Slive thinks Kiffin grasps his message

SEC commissioner Mike Slive declined to say if he was any more concerned about Tennessee's secondary violations than other SEC schools.

"If I was, I wouldn't tell you," Slive said on the News Sentinel's radio show, The Sports Page, on Friday at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. "Secondly, I think to put it succinctly and respectfully, I'm satisfied that message delivered, message received."

The message was delivered on Monday as Slive and first-year UT coach Lane Kiffin shared some alone time during a mandatory new coaches orientation at the SEC's offices in Birmingham, Ala.

First-time SEC coaches or those who have returned to the conference after a four-year absence are required to attend the annual meetings.

Coaches are educated in the workings of the conference office, given a dose of SEC history and told of the expectations that the commissioner has for each member school.

Slive and Kiffin spent the lunch hour together in a conversation that Slive described as "very cordial."

"He explained some things from his perspective; I explained some things from my perspective and we parted," Slive said. "I wished him well, and I wish him tremendous success."

Aside from some minor, secondary NCAA violations, Kiffin drew Slive's ire after mistakenly accusing Florida coach Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation. Through the SEC office, Slive issued a reprimand to Kiffin, who apologized later that day.

Snead Says: Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead remembers Ed Orgeron well. Orgeron, who coaches UT's defensive line and heads up its recruiting, convinced Snead to transfer from Texas to the Rebels.

"He recruited me there," Snead said of Orgeron. "One thing I can say about him is passion. He's extremely passionate about the game and you can really tell that he loves it. I believe he brings a lot of excitement to the table."

Snead was the only prospect on campus when he evaluated Ole Miss. Therefore, he didn't get to see Orgeron in full recruiting mode.

"He didn't rip his shirt off during my recruitment," Snead said with a smile. "It was a little more laid back."

Orgeron is known for going shirtless to excite groups of prospects during big visit weekends.

Cultured Club: Kiffin said UT's run of no arrests since he was hired in December and improved grade point average is important to the future of UT's program - not just the present. Kiffin said incoming freshmen will quickly take cues from the upperclassmen when it comes to discipline.

"What is the culture they're coming into?" Kiffin said. "They don't know how to act necessarily."

With 12 players off UT's team since last season, the message has been clear.

UT's players have responded with a clean rap sheet and the highest GPA in four years. The GPA also is one of the highest jumps from one semester to another in recent history, 0.2 over the 2008 fall semester when Phillip Fulmer was coach.

Fun Time: Kiffin loves recruiting, spring practice and playing games in the fall. But his favorite time on the football calendar begins Aug. 3, when the Vols open preseason camp.

"You get to do ball," Kiffin said. "There are so little distractions. There's so much time with them. You get to see guys get better."