Lane Kiffin Dismisses Nu'Keese Richardson, Mike Edwards from Tennessee

One of the most heralded football signees in recent Tennessee history will have one of the shortest careers.

True freshmen Nu'Keese Richardson and Mike Edwards were dismissed by Vols coach Lane Kiffin Monday after being arrested last week on charges of attempted armed robbery.

Freshman Janzen Jackson remains suspended indefinitely, though Kiffin has not formerly tagged the disciplinary action against Jackson a suspension.

All three were arrested last week, along with another University of Tennessee student, after allegedly confronting a pair of other students with an air pistol outside a Knoxville convenience store just off the school's campus.

"After extensive and thorough research of the situation over the last four days and considering various disciplinary options, I’ve decided it’s in the best interest of our program to remove Nu’Keese and Mike," Kiffin said at a Monday afternoon press conference.

"As I’ve said many times before, we hold our student-athletes to an extremely high standard on and off the field. Our student-athletes must be responsible members of society, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated....clearly, their actions have no place in our program."

The arrests were seen as an embarrassment for Kiffin, who recruited all three and had publicly touted as recently as the previous afternoon his team's lack of off-the-field incidents since he was named Tennessee's head coach on Dec. 1, 2008.

All three were major components of the Vols' highly-touted recruiting class of 2009, which Kiffin and his staff compiled with less than eight weeks together on the job before National Signing Day.

Jackson has been mentioned by many as the next Eric Berry; Berry—a junior All-American who is likely to forego his last year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft—himself said that Jackson was more talented as a true freshman than Berry was at that age.

The Louisiana native, who chose Tennessee over LSU, had started the first eight games of the season in the Vols' secondary. He was suspended for the Memphis game for a violation of team rules; according to multiple reports, the violation was a failed drug test.

Richardson was an especially important recruit for Tennessee. Hailing from the recruiting hotbed of Pahokee, FL, Richardson was a fan favorite because of Kiffin's intensely public recruiting battle with Florida coach Urban Meyer to land Richardson.

Richardson was the source of Kiffin's accusation that Meyer violated NCAA recruiting rules. At a post-Signing Day breakfast with boosters, he joked, "I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him," a reference to Meyer allegedly calling Richardson's cell phone repeatedly while Richardson was on an official visit to Tennessee. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive publicly reprimanded Kiffin for the remark.

In addition to Meyer and LSU's Les Miles, Kiffin beat out another key rival for both Jackson and Richardson; Alabama had offered scholarships to both players.

Edwards, who chose Tennessee over in-state Cincinnati and Ohio State, among others, was lesser known than Richardson or Jackson but was expected to be a starter in the Vols' secondary by the 2010 season.

The three players did not participate in Saturday's loss to Ole Miss, nor did they make the trip to Oxford with the rest of the team. There had been some speculation from Kiffin's critics that the first-year coach would delay action on the three players because of their value to the team.

However, Kiffin made it clear in a Sunday interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel that the players' actions would not be tolerated.

"No way would we ever, with something like this possibly having happened, no way would we ever let one of those guys ever play for us," Kiffin told the News Sentinel . "We don't let them come to the functions over here, meetings or practice or anything."

While Jackson will continue to not be allowed to attend team functions—including practice and team meetings—Kiffin has delayed announcing a punishment for him.

Jackson was in the vehicle with Richardson and Edwards when all three were arrested, but his role in the alleged crime remains unclear. Police affidavits indicate that the victims said Jackson emerged from the store after his teammates had approached the victims' car, telling them, "We have to go."

Jackson was initially being held under a $15,000 bond; however, he was later released on his own recognizance. His attorney has speculated that the charges against him may be dropped.