Earlier today, Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was reprimanded by the SEC

On Sunday, Kiffin criticized the officials and said, "I'm sure we'll get one of those letters that mean nothing, that Bobby (Petrino) got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on."
Petrino was reprimanded by the SEC for criticizing the officials after Florida's narrow win over Arkansas on Oct. 17. The crew from that game was suspended until Nov. 14.
One-quarter of the SEC coaches have been reprimanded in the past week. And that doesn't even include South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, who last week questioned Alabama's use of tape to mark field-goal spots. That caused Slive to send out a memo clarifying the rule.
There are two issues happening with SEC coaches speaking out so much:
1. SEC coaches are fed up with the officiating. We're seeing a pattern here. It's almost as if these coaches, who compete against each other over the smallest of details, have united against a common cause -- SEC officiating. Officials are always going to make some mistakes. But the fact we're seeing so many coaches speak out should be troubling for the SEC beyond the bad public relations angle. It's never good PR publicly criticizing the officials. But it's even worse when a number of coaches seem to lack confidence in the officiating. That's a key issue the SEC is going to have to address at some point, probably not until after the season. The SEC must ask itself, "What do we need to do to put our officials in the best position to make the proper call?" There's too much at stake for this conference not to think outside the box on possible corrections.
2. SEC coaches are thumbing their nose at Mike Slive. Public reprimands don't bother big-time college coaches. Kiffin dangerously suggested Florida and Alabama play by a different set of rules than every other team. For a coach to say that means you've got a big problem, even though it's hard to take such claims seriously. I'm surprised Slive didn't come down harder on Kiffin than putting him on notice. Kiffin's right: There's no teeth in these reprimands. So what's the disincentive for any SEC coach right now not to keep mouthing off about officiating? The way Kiffin's discipline has played out, it looks like you get at least two shots to critically speak your mind. And even the third time isn't guaranteed to be a suspension.
Open season on SEC officials may only have just begun. The SEC Rocks!

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