Spurrier Is Already Trying to Become Lane Kiffin's Enemy

By WILL BRINSON and FANHOUSE.COM

Updated 2:42 PM PST, Wed, Dec 3, 2008

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Lane Kiffin, the new, hip, happening Tennessee Volunteers head coach, got an early welcome to the world of the SEC from one of its elder statesmen recently. Ye Olde Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, decided to point out that young Lane had spoken with recruits before he was actually introduced as head coach of the Vols.

The South Carolina coach, who had a history of taking verbal jabs at Kiffin's predecessor, Phillip Fulmer, questioned whether Kiffin broke NCAA recruiting rules by contacting Tennessee recruits before he was cleared to do so.

Jarvis Giles, a running back recruit from Gaither High School in Tampa, Fla., told several media outlets that Kiffin contacted him early Sunday morning - a day before he was scheduled to be introduced as the Vols' new coach.

Spurrier noted that he didn't retake the recruiting test until after he was introduced as the Gamecocks' new coach and joked that Kiffin might have called Giles as "an interested observer.''

That's the beauty of the OBC -- he manages to make a joke out of a pretty serious allegation, simply by using his charming Southern demeanor. And obviously Kiffin is covering up any potential wrong doing by pointing out that he took the test before his hire was actually announced; whether or not he acted in accordance with the rules seems irrelevant unless there's a dated test that can prove him otherwise.

The better part of all this is that right away, we have a heated coaching rivalry between two SEC would-be powerhouses, not to mention the makings of a super awesome visor war.