http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec/0-5-172/A-peek-into-recruiting-with-South-Carolina-s-Jeffrey.html
They downplay it in the article, attributing the statement to Kiffin's desperation and lack of sleep, but still.As Southern California's Pete Carroll and Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, along with their assistants, did their best to make a final pitch to Jeffrey in the wee hours of that morning, Jeffrey made sure their conversations were on speaker phone. Mack was sitting there listening, too.
"It's a whole different level, and these guys don't give up easily," Wilson said. "I don't blame them. It's what they do. It's how they put bread on their table."
Because he'd been committed to Southern California for so long, Jeffrey said he did inform Carroll that he planned to sign with South Carolina. The Trojans had tried to put the squeeze on Jeffrey earlier in the recruiting process and told him that they were going to pull his offer unless he agreed not to take visits anywhere else.
To make a long story short, Jeffrey took his visits to South Carolina and Tennessee, and the Trojans never quit recruiting him.
"He tried his best to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up," said Jeffrey, who still refers to Carroll as "Pete."
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.
"He said it, but it's not worth talking about," Jeffrey said.
