Larry Brown Sports

Vanderbilt football coach James Franklin phoned Nick Saban to apologize for calling the Alabama coach “Nicky Satan” while speaking at a Georgia high school banquet on Monday.

Video of Franklin speaking at the Macon (Ga.) Central High School fall sports banquet went viral on Wednesday, leading the Vandy coach to smooth things out with the Crimson Tide coach.

“There’s this guy at Alabama, I think his name is ‘Nicky Satan,’” Franklin said during his speech. “I think you guys have probably heard of him before. I’m going to outwork him. I’m going to outwork him. And that’s kind of our plan every single day.”

Though Franklin’s words may have backfired, they did serve a purpose. Franklin got Central linebacker Nigel Bowden to commit to the Commodores, so he was definitely playing to the audience. Bowden even referenced Franklin’s passion when he spoke.

“This man right here has so much passion,” said Bowden. “And I believe this is a man I can look up to for four years. He is what he says he is. He walks the walk and talks the talk. I’ve never met anybody with so much energy and so much passion with what they do.”

After the video went viral, Franklin called Saban to apologize for what he called a “joke.”

Read The Rest of the Story…

James Franklin was so thrilled after Vanderbilt safety Eric Samuels made an interception in the Music City Bowl on Monday, he pretended to make out with his player on the team’s sidelines.

According to Dr. Saturday, N.C. State returned a kickoff for a touchdown to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 21-14, and Vandy punted before Samuels made the pick and returned it to the 18. The interception set up Vandy’s fourth touchdown of the half. The Commodores went on to win the game 38-24 for their first nine-win season since 1915.

The only kiss we’ve seen on a college football field that was bigger than that one came from Mark Richt last November.

If there are any football coaches out there who were planning to apply for a position at Vanderbilt, be sure to bring along a photo of your wife to your interview with Vandy head coach James Franklin. Unless, of course, your wife isn’t a looker. If that is the case and you really want the job, you had better show up with a photo of a good-looking woman. Otherwise, you need not apply.

As CoachingSearch.com shared with us (via Dr. Saturday), Franklin recently revealed one of his most important criteria for hiring assistant coaches, and it has nothing to do with football IQ.

“I’ve been saying it for a long time, I will not hire an assistant until I see his wife,” Franklin said during an interview with Clay Travis of 104.5 The Zone. “If she looks the part and she’s a D-I recruit, then you got a chance to get hired. That’s part of the deal. There’s a very strong correlation between having the confidence, going up and talking to a woman, and being quick on your feet and having some personality and confidence and being articulate and confident, than it is walking into a high school and recruiting a kid and selling him.”

Franklin says the movie “Moneyball” spoke directly to him when scouts were talking about how the lack of an attractive girlfriend can indicate a player has confidence issues. Maybe Franklin is onto something. Lane Kiffin seems to have no problem landing top recruits, and have you taken a look at his wife? For what it’s worth, Franklin backtracked on Thursday afternoon.

“My foot doesn’t taste good, I hope I did not offend (anyone),” he wrote on his Twitter account. “I love (and) respect ALL. Have a great day, enjoy the (family) and don’t forget to #AnchorDown.”

No worries, James — Steve Spurrier’s coaching criteria may still have yours beat.

Vanderbilt coach James Franklin heard about Tennessee’s locker room celebration Saturday, and he’s not happy about it. The Vols beat state rival Vandy 27-21 in overtime, and coach Derek Dooley celebrated by saying the one thing Tennessee always does is kick the **** out of Vandy. Franklin said on Monday that he had heard about the video, but that he hadn’t seen it. He also said it reflected poorly on Tennessee rather than Vanderbilt.

“We’ll talk about it next year – a lot,” Franklin said. “We’ll talk about it as much as you guys want to talk about it next year. We’ll watch it as many times as we’ve got to watch it next year. That’s a wound that I’m going to leave open that’s not going to heal. We’ll leave it open for a year and we’ll discuss it next year.

“I look at it as respect. Some people act like they won the Super Bowl and they beat a team that the two previous years had won four games total. Obviously, we are closing the gap and threatening some people and making some people uncomfortable. We’ll see. We’ll leave it at that. We’ll move on. But we’ll have a lot of discussion about this next year when the time is right.”

It’s a great response from Franklin who obviously is upset with the video. Dooley’s speech wasn’t intended to reach the public, but it did. Now he has to realize that Vandy will have extra motivation for their game next season.

Here is a video of Franklin’s response via Outkick the Coverage:

Read The Rest of the Story…