Kiffin Sets Fire to Bridge, Moves On to Troy

Wow. And with Lane Kiffin being named the next coach of USC, the saga moves from peculiar to insane. With a career college record of 7-6 Lane Kiffin has been given the keys to currently one of the most prized jobs in college football. I'll leave the questions of if a kid born on third base deserves the job, will do a good job, will become an even more insufferable douchebag for others. Instead what I want to briefly touch on is the timing of it all. Let's be honest here, Kiffin screwed over two distinct groups his players and the university by when he left.

While Kiffin is basically free to go to any job he wants and almost any time, his players aren't. A few kids already enrolled at UT to play for Kiffin next season will never have the chance and given NCAA regulations have huge hurdles to overcome to go to another school. I realize since the players are poor they don't have the same legal rights as Kiffin but the blatancy of the double standard seems particularly egregious.

Kiffin also screwed over the school. With less than 3 weeks until signing day the Volunteers stand to lose recruits, games, and revenue. While I don't really care about UT in particular the larger issue of coaching mobility is troubling. The more mobile a factor is the greater the bargaining leverage. As much coaching pay has increased this decade as norms of when to leave continue to erode the rate of pay increases will be even more. Which means less money for other university sports and less subsidization of university students. Again the ethics, inequity, and distribution of money appear grotesquely out of line with anything reasonable and unless the NCAA restricts when and how coaches up and leave, will only get worse....