Kiffin still causing trouble for USC

After suffering through an agonizing upset at the hands of Boston College — the pain of which was extended by a long bye week — not much could’ve further soured the Trojan faithful’s collective mood leading up to this Saturday’s tilt with Oregon State.

If we could just put our heads down and shake off the premonitions of Sean Mannion eviscerating USC’s vulnerable secondary, everything would be fine. Or, at least nothing could get worse. Of course, that was until a certain former head coach began to dominate the week’s college football headlines. Unfortunately, you heard me right; our old friend Lane Kiffin is back.

It all started with Alabama dropping 42 points and 645 total yards on SEC rival Florida last Saturday. Kiffin, who used one of his patented Jedi mind tricks to steal the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator job in the offseason, was widely praised for the performance. At least one Alabama pundit even went as far as to say that Kiffin was positioning himself to be head coach Nick Saban’s eventual successor — mind you, this is a part of the country that’s still getting used to the forward pass. Still, USC fans have to be frustrated that a man who did so little with so much talent in his final season-plus at Troy might be considered for what is arguably the nation’s best job.

Inevitably, this was only the tip of the iceberg. Former Trojan defensive back Brian Baucham announced a lawsuit against Kiffin and USC earlier this week, claiming that the ex-coach forced Baucham to play through dehydration, illness and a previous concussion. Baucham, who was carted off of the field with a career-ending injury in a 2012 game against Cal, alleges that he suffered “cardiopulmonary damage” and “brain injury with neurocognitive deficits” directly related to Kiffin’s insistence that the then-fifth-year senior play through pain.

The lawsuit argues for specific damages related to “residual problems” that have left Baucham “unable to compete in the open labor market.”

This is bad news for all involved. Player safety concerns, especially those involving head injuries, are a pressing issue across all levels of football. It was only two years ago that legendary former USC linebacker Junior Seau took his own life, a tragic event that many have connected to brain damage he suffered during a lengthy football career. Even with history in mind, it is important to remember that Baucham’s claims are still unproven — so far.

Even the smartest neurologists in the world don’t know the exact relationship between football and lasting brain damage. But here are some simple facts: Concussions are bad. No one should play football, or any contact sport, with a concussion. No one should play any contact sport with a condition that leaves them more susceptible to concussions, like Baucham was allegedly forced to do. Playing through a head injury isn’t tough; it’s flat out dumb. As simple as these statements seem, however, many coaches can’t seem to grasp them.

Though the sports world has come a long way since NHL all-star Eric Lindros was openly mocked by his own general manager for refusing to play through multiple concussions in 1998, we are still seeing the ugly remnants of a bygone way of thinking.

As recently as 2009, Washington State head coach Mike Leach was fired from his previous job at Texas Tech for locking concussed player Adam James in an electrical closet. Leach, for his part, at least had the kindness to not risk further injury to his player while questioning James’ toughness and making him into a ridiculous example. If Baucham’s allegations are correct, Kiffin didn’t even give him that courtesy.

There is an even scarier side of this Baucham-Kiffin drama: the chance it wasn’t a one-time incident. According to Bleacher Report, sports injury litigator Paul D. Anderson believes that Kiffin also sent former All-American wideout Robert Woods back into a 2012 game against Utah with an obvious concussion. Highlights show Woods stumbling towards the Utes’ sideline after the play in question before eventually changing direction. Woods would go onto miss just one snap.

I doubt any USC fans still think highly of Lane Kiffin. But this controversy goes beyond poor play-calling and a lack of personality. If Kiffin did indeed force an ill, dehydrated Baucham to play or knowingly sent a concussed Woods back onto the field, we have a case of a football coach putting a player’s life at risk to win a silly game. And no matter what you think of Lane Kiffin, no one wants to believe that.

Will Hanley is a junior majoring in political science and communication. He is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Sports Willustrated,” runs Thursdays. To comment on this story, visit dailytrojan.com or email Will at [email protected].