Welcome to Tennessee, Lane Kiffin. Your grace period ended 12 hours ago:South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier questioned whether new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin broke an NCAA rule when he called a recruit a day before he was introduced as the Volunteers’ new coach.According to a story published on VolQuest.com, part of the Rivals’ network, Kiffin and former Gamecocks recruiting coordinator David Reaves called Tampa running back Jarvis Giles on Sunday and left him voice messages."You’re supposed to have passed the NCAA test and be on board, I think. But maybe he was just calling him as an interested observer," Spurrier said today, laughing. "I don’t know. But technically to be able to recruit you’re supposed to pass the NCAA test."Wow, kid. Unless you're Nick Saban, it usually takes at least a winning season before opposing coaches start accusing you of recruiting violations. They're already accepting you in the club! (If you're going to get accused, anyway, just make sure your next alleged violation really counts).Meanwhile, Kiffin was determined to show during his introduction today that he may be naive and unprepared to lead a major program, but he's not backing down: Echoing Jim Tressel's "In 310 days in Ann Arbor" speech at Ohio State, Kiffin told reporters "It's going to be fun hearing 'Rocky Top' after we beat Florida next year." Cute, but a little forced.I'm not saying Tennessee's not going to beat Florida next year in Gainesville. But has Lane Kiffin ever heard "Rocky Top"? Played 200 times over the course of three hours? He's not from Tennessee, you know; he hasn't been immunized to the repetition, or bred to appreciate the intricate sublimity of "Corn from a jar." Win or lose, by the end of the game, he'll be calling his agent about NFL openings just to get away from it.
1 Replies
1018 Views