The lessons to be learned from Pahokee-Gate
Apparently things have finally been patched up between the Tennessee football program and Pahokee High School in South Florida. Due to a series of circumstances that can only be described as juvenile, for a while Tennessee assistant coach Eddie Gran was banned from coming back onto the campus to recruit in May.
The issue was Tennessee’s signing of Pahokee wide receiver Nu’Keese Richardson, who had previously given a verbal commitment to Florida. In a fan function on Feb. 4, Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin first got in a dig at Florida coach Urban Meyer, suggesting that Meyer violated NCAA rules in the recruiting of Richardson. That turned out not to be the case and Kiffin had to apologize. He was reprimanded by the SEC.
Later Kiffin was quoted in media reports as saying this to that same group of fans: “For those who haven’t been to Pahokee, there ain’t much going on. You take that hour drive up from South Florida, there ain’t a gas station that works. Nobody’s got enough money to even have shoes or a shirt on.”
Kiffin obviously didn’t know there was a reporter in the room. That was the first mistake. But then the principal of Pahokee High School, Ariel Alejo, compounded the problem when he got mad and banned Tennessee coaches from his campus until he got a public apology. That apology was delivered by phone on Tuesday.
Here’s how to solve this problem and to keep it from happening again: Everybody involved has to act like adults.
Yes, Kiffin made the first mistake. He has to know that in an age where cell phones are also recording devices, everything ends up on the internet sooner or later. Now yesterday I said that what is said by coaches in booster gatherings should be taken with a grain of salt. But I think we’ll agree—and I think Kiffin would agree—that a line was crossed with these comments.
If you are the head coach at an SEC institution as a rule you should not make disparaging remarks about any school or community. Just don’t do it. Not even in a booster gathering. You’ll have to make fewer apologies that way.
But to me, not enough is being made about Mr. Alejo’s response to all this. Mr. Alejo, you are a school administrator in charge of a diverse student body. Act like it. You don’t have a Florida Gator logo (or any logo that is not your high school) underneath your bio on the school’s Web page (which has since been removed). You are not a fan. And if you have a problem with a college and its recruiters coming to your campus, you don’t turn it into a public snit. If you can’t handle it, call your superintendent. There are ways that professionals handle problems and this was not handled professionally until others–including the mayor and vice-mayor–stepped in.
I love college football as much as anybody. I’ve devoted my professional life to it. But it drives me crazy when the game makes normally sane people lose their minds. The kids are watching the adults and looking for guidance and leadership. Too many times we let them down.
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97 comments Add your comment
Chris
May 21st, 2009
12:41 pm
I don’t care if Kiffen won 11 games a year,I would’nt want him to represent my university. He’s a flake. Georgia Tech and Georgia should both be grateful they have not only two great coaches, but two classy individuals.
Cuz
May 21st, 2009
12:43 pm
A former Mayor of Augusta was once asked what he thought of Nitty Gritty Dirt Bands song American Dream. In the first part of the song they use the phrase, Augusta Georgia is just no place to be. His honour replied, “I guess bad publicity is better than no publicity”. I would imagine Volfans feel like our former mayor. Personally, I think the guy is a riot. I can’t wait to see what he will say or do next.
Layla, you got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging darling please.
Sorry, I could not help myself. Can she be the water girl like CMR’s wife? It would be even more incentive to watch the Vols play this year.
TUpac Urnhart Junior
May 21st, 2009
12:50 pm
Hey Tooney, you are off base here, I think the principal did the right thing, I mean, shoot, ole silver spooner, born on 3rd base needs to take a hike….those remarks are awful. SO, Tooney, get back to reality.
Ted Striker
May 21st, 2009
12:55 pm
Saying Lane Kiffin is juvenile gives him too much credit. Juveniles make poor decisions because they’re immature, because they’re not yet adults. Coach Kiffin has been a head coach in the NFL, has a family, has recruited, has met lots of people, has had plenty of time to work on decision making and social skills.
He’s not juvenile, he’s a (frequent) bad decision maker.
Atlanta Gator
May 21st, 2009
1:01 pm
Okey doke. Let’s summarize the lesson to be learned from all of this in two short sentences:
Do NOT gratuitously make insulting comments about the population of an entire town, county or state. Those insults might have adverse consequences for the person making them.
BamaGator!
May 21st, 2009
1:08 pm
Wahhhhhhhh. All you dumb A**es seem to be more concerned about what the Vols and CLK are doing. Was you even thinking about UT football this time last year? Get over it and worry about your own team. Florida had 9 secondary violations last year so to all you Gaytors, Lose the innocent little virgin routine cuz Urban Meyer is 1 of the the sneakiest,2 faced pukes in college football.,.And so is “I will not leave Miami” Saban.
Nachos
May 21st, 2009
1:26 pm
Does ole Monte Kiffin wear a rug?
KR
May 21st, 2009
1:30 pm
I had never heard of Pahokee until all of this blew up. I still don’t know where it is because I really don’t care.
Kiffin’s comments are pretty similar to comments I’ve heard years back from some of the legendary SEC coaches of the ’70s and ’80s. They were good for a laugh at the time and no one took them too seriously. Blame the need to fill 24 hours of air time on ESPN, Fox Sports and others as the reason it has become such a big story.
I’m in agreement with Tony on the principal. In fact, if I were a parent at Pahokee High, I would be in the Superintendent’s office demanding sanctions against the principal for overstepping his authority. The principal’s job is to ensure the students get a quality education in a safe environment. His “ban” didn’t pertain to either one of those.
DC Braves Fan
May 21st, 2009
1:33 pm
Yes, it’s really awful that someone in that area would defend the local community when someone says degrading things about them. Perhaps by making this more public, the school and principal did everyone a favor by pointing out how some of these hypocrites in the coaching business talk a good game about rural America while then disparaging it when they go home.
As someone who lives in an urban area, that type of thing is quite common. And the more it gets smoked out, the better.
Big Fan
May 21st, 2009
1:33 pm
Isn’t Urbie still pissed at Shane Matthews for questioning him? Urbs is a whiney asz control freak so you Gators really shouldn’t be throwing stones.
And geez, the pervs clamoring over Layla is getting real old. Go find some internet porn and circle jerk yourselves in private.
Oh yeah, and to the Gators who can’t spell….it’s Kiffin.
Urban Warfare
May 21st, 2009
1:35 pm
Tony, You left out a very important part of the story…when Kiffin basically called out the school as being dishonest and underhanded, that the fax machine wouldn’t have worked, signitures would have been changed “you know, all the things that go on down there in Pahokee”. Now Tony, if someone had said or suggested the same things about you and questioned your very integrity, how would you have reacted????????????
Gen Neyland
May 21st, 2009
1:41 pm
Allow me to stir the pot : Rumor has it there are no places to eat out in or around Pahokee HS. You know, shirts and shoes required…So, do they waive this health issue at the high school..? As has been pointed out on numerous occasions within these hallowed sandboxes of diatribes, we Tennessee hillbilly’s have no teeth, marry our sister’s sister, cook our possum’s outside on a open fire and never, never, get off the front porch to attempt a honest day’s work…Well, you may be right on 3 out of 4 (we might marry our sister’s sister, only because we’re not really genetically linked) but CLK is standing up for Us’uns. So there. Have a great day..!
Gator Growl
May 21st, 2009
1:48 pm
How bright can you be when you just pulled a recruit out a town that you are planning on recruiting more players from, and then you go and say those kind of things??? Guess we’ll all find out in the fall. Anyway, just proves my point that Kiffen, or Kiffin or however you spell it (or smell it) is a just PUNK who was bragging about how he took a recruit from Florida and let his mouth get away from him. Just like how he bragged about taking assistant coaches or other recruits or how he’s gonna seal off the state of Tenn from other schools. Classic PUNK…all talk.
Sterotypers
May 21st, 2009
1:58 pm
General Neyland,
Yes. We’ve all seen the better than you pontificators on here usually spouting their stereotypes about other people. Usually its the dawg fans making fun of Florida fans and their jorts and mullets, Bama fans and their lack of teeth, Tennessee fans marrying their sisters, Auburn fans with their trailers, and all that. I have noticed on frequent occasions that 20 miles outside of Atlanta I see people in jorts, trailers, people with poor dental hygiene, etc. You would think listening to some of the dawg fans that the same social ills of the deep south as a whole do not apply to Georgia and that everyone in Georgia is cosmopolitan, educated, and suave and debonair as Jethro liked to day. Methinks not.
Mr 5-15
May 21st, 2009
2:10 pm
FEAR THE KIFF!!!
Layla Is A Gator!
May 21st, 2009
2:12 pm
Anybody seen my new Teebows. Bruce was just over here, maybe I should call him.
Layla Is A Gator!
May 21st, 2009
2:15 pm
Oh, you saw Bruce wearin’ them? On his head?!
stinger
May 21st, 2009
2:19 pm
Anyone want a rusty trombone?
bull-gator
May 21st, 2009
2:20 pm
Seems to me, having been born, raised, and educated in the South and lived and worked in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia, traveled extensively througout the USA, that there are: pseudo sophisticated, chardonnay sipping, limousine liberals and redneck, tobacco chewing, hardscrabble folks in every place I’ve been. That’s what makes America great and makes SEC football even greater. Such a wide range of football lovin’ nuts driven by the same passion of 365 day a year love of the same great game. The Kiffins and the Alejos of the world need to chill. Oh, by the way, I’ve been to Pahokee and it is very, very poor, but with a lot of good folks that live there. And some great football players…
reservoirDAWG
May 21st, 2009
2:23 pm
Gen, good answer. That’s the way a true fan should respond, but please don’t get me started on Barry.
Last Word
May 21st, 2009
2:50 pm
Big Fan,
Methinks thou dost protest too much!
Anonymous
May 21st, 2009
2:55 pm
Tony,
WHO CARES?
Two days ago the topic, “Why the Georgia-Florida game will stay in JAX”
garnered 276 comments.
Today’s topic, 71, so far.
But it’s early.
Anonymous
May 21st, 2009
2:58 pm
BTW:
Will tomorrow be a true Wild, Wild West – anything goes – Friday?
Last Word
May 21st, 2009
3:07 pm
Yeah!
Maybe we could talk about something different, like, I dunno, baseball?
G8R GRAD
May 21st, 2009
3:12 pm
Jeez, I know I’ve been gone for a few hours, but . . . . . . . . . . HOW did we get HERE?
Vols_1
May 21st, 2009
3:34 pm
What’s really cool is that every media in the Southeast is discussing UT. Georgia can’t buy ink right now. By the way… Good blog by Tony. The principal should be more concerned about getting students from a disadvantaged area into school than promoting his Gators. And Alejo so loves Pahokee that he doesn’t live there himself.
Adam
May 21st, 2009
3:45 pm
‘Last Word’…no, we cannot talk about baseball…this is the ‘Mr. College Football’ Blog. What part of that don’t you understand???
Cuz
May 21st, 2009
4:19 pm
Coach Kiffin is getting the results he wanted. Everyone is talking about Vol football. Now he just needs to put together a good product for the Rocky Top faithful. On Saturdays in the fall, I watch the Dawgs of course. But I also watch every SEC game I can find. Two reasons. One, we may play them later. Two, I am an SEC fan. I even pull for, I can’t believe I am going to say this, Florida when they are playing for the MNC. It was easier the second time against Oklahoma. Kinda like bank robbery.
I don’t care what Big Fan says, Layla Kiffin is easy on the eyes. Now that would be a great Friday topic. Which SEC coach has the hottest wife. I’m voting Kiffin right now.
General, I like my possum in a stew. I dice up the tail for extra flavor. A couple of sips of your bore solvent and you would swear you are in a four star restaurant.
Gen Neyland
May 21st, 2009
4:42 pm
Anonymous : Of those 276 comments ON the UGA-UF game, 204 dealt with CLK and UT. To close to call yet…
Reggie
May 21st, 2009
4:48 pm
Tony You Are Dead Wrong! This principal should not allow anyone in his school that does not have best interest of the kids and community in mind. Why would he want to allow this child “the coach” who has dogged his community while he thought no one was listening said how he really feels about them and the kids from there the area . No Class!! It has nothing to do with of U of F and this is bigger than football!!
Gen Neyland
May 21st, 2009
4:51 pm
Cuz : With all this rain, I’m afraid I cannot raft your order downstream. EPA standards and regs on shipping DG’s. Be on the lookout for a 1973 tanish brownish Chevy Cheyenne with Banks headers wrapped around a 454ci loaded to the gills around midnight…
shane#1
May 21st, 2009
5:12 pm
Had Kiffin insulted Atlanta it would be different, dumb maybe, but different. We have our share of depressed areas here in South Ga and this economy ain’t helpin’ at all. Poverty is not funny, especially if you’re poor. Coach Richt spoke in Albany last night and I don’t recall him making any jokes about stupid hicks. Who knows, another Thomas Davis or Bill Stanfill could have been listening.
Don
May 21st, 2009
5:13 pm
The biggest problem is that Kiffin was at USC for 5 years and USC does what it whats. Football is a religion in the south. In L.A. it isn’t newsworthy. Kiffin put together a fantastic coaching staff. They are great recruiters but they are better teachers. Monte Kiffin is the best
DC in football. Orgeron is the best defensive line coach. Coach Thompson took some frosh and did a great job as lb coach. Coach Chaney was Drew Brees and Purdues OC and they have last years syracuse OC being paid by syracuse while coaching OL. Kiffin is a fast learner and these embarrishing situations will disappear soon. He was not ready for the media microscope SEC schools are under.
shane#1
May 21st, 2009
5:16 pm
General, no emergency measures? What about FEMA? HeJJ man, I’m thirsty and all this rain is rusting the old “ought six”!
ReptilesRule
May 21st, 2009
6:19 pm
Don, you are living in La La land if you really believe what you just said.
Maybe Next Year
May 21st, 2009
6:20 pm
Lane Kiffen did not hire a top notch coaching staff, he hired a top notch recruiting staff. There’s a big difference. He’s set the table for the next coach. Who’s Kiffen going to look to for coaching advice…Orgeron? Please.
Layla Is A Gator!
May 21st, 2009
6:22 pm
THIS orange is UGLY!
Loser Lane
May 21st, 2009
6:24 pm
I wish I had an Oscar Meyer weiner!
Layla Is A Gator!
May 21st, 2009
6:25 pm
I wish you did too!
warhorse
May 21st, 2009
9:19 pm
Substitute Vine City for Pahokee and the AJC would be screaming foul play AND racist pejorative. Kiffin knew that he was talking about a poor, black town. He did not know there was a reporter present. The same comment by a judicial nominee would cause his nomination to be pulled. Kiffen is a buffoon with a record of 4-15 on the field and 0 and forever in the rest of life.
Gen Neyland
May 21st, 2009
10:31 pm
As the day draws to an end on yet another fun filled exposition into the world of Tennessee’s Coach, Lane Kiffin, I’d like to thank the panel of blogging experts that participated in this ongoing forum which seems to have no end. Give yourselves a pat on the back for being so in tune with one another. We’ll see you next time…Have a great tomorrow and GO VOLS.
Layla Is A Gator!
May 21st, 2009
10:54 pm
Goodnight Gen…Goodnight Bruce…
Cuz
May 22nd, 2009
12:10 am
Goodnight General, the Cheyene just got her. I gotta go help with the unloading. The check is in the mail.
SugarHillDawg
May 22nd, 2009
7:38 am
Yeah, don’t hire a brain donor like Lame Kitten as a football coach!
Darryle Clark
May 22nd, 2009
8:13 am
I disagree Mr. College Football. At least on your assessment of the actions of the Pahokee Principle. I think he handled the situation exactly as anyone else would have whose whole community had been verbally ATTACKED. He simply said the UT staff was unwelcome on his campus unless there was an apology issued. He didn’t rant and rave, he didn’t fly into hysterics, he just demanded an apology. CLK has finally gave in and now the coaches are back welcome.
Remember he didn’t ban the UT staff because he was a Gator fan, he banned them because of the tasteless comments of the UT head coach. Principles are human, and he has the right to be a Gator fan. If he had banned their presence because of his affiliation to the Florida football program then you would be right, but to say that is pure speculation; Especially since the UT staff was welcome before the comments and after the apology. I just wish Kiffin had not made the apology, then only 11 of our SEC schools could come calling.
Whyso
May 22nd, 2009
8:37 am
Hearing there will be news coming out of Alabama today regarding NCAA violations. Any truth to this Tony?
Big Fan
July 17th, 2009
11:09 am
Maybe Next Year gets dumbest post award with his “did not hire good coaches” comment. Really? 5 on staff at UT are former NFL coaches. Do you not think you have to be a good coach to work in the NFL or is it more important to be a good recruiter? Like I said, dumbest post on the board. Two more dumb points for misspelling Kiffin’s name….again.