Hood's Past May Come Back to Haunt Kiffin | College Football Lives Here

It turns out that Daniel Hood, who at the age of 13 was found by a juvenile court to have helped rape a relative, has signed on to play for the Tennessee Vols. First I'll state the facts about Hood:

According to court records, Hood and another teenager were charged in 2003 with assaulting a 14-year-old girl. The victim's legs and wrists were tied and her eyes and mouth were covered with duct tape before she was raped at the Sullivan County home of Hood's father. Robert Sanico, then 17, pleaded guilty in adult court to charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape and is serving a 10-year prison sentence. Hood was found delinquent and ordered into a rehabilitation program at the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Dandridge, Tennessee. As a football player at Knoxville Catholic High School, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Hood helped the team win its first state championship and was named the 2008 Class 3A Mr. Football.

Here's what I think of this signing: This is a huge mistake for Lane Kiffin. Now I'm all for second chances in life, but the mistake is that Kiffin is doing something like this in his first season as head coach. I believe he needs to wait until he has experience and shows he knows what he's doing as a head coach before he takes chances on players like Daniel Hood. I wish Hood the best of luck, but I know that if Hood messes up that the target will be on Mr. Kiffin for allowing to enter Tennessee in the first place.

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May 10, 2009 01:37 AM ET

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I expect the kid will go thru his college career without incident.

What i found surprising is that he is not a particularly highly regarded recruit (2 stars) but received offers from 6 teams, all from the major 6 conferences.

Still, I tend to agree with you - this kid isn't worth the risk.

Prove It

Frellin Cold In, AK

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June 16, 2009 01:21 AM ET

Kiffin did his homework on this kid. He has not had any incidents with the law or even got in trouble while in school. Kiffin talked to the administrators and teachers at Knoxville Catholic and none had a bad word to say about the kid.

Kiffin even spoke with the girl that was raped and she didn't have a bad word to say about him and told Kiffin that he would be an asset to the school, as well as, the football team.

I don't like Kiffin and I think he is a jacka$.S, but this is one signing that I think he got right. I don't know if the kid will ever contribute to the UT football team as anything more than a special teams player, but he won't get in trouble and he won't be a distraction to the football team.