FAYETTEVILLE — A fire storm of criticism of SEC officiating crews by several coaches prompted the SEC office, along with athletic directors, to fire back with a stricter enforcement for such comments in the future.

All violations of the SEC’s policy restricting coaches from public criticism of game officials will now be enforced by suspensions and fines. The new enforcement policy was approved unanimiously by the SEC’s athletic directors this week and will be enacted immediately, according to the SEC office.

The length of the suspension and the amount of the fine will be at the discretion of the commissioner.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was the first football coach to receive a public reprimand from the conference office this season for publicly criticizing officials after Arkansas’ 23-20 loss to then-No. 1 Florida on Oct. 17.

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin received similar reprimands from the SEC office after games last week.

“There are proper channels available for head coaches to use when communicating officiating concerns to the conference office,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

Head coaches could be suspended and fined for any criticism of officials, including comments made by assistant coaches and support personnel.

Petrino questioned a no-call on a possible late hit out-of-bounds against the Gators during his weekly coaches show after the game.

“When they hit you when you’re on the white, it’s supposed to be a late hit, a 15-yard penalty,” Petrino said, rewinding the clip and playing it again. “Unfortunately, in Florida, they don’t call it that way.”

Petrino questioned the officials on two occasions during the show.

“It’s unfortunate that the fourth quarter there’s probably three plays that the officials made the difference in the game,” Petrino said later during the broadcast.

Mullen’s comments came after Mississippi State’s 29-19 loss to Florida on Saturday. Florida linebacker Dustin doe returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Doe fumbled the ball, and video angles showed a close call of whether it was a touchdown. A replay official, though, determined evidence wasn’t sufficient enough to overturn the ruling on the field.

“I don’t know why we even have replay right now in the Southeastern Conference if they are not going to utilize it,” Mullen said. “That’s twice that they’ve blown calls on the replay with our games resulting in big plays and I think that’s unexcusable for that official. I mean, I hope he is severely punished, if [he] ever works another SEC game again, because I think it is completely unacceptable.”

Kiffin received his second reprimand of the year when he criticized a no-call for an unsportsmanlike penalty when Alabama’s Terrence Cody blocked a field goal and ripped his own helmet off in celebration as the game clock expired in the Tide’s 12-10 win.