Conference USA Football

Lane Kiffin continues to get an early start on his recruiting, most recently offering a scholarship to a seventh-grade quarterback.

According to Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports, the Florida Atlantic coach provided an offer to Pierce Clarkson, the son of quarterback guru Steve Clarkson.

This is the second long-term recruiting move Kiffin has made at FAU, as he also offered a scholarship to Tee Martin's son, Kaden, per Feldman.

The fathers of both players have a connection to Kiffin from his days at USC. Tee Martin is the Trojans' current offensive coordinator and was the receivers coach in 2012-13 when Kiffin led the program.

As Chris Chavez of Sports Illustrated noted, Scott Clarkson has worked with USC quarterbacks Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley.

Still, Kiffin has been known to be overaggressive on the recruiting trail in the past. He earned a commitment from 13-year-old David Sills in 2010 when he was head coach of USC, although the Delaware native never ended up playing for the Trojans.

While this is one strategy to get a jump on other programs, the 42-year-old coach might not be the best one to execute this plan. Since 2007, Kiffin is in his fourth head coaching job, plus a stint as offensive coordinator for Alabama.

Considering he has not stayed at any program for more than four years, recruiting middle-schoolers could be too ambitious.

Marshall cornerback Rodney Allen was arrested on misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence as well as driving without a license, per the Charleston Gazette-Mail. 

Huntington police caught Allen attempting to flee the scene after a car crash early Sunday morning.

Once he was brought back to the station, he provided a breathalyzer sample that registered a .167 blood alcohol content.

The school's athletic department said they would handle the matter "internally and appropriately."

Allen is heading into his senior year after being a leader defensively in 2016. He appeared in 11 games, grabbing two interceptions while ranking third on the team with 76 tackles. The Dallas native also led the Thundering Herd with four forced fumbles and 12 passes defended.

While coaching the USC Trojans in 2010, Lane Kiffin famously offered a scholarship to then-13-year-old quarterback David Sills. Now in charge of the Florida Atlantic Owls, Kiffin has gone back to that well.

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman reported Monday that Kiffin has offered a scholarship to Kaden Martin, the 13-year-old son of USC offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tee Martin.

ESPN's Chris Low noted this is Martin's first scholarship offer, and plays quarterback like his father did. 

Before joining the Trojans staff, Tee starred as a quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers. He helped lead the Vols to their last national championship in 1998.

According to Feldman, the younger Martin also has a burgeoning baseball career. He described Kaden as "a promising pitcher in baseball whose fastball has been clocked in the 80s."

Targeting a seventh-grader is a bold move for Kiffin, especially since there's a chance he won't be at FAU long enough to see Kaden join the Owls. Kiffin's USC stint was the longest of his head coaching career, and he didn't even last four full seasons.

Beyond any questions about Kiffin's long-term future in Boca Raton, Florida, there's also the risk inherent in offering a scholarship to a player who's yet to play a down of football at the high school level.

Sills never went to USC and instead joined the West Virginia Mountaineers, where he moved to wide receiver. After transferring to El Camino College to prove himself as a quarterback, Sills returned to West Virginia and is listed as a wideout on the team's official site.

In 2016, Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes spoke to former members of Kiffin's staff at USC who claimed Sills' scholarship offer was more of a ploy to attract attention to the Trojans.

"[Sills] clearly had talent for such a young kid," one staff member said. "Lane's thought was any news was good news. He knew it would be the lead story everywhere."

Another staff member said, "Lane may as well have been P.T. Barnum those first few months [of his USC tenure]."

In offering a scholarship to Kaden Martin, Kiffin is certainly bringing a new level of attention to the Owls program. 

UNC Charlotte quarterback Kevin Olsen—the brother of Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen—was reportedly indicted on rape charges Monday, per WSOC-TV. 

According to the report, a grand jury indicted Olsen on three counts of second-degree rape, two counts of assault on a female and a count of second-degree sexual offense. The quarterback has been suspended from the university's football program.

The story noted Olsen was charged in February.

"Prosecutors said Olsen texted a woman and threatened to kill her," the report continued. "They said he raped her, punched her in the face and also threatened to kill himself, wrapping a phone charger around his neck."

Blake Hanson of WSOCTV provided a mug shot at the time:

WSOCTV previously reported in a separate story Olsen posted bail of more than $100,000 after he was charged.

As Lane Kiffin prepares for his first season as Florida Atlantic University's head football coach, he took time to deliberate some of life's greatest quandaries on Twitter.

Over the last few days, the former Alabama offensive coordinator has posed bizarre philosophical questions. Two of his inquiries duplicated mysteries Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside asked a fish and baby octopus to solve last week:

He tagged Chase Moabery, who according to Sun Sentinel's Matthew DeFranks is the son of FAU trustee Abdol Moabery. He responded with more riddles:

Owls fans will hope he figures out another tough conundrum and leads the program to a winning season after three consecutive 3-9 seasons.

[Twitter]

Middle Tennessee suspended defensive lineman Justin Akins and linebacker Shalom Alvarez on Wednesday, as they are under investigation for animal cruelty due to a video posted on Snapchat. 

On Friday, Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Stockstill released a statement saying both players had been dismissed from the school (via John Taylor of NBC Sports):

When confronted with situations of inappropriate conduct, it is easy for a coach to simply dismiss players in trouble without taking time to study the situation. I feel it is important to consider the facts carefully, and seek input from others with information and expertise, before reaching a decision.

After reviewing the matter further, and speaking with authorities with the appropriate expertise, I have decided to dismiss Justin Akins and Shalom Alvarez from our football team. Their actions were in violation of the values and standards of our program.

I appreciate the work by the Rutherford County Pet Adoption and Welfare Services and Murfreesboro Police Department. Their expertise was invaluable in this process and will help educate our players.

"The actions captured on this video are obviously disturbing," MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro said in a university statement. "We welcome the inquiry by the Rutherford County Pet Adoption and Welfare Services.

"We have high expectations of conduct of our student-athletes. Coach Stockstill has suspended these players until the inquiry is complete and they will perform community service to the benefit of local animal welfare efforts.”

According to a Murfreesboro Police report obtained by Aldo Giovanni Amato of the Daily News Journal, Akins posted a video of Alvarez hitting a puppy at least four times on Snapchat. Police were notified of the incident April 7.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers held their spring game Saturday afternoon as the program returned to the gridiron for the first time since it ceased operations in December 2014.

According to ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough, the Blazers' Green team defeated the Gold team 49-7 in front of more than 7,000 fans at Legion Field. AL.com's Joseph Goodman reported the crowd of 7,822 represented a record for the program's spring game.

"It brings tears to my eyes," Blazers head coach Bill Clark said, per Goodman.

"It goes without saying just what a great feeling, what an emotional feeling it was to get off that bus and see that unbelievable crowds at 11 o'clock on a Saturday," Clark added, according to Scarborough. "For our fans, alumni, recruits and former players to be out here was amazing."

Although UAB shut down its football program at the end of the 2014 season, it announced seven months later that the team would return to the field beginning in 2017.

Now back in action, the Blazers will attempt to pick up where they left off and build on the 6-6 record they finished with in 2014. At the time, those six wins represented the Blazers' most in a season since 2004.

UAB will kick off its 2017 season at Legion Field on Sept. 2 against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs as it seeks its first winning campaign in 13 years.

Former Alabama wideout Antonio Carter is suing Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic and the state of Florida for fraud, according to Christopher Walsh of SEC Country and Bleacher Report.

Carter claimed he was only offered the job of assistant strength and conditioning coach to help Florida Atlantic obtain a prospect, and the school reneged on its offer once that player agreed to a scholarship.

"The prospect's family had just celebrated New Year's Eve together with Plaintiff Antonio Carter and his family just a few weeks earlier," the lawsuit noted. "It is believed that this relationship between Plaintiff Antonio Carter and the coveted prospect was known to the coaches and defendants at the time he was hired."

Carter has claimed Kiffin assured him he had been hired, but Florida Atlantic then informed Carter that he hadn't passed a background check "due to two prior minor misdemeanor criminal charges."

A.J. Perez of USA Today noted that Carter had four previous arrests under misdemeanor charges, however:

Carter was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia by Tallahassee (Fla.) police in March 2010. He was arrested in November 2010 on a failure to appear on a drug charge. He also had two arrests for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked license in 2014, one in May of that year by the Florida Highway Patrol and the other by Florida State University police in November.

Carter took pleas and accrued no jail time in each case, as Perez reported.

Carter said both he and his wife quit their jobs and traveled to the campus after receiving the alleged assurances from Kiffin, as Carter was going to assist the school in recruiting for national signing day.

He also claimed he had resolved his misdemeanor charges and sent documentation to Florida Atlantic, but the school never responded. He added that athletic director Patrick Chun refused to meet with him, even after he waited outside of Chun's office for several hours.

At least four members of Western Kentucky's football team are under investigation for allegedly assaulting two people in a frat house Sunday.

According to a TMZ Sports report, a group of masked men went into the Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) fraternity house in an allegedly retaliatory attack that sent one person to the hospital. The names of the players involved have not been released.

Police were called to the Pike house after "several" football players arrived in an attempt to fight. An alumni member of the fraternity attempted to calm the situation down but was allegedly assaulted, along with a current member of the frat. 

Officers were able to find one member of the football team who admitted going to the Pike house to fight. The officers were told football players went to the house in retaliation for another person who was assaulted at Pike the previous night.

Members of the frat allege players were carrying guns and one had a box-cutter knife.

No arrests in the case have been made at this time. 

Lane Kiffin is reportedly adding a big name to his staff at Florida Atlantic University in the form of his father, Monte Kiffin.

Alex Marvez of Sporting News was the first to report the impending hire. ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco later confirmed it.

The senior Kiffin's coaching title isn't yet known.

Lane Kiffin previously served as head coach at both Tennessee and USC, and his father assisted him at each of those stops as well.

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The 77-year-old Monte Kiffin has been a coach since 1966 and has 29 years of NFL coaching experience under his belt.

He is best known for serving as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator from 1996 through 2008. It was with the Bucs that he helped popularize the "Tampa 2" defense and led them to a Super Bowl championship.

Monte spent 2016 as a defensive assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars after working as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator in 2013 and then their assistant head coach for defense in 2014.

Lane spent 2014 through 2016 as the offensive coordinator at Alabama before taking the head coaching job at FAU.

He has already hired his brother, Chris Kiffin, as defensive coordinator.

Lane is 35-21 in five seasons as a college head coach, and he went 5-15 in parts of two campaigns as head coach of the Oakland Raiders.