Monday, December 13, 2010

VandySports.com's Mike Rapp Reports Commodores Will Offer Position to Maryland's James Franklin

Mike Rapp and the guys at VandySports.com have been all over this story, and have been very good not to run something until they "had it." A single paragraph says it all: "Franklin is expected to get a call from Vanderbilt soon, perhaps even tonight. There is no word yet as to whether or not Franklin remains interested in the job, but VU will discover within hours if he remains a candidate for the job."

While there is no doubt Vanderbilt took one on the chin today, they're clearing getting up off the mat quickly.

I'll say this, if Franklin turns the Commodores down, one can't help but think the search process has to go back to square one.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an awful potential hire. David Williams: I ask you, with your limited sports knowledge, what has James Franklin done in his professional coaching career to give you a high degree of confidence that he can win more football games than he will lose at Vanderbilt University- a uniquely challenging place to win (selective, private, small) in the SEC?

WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I'll tell you. Nothing.

Anonymous said...

Gah. I want to believe, but the spectacle of having to go back to an OC I never heard of, hat in hand because we already said thanks-but-no-thanks once, just leaves me absolutely cold. I hear Franklin is supposed to be some kind of hotshot recruiter, which would be nice, but he's going to have to really pull a rabbit out of his hat if the longlonglongLONGsuffering Vandy faithful are going to come out of this process anything but deflated.

Anonymous said...

I am afraid that David Williams has been impressed by James Franklin's personality and not by what he has accomplished. The terps offense has not been impressive under his leadership and his supposed recruiting ability is primarily connected to the east coast and not the south.

What about Kirby Smart, Alabama's defensive coordinator and the previous broyles award winner? He has a 750k contract and no buyout if he takes a head coaching position.

Anonymous said...

The new coach, if it is Franklin, will win because of a solid staff, good coaching, and execution by the players. Hating on Franklin seems to suggest a frustration that Vandy is not going after the same good ole boys who surface and change jobs every year. I for one am looking for a solid hire who can develop talent and win. Stop complaining about Vandy not securing everyone from Urban Meyer out of "retirement" to Leach to lead us to an sec tittle. If you want another good ole boy and his entire staff, then go get Lane Kiffin. I know that the Vandy Nation is hurting because of the Malzahn situation but let's be realistic and give DW and the next hire a chance. Seems foolish to me that people are blaming David Williams. He went after a solid candidate but he can't force Malzahn to sign and he can't prevent Auburn's AD from stepping up to match his salary to keep him. Lets be patient.

Andrew Smith said...

The fact that someone might turn into a good coach is no reason to hire him. I might turn out to be a brilliant NCAA football coach. But that's no reason to hire me or, if you were stupid enough to do so, give me time to prove myself.

If Vandy is really willing to offer the kind of money reported last week, it can do a hell of a lot better than an offensive coordinator with an unimpressive offense in an almost non-existant football conference. I don't want a brand name coach. I just want someone who has at least blown the doors off at his current position, and I'd probably prefer someone who has had great success at a lesser conference program.

Anonymous said...

Maryland score 62 on Wake. How many did we score?

Maryland is going to a bowl.
Are we going to a bowl?

Maryland had a winning season.
How many did we win?

Anonymous said...

Andrew: I know exactly what you're saying. That's why I was so disappointed when Todd Graham's name disappeared from the list. I know some worried because he left Rice after a year, fair enough. But he led Rice to a winning season, put up crazy numbers at Tulsa, and already has his old friend Herb Hand at Vandy.

Could he pull it off in the SEC? Hell, I don't know, I'm not psychic. If I were I'd be in Vegas, not posting on VSL. But at least he has a track record that leads me to conclude it's a possibility.

Anonymous said...

Why not someone like Bryan Harsin? He's been Boise's OC for over five years, and would seem like a good choice.

Of course, he went to Boise sooooo...

Anything but Gatorade said...

Williams totally blew this. Sure, Frankin's offense put up 62 on Wake Forest, but they only scored 7 on Clemson and 17 on West Virginia, not exactly known for defense. Not at all impressed.

Anonymous said...

Guys, Vandy is not the top 10 job you all think it is. This guy knows the risk about coming here,
and hes only 39. Its more of a risk for him than it is for us. If he brings in the right staff this could be a very good thing. Hes second to Malzahn for a reason. Go Dores

Anonymous said...

Bob pretty much nailed it. Yeah, Maryland put up 62 on Wake Forest. And they did it on 446 yards of offense. Well hell, Vandy had 443 against Wake themselves.

The difference was that Wake gashed Vandy for 226 yards rushing, while Maryland held them to -3. It's a lot easier to score on a short field. Plus Vandy kept blowing their own feet off with horrifically timed penalties and turnovers. Remember Funk getting picked in the end zone, among other things?

Anonymous said...

Annon @ 11AM -

I think that we are all well aware of how painful (and soul killing) it must be to be the HC of the VU football team.

That being said, it takes a lot of gall to say you're too good for 3M a year. Say all you want about it being "selling out" or whatever.