Tuesday, Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers received a commitment from a high school defensive end named J.C. Copeland. "Kiffin" exulted via Twitter, "It's a beautiful day in Knoxville, Tennessee today. I was so excited to hear that J.C. Copeland committed to play for the Vols today!"
Last season, the Raiders paid DeAngleo Hall $8 million for eight weeks of service before cutting bait. Not the best use of the salary cap, but it makes sense when put in perspective: Oakland has had four coaches, four quarterbacks and 16 wins in four years. Blowing $8 million on Hall is nothing. 
It's really come to this.
The University of Tennessee extended a scholarship offer to 6-foot-5, 255 pound Daniel Hood of Knoxville Catholic High School. Hood has solid grades, a great ACT score, hasn't gotten in trouble in high school, and is a three-star recruit. There's just one problem: At the age of 13 he was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and the rape of his first cousin with a toilet plunger after covering 70 percent of her body with duct tape. Hood later appealed the conviction, which the appeals court rejected.
