VTTW Board Index

response to a poster for his opinion of various coaches relative to recruiting, X/O's game management, exciting the fan base etc. http://tennessee.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?FID=2251&SID=879&MID=181617421&TID=181605877 (http://tennessee.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?FID=2251&SID=879&MID=181617421&TID=181605877)

Coaches reviewed included the usual suspects that are assumed to be at or near the top of the hot list.

I think it a rational look at the coaches.  He was asked his opinion and he gave it but it is not just a "off the top of his head" response.  I believe it to be a good departure point for any discussion of various coaches strengths and weakness relative to Tennessee.

My interpretations:
Golden - not so much
Fedora - good coach, not Mr. Excitement
Gruden Mania - Can he adapt to the 20 hour rule (if he was to be hired my biggest question)
Strong - good defensive whiz, what kindof offense and he is still young HC wise
Fisher - looks to be the most well rounded candidate
Mora - recruiting in the South could be an issue
Patterson - solid coach, not Mr. Excitement to the fans
Franklin - loves publicity, improving as a HC

Your mileage may vary

You can certainly add a direct link, and you can even quote snippets as long as you give a source/credit.  :biggrin:

Franklin would be an interesting choice. I think he can motivate, which I think was a big issue for Dooley.

I would rather have Bobby Petrino than James Franklin.  :tongue:

Just to clarify Lyn's first choice is Petrino.

No Vandy Coach at Tennessee! :hurl: :mad:

Fulmer was an O-line coach at Vandy and he did pretty good. I'd at least interview Franklin. He can recruit and apparently he can coach.

Fulmer was a former UT player and wasn't a jackass.

 :evillaugh: :wave:

This is the beginning and end of the argument against Franklin.

This hire should not be made to win the press conference. Tom Osborne, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban hardly qualify as Mr. Exciting. Gary Patterson may be boring, but he wins big. Those who interview well may or may not produce.

I am personally embarrassed to hear this  :crazy: :wtf: :smile:

I would agree

Saban and Muschamp are both jackasses. I wouldn't care if our next coach was one, if he won.

There's being a jackass...and then there is being a smarmy lying POS jackass.  :cool:  Franklin is the latter. The guy that writes for the Nashville City Paper (Beauclaire I think) said that he knows Franklin lies, that's what coaches do, but Franklin acts like he is so much smarter than everyone and his attitude puts you off. It was a nice way to say "I can't stand the lying jackass". 

I am not sold on Franklin as a coach...Vandy has one good win this year....Ole Miss.

I think you're forgetting what Vandy is, traditionally...a doormat. Vandy could win 9 games this year. They play in the SEC, and usually get about 4-5 wins a year. If someone says he lies, then it must be so? To not see Franklin has done a great job there and clearly a motivator is just putting your head in the sand and believing what you want to believe, but I know you and you're stubborn so I am not going to try and convince you otherwise.

I am blasted with his bullshizzle on a daily basis.  He is FOS as most of them are...he is also arrogant enough to think he is the second coming of Jesus Christ.  Vandy beat Mizzou without their starting QB, beat two teams that a high school could beat and beat the worst UT and Kentucky teams I can remember. They should have won those games.  Franklin is a good coach for Vandy...he can stay there forever but he shouldn't be considered for UT.

I work with data, not BS. The data on Franklin shows that he wins, and he recruits. And he is doing that in a traditional doormat. The data also suggests that he has turned Vandy from a doormat to one of the middle of the pack teams in the SEC. That's really good for Vandy. Opinions matter little. The data shows he can coach and recruit. The rest is opinion, and therefore, irrelevant.

Yeah, I got that yesterday. We disagree.  I prefer to have a coach I can like and respect not one that is an ass....we can do better than Franklin.

My opinion is that Lane Kiffin + Bruce Pearl = James Franklin. If he only had the Pearl portion I'd be fine with hiring him.

I think Kiffin's somewhat overrated as a coach. Franklin isn't. I do see some other Kiffin attributes in him though, but to my knowledge, he hasn't broken NCAA rules, and Kiffin did.

Overall, a good comparison.

Yes...the first time I heard him I thought...ok good for Vandy...now I listen to hear what kind of shot is he going to take at UT and what kind of bull is he going to feed Clay Travis who fawns all over him.

well, we're making it too easy for him by getting blown out by his team. of course he will take shots at UT. He's succeeded in making UT-VU a rivalry again. We need to man up, hire a real coach, and make him eat his words. Or maybe we need to hire him.

I'm intrigued by Franklin. Not sold on him, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if Tennessee hired him. My hope would be that he would settle down. Winning isn't necessarily everything. I thought Kiffin did a pretty good job at UT, but I was tired of his B.S. even before it became apparent that he was a cheater. Take away the rules violations and Franklin is Kiffin all over again.

When I look at Franklin, I see a coach who, as Volznut said, took Vandy from its position as a perennial doormat to a middle-of-the-pack SEC team. And he did it in a couple of seasons. The dude can obviously coach.

PirateVOL approves this post

Whoever UT thinks about hiring, it should ask itself this one simple question:  "Can this coach lead UT to the National Championship?"  Because let's face it, this is the expectation at UT.  Not to lead UT to be just competitive with its SEC rivals, and not to simply make UT periodically relevant in national media discussions. 

UT doesn't need any more "interim" head coaches, or caretakers or stepping-stone coaches.  It needs to hit the home run with this hire.   As much as I admire what Franklin has done at Vandy, I honestly don't think he would be the MNC-caliber coach that UT should be looking for.   

I don't know that he can't be. To be a NC or SEC championship caliber team takes talent. A LOT of it. It takes recruiting, and everything else associated with being a great HC. If he had Saban's talent could he win it? I'd say he could.

Our next HC has to be able to recruit and have the passion for recruiting. If any candidate can't pass this hurdle, they maybe should not be considered. In Athens or Gainesville, they can trip over 20-30 SEC caliber athletes within a 100 mile radius of their school. Not that way in Knoxville. HC Fulmer had that in his earlier years and there were very few better than him.

Well said Jedi

I disagree that he is all that as a coach and agree with Lyn.  He is a one hit wonder.  Do you honestly think that he can keep Vandy a middle of the pack SEC team?  Do you honestly think with how bad Auburn, UT, and Missouri were that he can keep that going?  When those 3 teams are just average, not good, Vandy would be 2 - 6 in the SEC and 5 to 6 win team.  He benefitted from his schedule being watered down.  Against quality competition, he still got his doors blown off.

I also agree with Lyn that he is an ass.  He literally got into fights with several assistant coaches on other teams last year.

The standard reply is "Lyn was right"  :angel:

I see words like "think" and "would be". Synonymous with speculation. The facts are that Franklin HAS improved the Vandy team in his second year to where they could get 9 wins. Something UT fans have not experienced since 2007. And he is out recruiting us right now. So do I think he can keep vandy middle of the pack? Yeah, based on what he has done, I don't just think it, I can it's a very good probablity he can.... but he won't because he likely gets a better offer soon and takes it, and makes someone even better than that. Like it or not, he is a rising star in college coaching.

Hopefully He'll leave Vanderbilt soon and Vandy will drop back down to Their rightful place in the SEC

OK how about these facts....Vandy didn't beat a single team with a winning record.  Their best win was to a 6 - 6 Ole Miss team.  Vandy's 5 SEC wins came from 3 coaches that just got fired, and another that is rumored to be on his way out.  Again, let him prove it against the normal strength of the SEC.  Beat a team with a winning record and then I will agree he can coach.

It isn't the quality of the teams he beat so much as what he did with the talent he had. Vanderbilt is poised to win 9 games with a roster that isn't as good as the roster at Tennessee, or the roster at Ole Miss, or the roster at Auburn...or even Missouri.

He's also shown indications that he knows how to recruit. Vandy could very well finish with a top 15 class this year. Let's pause to wrap our minds around that -- Vanderbilt recruiting. Top 15 class.

If the guy can win 9 games with a typical Vanderbilt roster -- against a good SEC or a weak SEC; doesn't matter -- what can he do with a beefed up Vanderbilt roster?

Franklin's biggest liability is that he is at Vandy.  If not for that, I would consider him a legit candidate, but still down the list from others.  OTOH, he is taking in-state players away from UT, and we could end that quick by hiring him.  Granted, that is a relatively minor consideration.

As to him being a jackass...he is, but there is no bigger jackass than Saban.  To my knowledge Franklin does not kick under-performing players to the curb or use injuries as an excuse to get rid of players to free up scholarships, nor has he thumbed his nose at the SEC schollie limits, practiced at a high school loaded with recruits, made excuses for a fishing trip, caused the NCAA to pass a rule on texting, repeatedly violated the "bump" rule, talked down to reporters, yelled at reporters, fired someone for commenting on his haircut, etc, etc, etc.

So at least there would be a bigger jackass somewhere in the NCAA.   :wave: