Vanderbilt Commodores Football: James Franklin Selling Chance To Build
By Ryan Wooden
Dec 31, 2012; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach James Franklin exits the field after a win over the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the Music City Bowl at LP Field. The Commodores beat the Wolfpack 38-24. Mandatory credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
Over the course of the last century, it’s rare that we’ve found ourselves simply compelled to talk about Vanderbilt Commodores football. They’ve been bad and they’ve been beaten upon by all comers in the SEC for years, but nowadays there’s simply a different vibe around Nashville and Vanderbilt Stadium.
That vibe is almost entirely centered upon head coach James Franklin.
What Franklin has done to inject life into one of the nation’s most lifeless programs—and we’re talking about Walking Dead lifeless here—is nothing short of remarkable, but the way he’s been able to do it makes it even more amazing. Vanderbilt sells rather easily as one of the top academic institutions in the country and Nashville’s West End certainly has a lot to offer, but the ease of the sale stops there.
However, that hasn’t stopped James Franklin from making the proverbial lemonade. Somehow he’s managed to take a program that is under .500 all-time and has been to six bowl games in the history of its 123 years of existence and turn it into a place where student athletes think, “Not only can I get a great education, but we might even win.”
And win they have.
James Franklin has won 15 times in two years to just 11 losses, and while that W-L record is far from Herculean—or Saban-esque, if you will—it’s something that marks significant progress at Vanderbilt. The Commodores have made back-to-back bowl games for the first time in their history.
However, the question seems to be whether or not Franklin’s Vanderbilt has staying power, and if recruiting were the only indicator it’d be hard to say anything but yes.
In his first two full recruiting classes, James Franklin has inked the 29th and the 19th best class in the nation according to Rivals.com. In 2014, the Commodores are sitting directly outside the Top 20 with eight commitments in the early going.
What he has to sell now is a program on the rise, but it wasn’t that simple when he first arrived. What he had when he got to Nashville was a program that had managed to win more than three conference games three times since 1950.
Like I said, Vanderbilt is a great school but how far can a football program go by selling a city and a degree? Ideally, we’d all like to think that a fantastic education should be the predominant factor in a student-athlete’s decision, but in 2013 we’re kidding ourselves if we think it is.
That’s especially true in the Southeast where the Nick Sabans and Les Mileses of the world are putting a dozen players into the National Football League every year. For so many kids, the idea of using a school as a stepping stone to the riches of professional athletics has an allure of its own.
So, to sell Vanderbilt as a place to do that with no track record of success and a stadium/facilities that are half the size–if not half as good–as everyone else in the SEC is something you’ve got to give James Franklin credit for. He’s had moments of extreme petulance and rather brash behavior that seems to rub people the wrong way, but he’s made Vanderbilt relevant in a way that they haven’t been since Red Sanders got home from World War II.
I can’t explain how exactly he has done it, but you have to respect that fact that he’s done it at all. He’s sold the idea of Vanderbilt as an opportunity to build something from scratch, and he’s allegedly turned down some rather intriguing opportunities to do it.
We haven’t had much reason to talk about Vanderbilt Commodores football in the past, but as long as James Franklin is there, I’d imagine we’ll be talking about them a lot more in the future. Does that mean Vanderbilt will seriously contend in the SEC? Not necessarily, but not being the conference’s doormat for once is a step in the right direction.