Tennessee's rebuilding progress arrested for the moment

WVLT Video Screenshot

Screenshot of WVLT VolunteerTV exclusive video of the arrests early Thursday morning. Three University of Tennessee football players and a woman were jailed on charges of attempted armed robbery.

KNOXVILLE — The arrest of three Tennessee football players on attempted armed robbery charges is proving to be a test of character -- for coach Lane Kiffin, not the players.

Kiffin's actions in this incident, the first player police blotter and who knows how many controversies into his tenure as Tennessee head football coach, are being closely watched (almost gleefully in Florida).

It also comes as Tennessee's momentum had been gaining speed in the quest to climb atop the Southeastern Conference and be among the elite of the college football world with a savvy coaching staff, some back-to-back wins, tons of interest from high profile recruiting prospects and a re-energized fan base.

As one might have suspected, a few sports writers and pundits have some thoughts on this latest turn of events in the Reign of Lane.

Here's what they are saying today:

• Missing the Mark | Off the Hook | GoVolsXra: ... the more I think about how Lane Kiffin handled Thursday's news bomb, the more I'm left scratching my head. Tennessee's first-year coach decided to essentially say nothing, other than to point out that safety Janzen Jackson had been released. The intention was clear: Jackson may not be as culpable as Nu'Keese Richardson or Mike Edwards. Or Jackson might not be culpable at all.
• Tennessee Vols Football: Kiffin's Quandry | Bleacher Report: Whatever Lane Kiffin decides to do in the next few hours will be extremely important to his future at Tennessee.
• Can Tennessee give back some of that street cred? | Scarblog - al.com: Nothing says street cred like getting a shout-out in a rap song. Unless it's getting patted down for attempted armed robbery.
• Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN - ROCKY TOP BEAT: A tremendous storm hits the TN football team: UT fans should focus on the scores of other players that do the right thing during their time at UT. These are the ones that now will have to carry on and finish what this team has started.
• TNJN - Vols' arrests: Really, how dumb is this?: Really, guys? How dumb can we be?
• Trouble in Tennessee - SEC Blog - ESPN: Here's the other thing: (Janzen) Jackson is the best player among the three and one of the top freshmen in the SEC this season. So it will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out. His failed drug test, one of the things that led to his suspension from the Memphis game last week, won't help him.
• Vols' arrests should haunt Tennessee's Lane Kiffin - Colleges - MiamiHerald.com: Question for Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin: At what point did you fail Nu'Keese Richardson?
• So what's Lane Kiffin going to talk about now? | Jeff Schultz: We can’t predict how this case unfolds. But everybody who has been waiting to jump on Kiffin for something just got their wish.
• Chattanooga Times Free Press | Wiedmer: Prized guys part of bad UT surprise: Maybe he's merely protecting his players, as Kiffin tends to do. But regardless of what ultimately becomes fact or fiction, if there's truly no disappointment that his players were in a position to get into trouble at 2 a.m., then there should be much disappointment from the UT administration in Kiffin's value system.
• Geoff Calkins: They just don't draw the line at borderline The Commercial Appeal: It is an impossibly dirty business we follow with such fervor. College football brings kids to our universities who have no business being there.
• Lane Kiffin should show arrested Vols' players zero tolerance | David Climer | The Tennessean: It's high time to make a statement that such behavior will not be tolerated, whether it involves 18-year-old freshmen or 23-year-old fifth-year seniors. Declining discipline helped undermine your predecessor, Phillip Fulmer. Don't make the same mistake.
• Tea leaves say Kiffin's keeping Jackson | Ask Grff | GoVolsXtra: Janzen Jackson has attorney Don Bosch representing him. That's all I needed to hear to know Jackson is likely remaining with the football team.

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Michael Silence has more react and brings up the Prius question..

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