Sunday, November 27, 2011

James Franklin's Contract Extended; Deal Includes Facility Improvements

David Williams strike again. VandySports.com's Mike Rapp and Clay Travis on his blog OutKick the Coverage have stories saying basically the same thing: Vanderbilt is going to pay James Franklin somewhere in the ballpark of 3 million dollars annually and facility improvements to be specified in the days to come.

As Rapp's story on VandySports.com makes clear, it is not just CJF that Vanderbilt needs to be worried about:
Offensive coordinator Bob Shoop is probably at the top of the list, as he was contact by Richmond about that school's open head coaching position. Shoop turned down an opportunity to interview for that job, but history certainly implies that other schools are certain to look to poach Franklin's highest profile staffers.
Given the Commodores success this season, it would not surprise me to see other members of CJF's staff getting calls. Beyond the offensive and defensive coordinators, I fully expect David Williams to get calls about Offensive Line Coach Herb Hand, who's unit became a real strength as the season evolved.

Clay's story also includes a recruiting nugget that is worth highlighting:
Sources tell OKTC that five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel, a mid-term enrollee who made an unofficial visit to Vandy's campus with his parents last week, will be making an official visit with his parents this coming weekend. A second visit is an impressive coup for Franklin since it means Vanderbilt will figure prominently in Kiel's decision. Vanderbilt's second semester begins on January 9th so Kiel will have less than a month to decide if Vanderbilt will be his college choice. If Vanderbilt got Kiel, he would become the school's first five-star commit in football history.
Clearly, there is reason for Commodore fans to be excited.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to again praise Vice Chancellor David Williams. I have stated time and again that I am 100% in the tank for VCDW. It turns out, I was right. As both the OutKick the Coverage and VandySports.com articles make clear, he has been preparing to make the moves necessary to keep CJF and ensure the program remains on the right track for some time. The often malaigned Williams should have many around the country wondering, who needs an "AD" anyway?

3 comments:

VandyImport said...

GIT. MONEY.

It's very good to hear that our coaches are ridiculously If we have the money, we ought to be putting it to good use. The most gratifying bit is that the purported $3M/7years is what we were allegedly offering Malzahn, and Frankin has been everything we wanted Malzahn to be...

Yeah, I'm a complete VCDW mark. The man in the tracksuit is the straw that stirs the drink.

AspenVU said...

There is a god in that VU did not get Malzahn - he's had one great year because of Cam and the rest has been average at best. CJF can be on par with CTC and CKS.

Anonymous said...

Malzahn's wife if strange. Did you see the video?

But I'd still hit it.