Former Tide receiver sues Lane Kiffin
Suit alleges Florida Atlantic coach misled Antonio Carter on coaching position
Florida Atlantic University football coach Lane Kiffin, the university and the state of Florida are defendants in a fraud lawsuit filed Tuesday by Antonio “A.C.” Carter in Shelby County, Ala.
Carter alleges Kiffin misled him to believe he had a job on FAU’s football staff in order to leverage his relationship with a recruit. The lawsuit was first reported by SEC Country.
Carter, a former University of Alabama wide receiver, claims in the suit that Kiffin and FAU strength and conditioning coach Wilson Love offered him a position as an assistant wide receivers coach and assistant strength and conditioning coach, before revoking it after two misdemeanor criminal charges surfaced.
Carter levied six counts against Kiffin, FAU and Florida, including reckless fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
Through an athletic department spokesperson, FAU declined to comment. Calls to athletic director Pat Chun and Carter’s lawyer were not returned.
The position was set to pay $40,000 plus bonuses and up to $4,000 for relocation, the suit said. According to the lawsuit, the job offer was made Jan. 25 without contingencies and revoked Feb. 3.
During that time period, Kiffin allegedly tasked Carter with the recruitment of three prospects — including a fourstar junior college prospect from Carter’s hometown who once signed with the University of Florida. No recruits were named in the lawsuit, but D’Anfernee McGriff is from Carter’s hometown of Tallahassee, signed with Florida out of high school and attended Iowa Western Community College last year.
The recruit was “a close family friend” of Carter, according to the suit, and had just celebrated New Year’s Eve together. FAU’s coaching staff was aware of Carter’s relationship with the recruit when he was hired, the suit alleges. The suit said all three recruits Carter helped woo signed with the Owls.
According to the suit, one of Carter’s misdemeanor charges “was deemed a ‘No Information’ (refusal to prosecute) by the Assistant State Attorney of Florida more than 7 years ago,” while the other was resolved with unsupervised probation.
The suit said Carter learned that FAU and Kiffin hired “numerous assistant football coaches … despite significant publicized criminal and ethic charges and allegations against them.” Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles was mentioned in a lawsuit filed against Baylor. Defensive line coach Eric Mathies was charged with driving under the influence in 2014, but the charge was lessened to reckless driving.
The alleged job offer on Jan. 25 set off a back-and-forth between Carter and FAU, Kiffin and Love, the suit said. On Jan. 27, Carter said he had not received any paperwork from FAU Human Resources and Love reassured him “that the paperwork was coming and that he was hired and not to worry,” according to the lawsuit.