Publicly griping about officials in the SEC just got a lot more costly for Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and the rest of the league’s football coaches.
After three SEC coaches in two weeks, including Kiffin, received reprimands for ripping officials, the conference has decided that future punishment for such antics will be fines and suspensions.
A memorandum was sent by the league office Friday to every school making them aware of the change, which is effective immediately.
Commissioner Mike Slive, in his eighth season with the conference, was given full discretion by the league’s athletic directors and presidents to hand out the punishment. He will determine the amount of fines and lengths of suspensions on a case-by-case basis.
“On rare occasions over the last seven years there were several private reprimands and that took care of the matter,” Slive told the AP in a telephone interview. “On occasion there were public reprimands and that took care of it. It became clear to me after last week that I was no longer interested in reprimands.
“We will go right to suspensions and fines.”
The Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences also use public reprimands, fines and suspensions as penalties for coaches who are publicly critical of officiating.
The SEC’s officiating, and public complaints by a few coaches about it, has drawn plenty of unwanted attention to Slive’s conference.
Last week, an officiating crew was suspended after it called penalties the league said were not supported by video evidence in the LSU-Georgia game Oct. 3 and the Arkansas-Florida game Oct. 17. The SEC publicly announced the suspensions, an unprecedented move by the conference.
Slive said that while he believes the SEC officiating has been good this season, the unusual circumstances with that one crew convinced him to go public with the punishment.
“It had to do with a very unusual confluence of events that we have not seen before and I doubt we will see again, in that we had two calls by a crew over a relatively short period of time that the video evidence did not support,” Slive said. “And one of the rules in play was the excessive celebration rule that has long been a subject of public debate.
“Given all that, we felt it was important to say publicly the discipline we had imposed. That is not something we expect to have to do again.”
The day after the crew was suspended, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was reprimanded by Slive for making critical statements about officiating in the Razorbacks’ 23-20 loss at Florida.
Then on Sunday, Kiffin and Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen each went off on the officiating in their Saturday games. Kiffin’s Vols lost 12-10 at Alabama and Mullen’s Bulldogs lost 29-19 to Florida in Starkville, Miss.
The SEC responded Monday by reprimanding both coaches for violating league ethics rules. The league made no public admonishment of the calls that Kiffin and Mullen complained about.
Kiffin made it clear Sunday that he was not worried about getting a reprimand for his comments: “I’m sure we’ll get one of those letters that really means nothing as Bobby got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on.”
Tennessee spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said Friday that Kiffin and athletic director Mike Hamilton would not comment on the SEC’s stiffer penalties.
“We fully expect and anticipate that we will have the full cooperation of our coaches from this day forward,” Slive said.
Kiffin received his first reprimand in February for accusing Florida coach Urban Meyer of violating recruiting rules.
Kiffin and Meyer tossed a few verbal jabs at each other in the following months and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier even weighed in about Kiffin at one point. Slive twice this year has talked to Meyer and Kiffin about all the chatter.
Slive said he is always available to speak to coaches about concerns about officiating, but he does not feel the need to speak to any coaches individually on the subject.
“I think the memo is crystal clear,” Slive said. “It needs no embellishment.”
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Comments » 135
Mr_Brownstone writes:
further controls to ensure Bama and Florida or in the SEC championship game. Stick it Slive!
volgrog#210164 writes:
What a bunch of cr*p. The officiating gets worse and instead of fixing the problem the league is putting out a gag rule. Slive needs to go!
Mr_Brownstone writes:
s/b "are" as in "are in the championship game."
NoSirRee writes:
Yeah, I bet they did change the rules because thats a lot easier than addressing the real problem, the refs. Also, this sounds like Communist China.
illinoisvolfan writes:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the "Lane Kiffin Rule."
Instead of attempting to solve the problem, the SEC chooses instead to blame it all on CLK.
Go Big Orange, beat 'em all!!!
go_vols_go writes:
Old boys network. Slive is a stuffy old fart. Get with the times.
davethevol writes:
The "pooping" part is hilarious. :) I agree, Mike Slive is a joke and needs to go. How exactly did this guy become the commissioner and how can he be removed from his position?
volball7222 writes:
What happened to the first ammendment? OBama take that too?
the10sevol writes:
cheaper than hiring better officials or retraining existing ones. so what are we going to do with all that tv money, if not improve league play?
GBO
Rockford writes:
WHATEVER
SEC__Headgear writes:
$ has AD's in line with the head office. The coaches need code words so that they can communicate with those of us who are awake.
Awh shucks = Slive's henchmen officials are at it again.
Watch Film = The other team cheated and I can prove it.
Get Better = We suck but it’s because we do not pay players.
I have always had great respect for “opposing coach” = I Hate “opposing coach” and always have.
Thank the Lord for instant replay = Ray Charles could have made a better call.
Well you get the idea. Now that I think about it, they have been using code for decades.
gbrown2 writes:
WHO IN THE HECK ARE THESE LOUSEY REFS!!!! THEY ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW!!! AND WHY CAN'T THEY BE PUBLICLY HUMILIATED!!! THEY NEED IT!!! THEY ARE PATHETIC!!!!! SPIVEY GET A LIFE!!!!!!
LDDFC912 writes:
I AM ON MY WAY TO MARYVILLE! WHO IS RIDING WITH ME??????
Down_The_Field writes:
how bout toughening the punishment for officials who cost teams a game? maybe fire them?
i'm not speaking from a UT perspective as much as i'm speaking from a conference perspective....how 'bout from an arkansas perspective? how 'bout from an lsu perspective? if i remember correctly tim dweebo's roomy still has lsu purple on his hands for holding on the TD reception.
volfan17 writes:
So let me get this straight: It's not o.k. for a coach or player to publicly criticize the officials, but it IS o.k. for the SEC to publicly reprimand a coach or player. Does anyone else see the irony here?
volfan17 writes:
I've never understood why you can't criticize officials. It just doesn't make sense. Who do they think they are?
volfan17 writes:
Slive must be a DemocRAT. He doesn't like criticism so he has to silence it.
sambosam411 writes:
How about when the refs make a bad call the SEC is fined and the money given to the affected team. Slive has too much power and can't be stopped. Hit them where it hurts the wallet. Seems this is about money anyway. Slive should come out and be honest about the spotty officiating. If you are going to call out the coaches for their attitudes, then judge yourself also.
GerryOP writes:
C'mon Mikey, time to go to bat for your guy!
Just heard on ESPN this morning, "Maybe the SEC is not as great this year as many people think." Now let's add incompetent refs to the equation, and a blind eye being turned to it, and then let's see what Slive can do to raise money for the conference.
finn writes:
The more I hear about Slive, the less I think of him. He seems to be a small man that feels to the need to exert control just to prove his own worth. I think he may be lacking in certain areas and this is his attempt to compensate.
CRFVols writes:
Why doesn't he focus on fixing the officiating problem instead of worrying about making a stiffer penalty for talking about it?? Slive should go. He'll be on his knees in front of Kiffin once we get back on top.
AtlantaTide writes:
Hey Doc,
Tide fan here. I'm reading one of my fav blogs...then I read language similar to your own. Is that a pic of your god, or could it be one of the GoVolzXtra trolls?
http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2009/10/3...
Volunatic writes:
Please leave politics off these boards.
VolunteerLifer writes:
Exactly so. When are the AD's and the Commish gonna toughen the requirements for hiring and training officials? Until they announce a viable program to do that, then announcements like this are meaningless. Instead of worrying about PR control issues and perceptions, why not try to solve THE PROBLEM?
jmr68ut writes:
Sounds like the king has spoken!!!
"Slive must be a DemocRAT. He doesn't like criticism so he has to silence it."
Nay, Volfan 17, I figure he must have been a part of the Dubya gang since any criticism can't be tolerated - Why it's unAmerican and unSECly!!!
KCHS63 writes:
Since Vanderbilt's coach has yet to be reprimanded for his comments, do I assume correctly that when his reprimand is issued he will be suspended? Is that correct, Birmingham? That is what the directive said......"Immediately."
troken writes:
Fire Slive yesterday!!! This has to be the worst hire in the history of the SEC!!!
AFVol423 writes:
Now there is a solution. Officiating is substandard, so we increase the penalty against anyone that points out the problem. No more discussion of the problem so problem is solved. Crazy
AtlantaTide writes:
Agreed. The commish totally missed the point.
Deal with the Cause, not the Effect!
LVVOLJJ writes:
Slive: College Football Czar!
seccommish writes:
Refs paybacks are hell.
The refs are meeting tonight in Kville. The plan is to warn both coaches prior to kickoff that whining will not be tolerated. Then they will drop 10 hankies on both teams before the night is over making it impossible to figure out who will win.
CrankE writes:
Future Kiffin Post-game comments:
I want to thank the outstanding, superlative officiating crew (Peace Be Upon them, may they live forever) for their excellent and most outstanding game they called today. The referees (Peace Be Upon them, may they live forever) are totally just and righteous in their calls. Amen.
Sarcasm?! There's no sarcasm in this. Sheesh, that's all truth right there, or are you calling me a liar?
Vol86 writes:
Again great job Kiff. Everyone knows sec officiating has problems. One more way for slime to try to hide the problem. Slime is an ars. Ok slime-butt
Pullingguard writes:
Just covering their rumps for the inferior calls made against everyone except Florida and Alabama. Ole Hook Nose will always protect his home base and his favorite teams... Slimy Slive needs to correct his problems instead of trying to find ways to punish the coaching..
VolFanFtl writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Vol86 writes:
sports or politics about the same. Its the sec man. Maybe bigger than politics.
oldvolsfan writes:
someone tell me why referres are exempt from being acountable for their missed calls it looks like slive and saban and myrer are at all their meetings and are told to keep their teams from defeat no matter what
volfan17 writes:
My apologies. I just thought since Slive was bringing politics into the SEC, I'd follow suit. ;) GO VOLS!!!
douglasawilliams#582863 writes:
I'm going to take the unpopular stance and side with Slive. There are channels to voice grievances with officiating. To publicly discredit officiating is wrong for a head coach to do period. It was a good no call against Cody's helmet removing stunt. The game clock had expired and they blocked the kick end of story. Most of the penalties they called against us were valid. Our center did have a snap violation (again) and there were some valid holding penalties in the red zone that likely costs us points. I'm a VOL fan but its over lets move on to the South Carolina game.
FearTheVols1252 writes:
Sounds to me like Slive is pissed that Kiffin revealed his plot to the media and is trying to ensure it remains covered up. Alabama and Florida can put in their reserves in from here on out because it sounds like Slive will weasel one of them through the pipeline straight to the national championship no matter what. Bad officiating = more money in his pocket.
bosscat writes:
I don't know if this video has been seen by the Vol nation or not, but it is very interesting. Look carefully and you will see the ref looking at the Bama players and pointing out to them where the football is laying on the field. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5El03C...
layoffthevolteam writes:
Just my view: This is all about money.
So, you get three teams to pull out of the SEC and go to the new conferences.
That's taking my bat and go home. All the teams
could still play these three they just begin to
drop out every year...
Its like our country(our great land is not politics so get off me). UT could play USC
BYU Tex ASU Stanford. and who would pay the
SEC office boys..
The Ncaa is another joke, just take time to look
up and how this NCAA came about.
Lastly if I hear one more promo about a school
with a 6-4 7-5 or less record is still bowl eligible I think I would throw up.
Let have the games @ the Real bowl( over 20 yrs
ago established) and knock off the Sunbeam bread
bowl and so forth,,,,,
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
Quote, "Conference athletic directors voted unamiously to enforce suspension and fines at the discretion of the commissioner effective immediately". Well, we all ready knew what slime thought of Kiffin, I guess now it's good to know where Mikey really stands too. Watch out Lane, Mikey has publicly made his stand now and does not have your back!
Vol86 writes:
I do not think he did.
Vol86 writes:
Mikey wears panties
kman29 writes:
Mike Slive has led the SEC through its most lucritive period in its history. Slive is the one who succesfully got the SEC Network package with its contracts with ESPN, CBS where now every channel you turn to, most likely will be an SEC game. Slive has pretty much been refered to basically by media members, quotes from coaches and school presidents of being the smartest guy in any room he enters. Yet, because your unhappy with officials, he needs to be removed? I guess you better get rid of the Pac 10, Big 10, ACC and Big 12 commissioners too. The rule against coaches being critical of officials is nothing new. This is the rule in every professional sport and every conference in college football. But of course Im sure most of these feelings are because UT fan feels Kiffin is picked on right? And if pushed for logical reasons as to why he legitimately should be removed, you certainly couldn't give any other than poor Kiffin being picked on.
y9since80 writes:
Apparently you havent been watching sec football
InertGas writes:
Hey Slive, why don't you get out of the SEC and take a job cleaning toilets for which you are qualified.
CrankE writes:
Teebows!
Nonsense, Mike DOES have your back. He's just going to put a knife in it.
kman29 writes:
Ok, he is the worst hire why????? LOL! Give one reason. This is hilarious. All most of you all know about Slive is what you hear each other say in here. Not one of you, including myself knows what goes on behind doors. Not one of you knows what happens when refs screw up. Maybe he gets a pay cut, maybe he loses pay for that game. Who knows. But because the SEC like any major company (dont fool yourself, each BCS conference is basically a company) does not air its dirty laundry to the public. You want him out. Yet won't hesitate to turn on a game to watch because of the exposure Slive has negotiated for the SEC.
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