Tennessee's Lane Kiffin's Silence Is Deafening As The Orange Is Crushed

As someone who has blasted Lane Kiffin in the past for his stupid statements, lies and mental miscues, I was fully ready and willing to give Lane Kiffin a pass for this, his first player arrest.

He has kept the team pretty much in check for a month short of a year and at Tennessee, that's quite an accomplishment.

What happened last week was possibly three young men who made a terrible decision. It was something that could have happened to any coach at any team. Unfortunately, such things have become all to common.

Kiffin has talked the good talk about discipline and even the fans outside of Tennessee fully expected him to follow through with a quick and swift verdict and appropriate punishment.

However, the silence coming from Tennessee is deafening.

His only two statements boiled down to "no comment" and "we need to get all the facts."

Lane, the facts are that at least two of your players tried to rob some citizens at gunpoint. That much seems pretty clear, the involvement of the third seems to be in question as does the speculation that they were smoking pot as well.

Police found the drugs in the car with paraphenalia along with the gun and the suspects were caught in the car and with the clothing described to the police and then eye witness I.D.'d.

How many more facts do you need? What other facts are you hoping this so called investigation will deliver?

You should have sent a representative to the jail to administer a drug test and you would have already had the results. You should have issued a statement immediately that said something like "Because of the overwhelming evidence at this point against the players arrested that they are suspended from the team for an indefinite period of time and if the charges prove true, they will be asked to leave both the team and the University."

You had time today to meet with the police, the players and even the victims. There was not much to investigate. Either they did or did not stick a gun in a citizen's face and demand money.

Even Inspector Clouseau could have solved this case by now. Each day you drag this out is another 100 pounds of credibility you lose.

Lane, you want to be considered a big time coach, now is the time to step up and act like one. Make your decision and stand by it. Let us see your convictions in action and let us see it soon. Your silence is deafening.