SEC Should Wonder Why Coaches Are Complaining

It took less than a week for three Southeastern Conference coaches to get public reprimands for their comments on officiating. Never mind if or why their comments were warranted, the SEC has a rule against questioning the way the league referees its games.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino summed it up best when he told reporters he would comment more on blown calls in a 23-20 loss to No. 1 Florida on Oct. 17 but he couldn't because the First Amendment doesn't apply to football coaches. Forget about the context of that comment as it pertains to constitutional law. Petrino is right that coaches aren't allowed to question when things don't go their way.

Tennessee's Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen found that out less than a week after Petrino did. SEC commissioner Mike Slive censured both publicly for questioning calls that went against their teams on Oct. 24.

Kiffin was upset with the crew that worked Tennessee-Alabama, which BSC No. 2 'Bama won, and Mullen didn't like what he saw from the officials that called Mississippi State-Florida, in which the No. 1 Gators survived just as they did a week earlier against Petrino's Hogs. Kiffin went so far as to add fuel to the notion that Alabama and Florida were getting favorable officiating because the SEC wanted the money that would come from having those two teams in the league championship game in December.

Slive wasted little time in reprimanding Kiffin and Mullen. Their suspensions were announced the Monday following their games and their comments. Petrino had to wait a little longer, getting wrist slapped on the Thursday following Arkansas-Florida, apparently after SEC officials saw his taped television show broadcast in the Birmingham market that day.

Kiffin's public reprimand is the most serious because he is a repeat offender. Slive called him down in the summer for talking about other coaches. So the next time Kiffin is reprimanded, his punishment could include suspension.

Coaches might not be able to question the officials, but the rest of us certainly can. That's the price the league pays for having every single one of its games on television.

Increased visibility doesn't mean people are watching only when you want them to watch. Unprecedented exposure through billion-dollar TV contracts doesn't highlight only the good of your league, your coaches, your players and your officials.

When somebody screws up, we are all going to see it live and then replayed on ESPN-HD.