Lane Kiffin has an unusual recruiting style: Rather than expound upon the virtues of his own program at Tennessee in hopes of stirring a prospect’s passions and earning their commitment, he tries to scare them with predictions of the future hardships they’ll endure should they deign to sign with a rival school. The innovative Mr. Kiffin reportedly used this tactic on highly-regarded high school wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey who was trying to choose between the Vols, their SEC nemeses South Carolina and the ever-popular USC. From ESPN‘s Chris Low comes an account of one exchange:
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.
Kiffin is awfully frisky for a guy who hasn’t won a single game as a head coach in the SEC. That’s fine though. If he wants to make enemies of Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier – people who’ve actually accomplished something in the game, beyond the trick of parlaying a failed NFL career into a college job that isn’t as prestigious as it once was – then so be it. I just hope Lane realizes that, when he does fail, there will be people lining up around the block to get in a shot at him, and pretty much no one will feel sorry for him.
Tags: alshon jeffrey, lane kiffin, south carolina gamecocks, steve spurrier, tennessee vols, urban meyer, USC Trojans
