Editorial: USC made a HUGE mistake in picking Lane Kiffin.

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Let me put it this way. If you are being audited by the IRS, would you call a convicted tax cheat to represent you? I don’t think so.

There is no doubt that USC is in for some heavy penalties from the NCAA for recruiting violations. RB Bush’s parents reportedly got free housing, OJ Mayo reportedly got paid for a job he never did, and now there is the case of RB McKnight. The basketball program announced “self inflicted” penalties. That is like sending your 10 year old to his room for not doing his homework when he has his play station, lap top and television to keep him entertained. Nice idea but it doesn’t hold water.

So what did the pinheads at USC do? They hired the walking talking poster boy for foot in the mouth Lane Kiffin to be the new HC. Understand that this is the same Kiffin that got a reprimand from the NCAA for mistakenly claiming that Florida had committed a violation by contacting a player on a visit to Tennessee. This is the same Kiffin that after the first year of his tenor at Rocky Top has the NCAA starting an official investigation into his recruiting practices. This is the same Kiffin regime that is being looked at already for contacting recruits committed to Tennessee after he was named the pick of USC. Those calls were supposedly made by some of the staff he is taking with him. He has only been the USC guy for a week and already he is being checked out by the NCAA.

I hate to break the news to the folks at USC but hiring Kiffin is just going to make the NCAA mad.

That will hurt their chances of preventing stiffer penalties not help convince investigators they are doing their best to correct previous problems.

Given the number of investigations into multiple sports, there is clearly an institutional problem at USC. The Kiffin hire is going to throw gas on a fire that has already consumed most of the Trojan house. You can bet that Kiffin will stumble into another few violations before the NCAA is finished with their investigation. Most of the rest of the College football world is hoping that Kiffin will give himself and USC just enough rope to hang the future of the team for years to come. No matter what happens, by hiring Kiffin the school deserves whatever it gets.

Your fantasy football doesn’t have to be over. Run a pro football franchise all year long for free at . Tell them Coach Smith sent you.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for and edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and edits .

Technorati Tags: USC,NCAA,Investigation,violations,Kiffin,Tennessee,Taxes,IRS
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