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Lane Kiffin Becomes Latest to Join in Support of Cade Mays

Lane Kiffin offers his public support for the NCAA to grand Cade Mays immediate eligibility.
Matt Ray|
Lane Kiffin Becomes Latest to Join in Support of Cade Mays
Lane Kiffin Becomes Latest to Join in Support of Cade Mays

Fans, national media, politicians, Tennessee coaches, and now former Tennessee Head Coach, Lane Kiffin, has thrown his support behind Cade Mays following the news that his initial immediate eligibility waiver. 

Kiffin sent out a tweet saying, "Free Cade Mays! Feel for you Cade @Vol_Football" It was attached to the petition that continues to circulate in efforts to get Mays appeal overturned


“On August 17th, Tennessee Volunteers offensive lineman Cade Mays was denied an eligibility waiver to play in the upcoming college football season,” read the petition. “We’ve seen time and time again that the NCAA is very inconsistent on the transfer waivers and it’s evident on Mays’ transfer. Mays didn’t have much of a choice but to leave Georgia, and the NCAA and Tennessee fans surely know it.”

“It sucks to see a player like Cade Mays sit out a year with the untapped potential he has,” continued the petition. “We all know the bias, whether it’s the position Mays plays or the team he transferred to, but it’s worth a shot to see this man live out his dream for playing for the Volunteers and hopefully making it to the NFL one day.”

Support for Mays has came from all corners since the news was revealed by Jeremy Pruitt during Monday's media availability. 

One of the first to offer support was Jay Bilas, a college athletics analyst for ESPN and CBS Sports— publicly condemning it. “Good grief,” wrote Bilas on Monday night. “With all we’re going through, Cade Mays has his transfer waiver denied? The NCAA has a chance to write this wrong on appeal, and it should.” Mays didn’t have a choice but to leave Georgia, and the NCAA knows it. Too bad Mays isn’t a QB… he’d be eligible immediately.”

Tennessee Congressman, Tim Burchett, was quick to offer his support for Mays, tweeting out a video with his thoughts. 

Pruitt said at the time of the announcement, "We do have an update with Cade. We obviously applied for a waiver for initial eligibility here, and it was denied. We’re in the process of appealing that. For me, it is frustrating, and it’s frustrating for Cade. Just looking at it, for his sake, a guy that, to me, I think he was a really good player at Georgia, and I don’t know how he did there, but I know playing against him, I thought he was one of the better players in the league. I thought he played the right way." The circumstances surrounding him and his family is something that he had no control over. When you look at a young man once he transfers, going through the process of how is he going to be eligible, there’s a lot that goes into that. He’s sitting there with this case looming. Does that affect where he’s at on the depth chart? Does that affect anything that goes on around him? It’s an unusual circumstance."

There is no timeline for when a decision on the appeal will come down. Last season, the Tennessee Men's Basketball program had two wait until the middle of the season to get an approval for Uros Plasvic. 

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Matt Ray
MATT RAY

Matt Ray is the publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's Volunteer Country, serving as a beat reporter covering football, recruiting, and occasionally other sports. Matt also is a lead analyst at Sports Illustrated All-American, Sports Illustrated lead authority in high school recruiting coverage. When not at work covering the Tennessee Volunteers or the recruiting trail, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife Destiny traveling the country. 

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