VOLS' NEW ASSISTANT PLAYING BY THE RULES
Some South Carolina fans might be upset by the news that former assistant coach David Reaves is now recruiting tailback Jarvis Giles for Tennessee.
You shouldn't.
It probably seems like a conflict of interest for Reaves to now be recruiting against his former school for Giles, who is also considering South Carolina and Nebraska.
That would be true if UT hadn't already been recruiting Giles, but he was previously committed to the Vols and hadn't closed the door on playing his college football in Knoxville.
You only have to look at UT's situation with former assistant coach Trooper Taylor last year. Taylor, one of the Vols' top recruiters, left for Oklahoma State. Taylor said at the time he wouldn't speak to a recruit for Oklahoma State unless the Cowboys had already been recruiting him.
"One thing I will never do is step on my morals and my values," Taylor told the Knoxville News Sentinel at the time. "If they (OSU) expect me to do that, then they've hired the wrong guy."
And Taylor lived up to what he said. He never tried to steal a prospect from UT.
Reaves isn't trying to steal a prospect from South Carolina, either. He's simply helping UT recruit a prospect who was already considering the Vols.
And so go the battles of recruiting.
