Alright, I'll start off by saying that I realize some readers couldn't care less about the sports posts in my blogs. I've yet to call athletes indentured servants (although I just read that somewhere yesterday), but before this post is done, I can't promise anything. Not after what has happened in essentially the last 24 hours.

As I write this, Lane Kiffin is being introduced as the next football coach at USC. Possibly the worst athletics director in America is giving the obligatory praise to a man who deserves very little. Kiffin's first statement was about running a "clean, disciplined program." This from a guy who had no less than six NCAA violations in one year at Tennessee. He has two more under investigation, one of which could be major. He goes to a program which quite literally has NCAA investigators living in the coaches offices. But hey, like I said before, that stuff happens everywhere right?

So let me get you caught up on what is going on. You'll recall that Pete Carroll left USC to become head coach of the Seattle Seahawks earlier this week. That caught USC off guard. But they have no room to complain anymore.

Less than three days later, Kiffin was plucked away from Tennessee, after just one season in Knoxville, to become the new USC head coach. Want to see how caught off guard and betrayed everyone at Tennessee was? There was rioting outside the stadium where he held a quick press conference before somehow avoid burning mattresses and unruly fans and players.



Tennessee was slated to sign a top-10 recruiting class this year. It is falling apart. The current players bought into a system that lasted literally 14 months. Those players can't leave without sitting out a year. Kiffin has his $800,000 severance fee paid by USC and he moves on.

INSERT: Kiffin just lied in his press conference. He said that he told the Tennessee AD that his coaches at USC wouldn't call any players committed to Tennessee unless one of those players called the coaches. Several reports last night said that Ed Orgeron, who will absolutely be the recruiting director at USC, called all of the players they were going to have enroll early at Tennessee and asked them to hold off. That fact check is way to easy to do for him to be lying. UPDATE: A reporter called him out on it, and now he's trying to back away from that comment.

Back to it. That is why players are considered indentured servants at time. They do what a university tells them to do, in exchange for an "education", while their coaches rake it millions. Pete Carroll made $4 million at USC. Take a look at Kiffin's coaching staff:

Kiffin himself has coached in the NFL. He may not command Carroll-like money yet, but if he wins, he definitely will. Monte Kiffin, Lane's father, is an NFL legend, renowned for his ability as a defensive coordinator. Orgeron has been a head coach and is the best recruiter in the country, period. And reports are that he is in serious negotiations with UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow, formerly of the same title at SC. Chow is maybe the great OC in the last 25 years. He'll command some cash. Here's a look at what the salaries will like at Tennessee for both Kiffins and Orgeron. We will probably never know how much all of the assistants at USC make because, as a private school, they are required to report that.

The point is, that the coach makes more money than every single players' scholarship is worth, combined. Just think about that. There are 85 scholarships. Obviously at USC a scholarship costs a little more (but it really doesn't cost $40,000 in reality), but even at 85, that's less than the $4 million Carroll made. And Lane Kiffin is not Pete Carroll. Not even close.

So basically Kiffin, record well under .500 for his career, age 34, just got the best job on the west coast. And hired the best staff in the world. Out of nowhere. If nothing else, this should be fun. But what it is really, is a microcosm of most of the things going wrong in college football.

Here is some reaction from people who we call "experts" about this stuff, first with the opening statement of Pat Forde, one of ESPN's writers, which was: "you've got to be kidding me," when he first heard.

• Here is Ted Miller's Pac-10 blog, which has some other stuff on it now, but also stuff about those who hate Kiffin vs. those who like (there are many more in the first category, another reason this is somewhat of a head-scratcher).
• Kiffin and his family had police protection in Knoxville last night.
• They then hopped a USC booster's private jet, with Kiffin looking like a 15-year old, to California.
• As always, Bob Condotta's blog has a bunch of stuff, mostly about the Steve Sarkisian side of things.
• LA Times sports page. Sure to have a bunch of stuff.

Also, Keyshawn Johnson was at the USC press conference today. Good start.