Bruce Pearl's mouth keeps getting him in trouble

I've always liked Bruce Pearl.

He seems like a fun-loving guy, whether he is painting himself Orange and sitting in the student section for a Lady Vol's game or going shirtless and rapping with his players.

He's a fun-loving coach, someone that I would want to play for if I were, you know, good at basketball.

But he doesn't always seems to have the greatest sense of what is right and wrong to say. He's already been punished by the University of Tennessee and the SEC for lying -- and pressuring a recruit's parents to back up his lie -- in regards to recruiting violations, and he still has potential NCAA sanctions to look forward to. So maybe it isn't the best time for Pearl to be making jokes like this:

"I've made mistakes, I clearly did," Pearl said Monday while addressing the Knoxville Quarterback club, "but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook.

"I miss Lane Kiffin."

I'm all for being able to laugh at yourself.

There isn't much in this world that should be taken seriously enough so as to lose your sense of humor.

But maybe, just maybe, Pearl wants to at least appear to be taking his actions seriously. The major issue here is that Pearl lied to investigators. That he didn't take their investigation seriously enough to own up to his mistakes.

And now he is making jokes about it? In front of reporters?

Does he realize the NCAA still can hand down a punishment?

This isn't the first time Pearl has created a stir with an ill-conceived joke, either.

I'm all for a good laugh. But there is a time and a place.

And this was neither.