The House of Blue

Franklin wasn't licking any wounds because he wasn't "shown the door" and Maryland. He was the head coach in waiting and offensive coordinator at UM when he accepted the Vandy job. He was far from an unknown as well. He spent time in the NFL and was recognized as one of the top recruiters in the nation.

He would be the Terps head coach after they did show the door to Friedgen, but he accepted the Vandy job a year before that went down.

While I agree that Franklin has not necessarily set the world on fire from an on-field performance perspective, MW limited his comment to "from a recruiting perspective."

And I'll agree with him on that point. Franklin has drawn some very good players to Vanderbilt. He is a fiery, energetic salesman for his program. I believe UK could do worse than making that quality an important consideration in this coaching search. The name that caused the original post in this thread would be a good hire and bring that sort of energy to UK, in my opinion.

I'm not saying that Franklin is the next Nick Saban. But lets take a look at what he's done thus far. He took over a program with zero history. Some of the WORST facilities in all of D1 Football and had virtually zero support from the school's administration. Not only that, he inherited a roster of kids that had been getting their brains beat in.

This is year 3. With two week left in the season, Franklin and Vandy have 6 wins. They've won on the road at Mizzou, Auburn, and Ole Miss this season. They lost to UGA by 4 in Athens. They have games against Wake and UT remaining. More than likely, they'll finish the regular season with either 7 or 8 wins. If they beat UT (which they probably will), that will give them 4 SEC wins this season and they'll be playing in the Peach (Chick Filet Bowl).

No, that's not Bama or Oregon good, but for a program like Vandy, which was a steaming pile of dog crap just 3 years ago, it's a remarkable improvement.

However, it's the recruiting under Franklin that is most impressive. I've always bought into what Jeff Drummond preached everywhere. For UK to make a move towards respectability, they must begin to CONSISTENTLY recruit classes that are ranked in the Top 35, at a minimum.

Vandy has the #15 ranked class nationally with several rides left to fill. They currently have 4-4star players whom have picked Vandy over schools like Oklahoma, Florida, Florida St, South Carolina, and Geogia. They are apparently in the lead for 4 more 4 star players.

Last year they finished with the #29 ranked class with several 4 star players.

The point being, Franklin is building a roster that should be pretty darn solid in another 1-2 years. He's winning games in the SEC this season with sophmores.

JMO, but he has laid the blueprint on how to build a program in the SEC for a school like UK. UK won't take the next step continuing to rely on "sleepers" who pick UK over Buffalo. The next coach will have to recruit like Franklin and his staff if they want to stay afloat in the SEC. Again, JMO.

Can you get players or can't you? That is the million dollar question for UK's next coach.

Agreed Minter, Vandy and Franklin have stepped it up and created "buzz" at a program that has never had any. Of course it does help that he is giving away 100K educations to these young men. Sign me up if I'm 18 and have a chance to get a free degree from Vandy.

Can we please stop with the "What is Franklin doing at Vandy to justify the hype" b.s.? That is by far the most uneducated comment I see on the boards at this point. Just stop. I would LOVE to have him as our coach, and you can bet he won't be at Vandy very much longer before a big program scoops him up. The guy is legit.

Vanderbilt did not lose by four at Georgia. It lost by 45.

This.

Vanderbilt is actually a pretty good sell. Great city, great school, in the best conference in the country. Put that together with a great salesman and it isn't impossible to see why Franklin is recruiting well. I was in the wait and see category with Franklin at the beginning of the year. But there's no doubt he has done extremely well at Vandy. He's 4-3 in the conference and is looking at a very good shot of finishing 8-4.

Franklin will be at one of the "brand" football schools before long. As for Butch Jones, rumor has it that Purdue is set to make a big run at him?

Nm

Franklin and freedgen went out together. Franklin accepted the vandy job as it became apperant that the ad at Maryland was going to fire the entire staff, as was done shortly after the season.

Another notch in the belt for Franklin. The excitement he generated when leaving the field after a blow out was fantastic. He will be at Vandy as long as they can keep him, but it seems like this might be his last year. They are fine with that, because they know what it takes.

I know KY fans don't want to hear it but Vandy is the sleeping giant of the SEC. The model for success is there whether or not Franklin leaves or stays. They have things to sell that the rest of the conference does not.

It will be a complete embarrassment if we don't pay over 2.5 Million a year for a coach. Franklin makes that. The bar has been set. KY is a Football school, at least from a business and revenue standpoint. We need to treat it as such and give it the attention it deserves.

hoptownukfan. . if you have the recipe for that you need to be an AD :-) Point well taken though.

I do think that we are beyond finding the right fit. We need that home run, or at least something that gives us hope. Ticket sales will drop if we don't find it, not only will the Athletic Department suffer, but the Univeristy as a whole.

This should have been taken care of a long time ago.

Vandy manned up and offered Malzahn $3 million and is paying that, or very close, to Franklin. If UK does that, I'll try not to be critical, even if it is someone from the B list.