KIFFIN RECRUITING ON UP AND UP?
Posted 11:33 p.m., December 1, 2008
COLA -- Apparently I was the only reporter that didn't call Steve Spurrier today. I'm saving my get-out-of-jail-free card.
In Spurrier's convo with The State, he wondered aloud of new UT coach Lane Kiffin was properly qualified, via an NCAA test, to recruit college players.
(There's been some eyebrow raising about Kiffin -- and USC turned UT QBs coach David Reaves -- talking Sunday with prospect Jarvis Giles of Florida. Giles has told various media (Phil Kornblut, UT's Rivals site) that he spoke with both guys Sunday.)
In his introductory address to the Vols, Kiffin mentioned the test:
“As far as recruiting, we’ve hit the ground running. I took the test a few days before I got hired here so that we could do that. Yesterday was the first day we could start calling guys, and we started knocking them out everywhere. This is very important for where we are right now. It was important to have a meeting with the team last night and touch those guys first so that they knew about this officially before you guys did. After that, it was right to recruiting."
As far as Reaves calling Giles, who de-committed from Tennessee and seemed to be leaning toward USC, it feels like an all's fair kind of thing. It's a business. He wouldn't be doing due diligence if he didn't go after Giles. Reaves would've if he'd been hired from, say, Rutgers. Granted, he has a past relationship with Giles so that helps.
If any, the issue I have with the whole thing is just how FAST Reaves got out of town. I realize it's an important time of the year to start recruiting, but Reaves almost didn't even need to ride back from Clemson. Would've given him a little headstart on the way to Knoxville. Seems like his mind was fully made up about UT -- before even the Clemson game. I'm sure he wanted to win, but was his focus fully on coaching his kids? We're pointing fingers at players for not being dialed in for the game. Maybe at least one coach, too?
-- Th
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