Lane Kiffin shares editorial about controversial former Auburn head coach
Lane Kiffin took to Twitter on June 2 to share an editorial from ESPN’s Andscape — formerly known as The Undefeated — condemning the “coach speak” used by the likes of former Auburn football head coach and current Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville as well as former Tigers head coaching candidate Deion Sanders in recent months.
Tommy Tuberville, Deion Sanders and the subjugation of ‘coach speak’ https://t.co/AAxviWpEHS
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) June 2, 2023
The piece featured a quote from former Auburn football OL Troy Reddick condemning Tuberville’s intentions with being in public office and his character.
“He finally has a platform and an opportunity to really show who he is as a man, and what he feels about his former players and the communities he’s recruited these players from,” Reddick told Andscape’s Ken Makin. “He has an understanding of how he plans [to benefit] from the existing culture and white supremacy, and he thinks this is something he has earned.”
Makin would go on to condemn Sanders’ recent comments about wanting a two-parent quarterback but for his offensive linemen to be “on free lunch” as a “thorn in the side of Black parenting.” Sanders was a longshot candidate for Auburn’s head coaching job following Bryan Harsin’s firing and preceding Hugh Freeze’s hiring.
Auburn football at the center of a ‘coach speak’ controversy in 2022
2022 both started off and ended in a nightmarish way for Harsin, but before he was officially fired in late October following a 3-5 start to the season, the Boise native was at the center of controversy regarding alleged racist treatment towards an unspecified number of Black players.
Ultimately, the February inquiry that looked into Harsin’s behavior didn’t yield a firing, but Opelika Auburn News editor Justin Lee is in the camp that believes the coach was guilty of mistreating Black players.
And for whatever reason, the university omitted the real reason for the inquiry into the program — the investigation into the possible mistreatment of Black football players — and allowed him to make a statement suggesting it was about the affair rumors.
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) October 9, 2022
So no. He's lucky.
Harsin’s recent interview with ESPN’s Chris Low painted himself as the victim, and subsequently, those who shared Lee’s view were angered that he framed things in such a way to a national audience.