In the brief few months since Lane Kiffin became head coach at Tennessee, he’s managed to offend Urban Meyer and Florida football … twice, piss off Nick Saban at Alabama, and take a shot at Steve Spurrier and South Carolina. At first I thought Kiffin’s actions were kind of cool — he was trying to step into a down situation and re-energize it; he sought out the biggest dogs in the pack and picked a fight. I liked his moxie and his attitude. But now with this latest story on what he said to recruit Alshon Jeffrey, I’m starting to change my opinion of Lane. Here’s Jeffrey explaining his story from the time he decided on attending South Carolina over Southern California and Tennessee:
Kiffin was equally dogged. But when it was obvious that Jeffrey wasn’t going to Tennessee, Kiffin took off the gloves.
According to Jeffrey and Wilson, Kiffin told Jeffrey that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina.
Jeffrey was doing his best to stay awake at that point, but that comment from Kiffin woke him up. He clearly hasn’t forgotten it, either.
Now that’s just an unnecessary low blow. It’s times like that where true colors and real character are revealed. I’m never one to use negative recruiting as part of my process; I’m all about showing off the positives of our place. Saying something like that can really touch a nerve considering how offensive it is to so many people. It also isn’t the smartest thing to say to a kid who’s already decided on a school. I’m starting to realize that maybe Kiffin doesn’t have a filter and that’s why he’s saying as much as he is. Like I pointed out, he’s writing some checks his team better be able to cash in the fall.
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More Hot Stories at larrybrownsports.comThis entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 and is filed under College Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
How did this guy impress anyone in a job interview?
You’re two days late on this. Kiffin says he didn’t say it. Why don’t you add that to your little story.
He may not have said it verbatim, but he probably said something similar. Look at his track record of shooting from the hip.
Maybe Al Davis wasn’t totally senile at the press conference announcing Kiffin’s firing. Maybe there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes that created the rancor between the two parties.
Kiffin said he didnt say it. I think USC is just trying to act “big-time” like someone would like to have a scandal or something. Little school, little state….Owned.
If Kiffin ever hopes to recruit the state of South Carolina successfully he had to deny making that comment. I don’t believe him on this one. A kid wouldn’t just make up something that specific.
I hear they are updating the Tennessee football jerseys for this coming year by putting a bull’s eye on the back.