Coach Urban Meyer has made SEC history again. This time he is the first coach to have the strong arm of Mike Slive hand out a fine for the SEC referee gag order. Meyer got a $30,ooo fine for these words:

“I don’t want to step out of line, [but] there should have been a penalty, in my opinion. Obviously it should have been. You have to protect quarterbacks. That’s the whole purpose. It’s right in front of the referee.” 

You can find more from around the web here on the fine.

• AP Story on SI
• Andy Staples - SEC’s Slive left himself no choice but to fine Meyer
• Gville Sun - SEC fines Meyer
• Urban Meyer fined $30,000 for comment on late Tebow hit

The SEC has made it clear that they can’t handle the truth, and has made a rule that they are going to be forced to enforce without any leniency. Maybe next time Coach Meyer could be a little more blunt and go for the suspension over the fine. This way Charlie Strong could get that head coaching gig.