Former Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin is going home. Franklin accepted the head coaching position at Penn State University late last week, effectively removing the thorn that he’d become from Tennessee’s proverbial side.
Franklin takes with him a 2-1 record against the Vols, including back-to-back wins in 2012’s 41-18 beat down and last season’s 14-10 last second victory. This marked the first time Vanderbilt beat Tennessee in consecutive seasons since before World War II.
So in the words of Curly Bill:
Well, bye.
But a winning record against Tennessee isn’t the only thing Franklin is taking with him to State College. In addition to several members of the former VU coaching staff, the ever-advantageous Franklin is pillaging ravaging taking his pick of Vanderbilt’s recruiting class, a move that’s garnered the ire of local media and Commodore fans (Yes — fans, with an “s.” Like, more than one. Plural).
Park Ridge, Ind., OL Brendan Brosnan, a Commodore pledge since July, flipped to the Nittany Lions yesterday. The 6-6, 275-pound OL is a 3-star prospect on 247Sports.
3-star OL Chance Sorrell, a native of Middleton, Ohio, flipped to Penn State on Saturday, the very same day Franklin was officially introduced as the new head coach. Sorrell had been committed to Vanderbilt since June.
Lloyd Tubman, another 3-star prospect, also changed his pledge from Vandy to Penn State on Saturday (or Sadderday, for Vandy fans?). The 6-5 defensive end and Louisville, Ky., native was a Vanderbilt commitment dating back to April.
According to the link from above, Franklin also offered several other members of Vanderbilt’s class. DL prospect Jashon Robertson (from Nashville), DBs Grant Haley, Emmanuel Smith (from Murfreesboro) and Amani Oruwariye all received new offers from Franklin and Penn State. Numerous other Commodore commitments have either decommitted or reopened their recruitments.
Turnover, in staff and players, is a natural part of the process when changing coaches. This is the real world, and it’s not always pretty. Tennessee fans experienced something similar when Ed Orgeron and Lane Kiffin tried to dissuade 2010 cycle early-enrollees from attending class in hopes of swaying them to USC. Five-star WR Markeith Ambles, who was not an early-enrollee, eventually decommitted from Tennessee and ended up with Kiffin and crew in LA.
But these kids are not signed nor enrolled, simply “committed.” Franklin is, technically, doing nothing wrong. Nonetheless, he defended his actions in an interview on the Dan Patrick show.
“My responsibility is to do everything in my power to make sure I put a team together that can help Penn State be successful,” Franklin said. “And the people I’ve been recruiting for the last two years that I know inside and out, know the type of men they are, type of families they come from, you know, that’s going to happen. My job right now is to do everything I possibly can to help Penn State be successful.”
“A lot of people say that the kids should commit to a school, not a coach, but the reality is, they do. Families and kids want to make sure their kid is being taken care of. It’s about the relationship aspect.”
This is the same guy who, just last year, called kids that decommitted from Vanderbilt, “not men of honor,” and “not men of integrity.” Uh huh. Rrrright. Pot meet kettle, or nah?
In the end, this will blow over. Vanderbilt will hire a new coach to pick up the pieces and move on. And even though the likelihood of maintaining the current level of success is slim, the job is more attractive now than it was when Franklin started.
I will leave with two cautionary notes: Tigers don’t change their stripes, and maybe, watch what you say and to whom you say it. Because people don’t forget, James. People don’t forget.
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