James Franklin seems pretty committed to Vanderbilt. His name is already coming up for other openings... Auburn and NC State... but he seems like the kind of guy that might stay at Vandy for awhile.

The new TV deals also mean that a lot of schools have money so that Vandy can now match an offer from a competitor, something that probably wasn't possible a decade ago.

Hail2Calif;842020399 said:

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To cite his 14-11 record at Vanderbilt as a NEGATIVE is rediculous. Taking Vanderbilt to the point where they are beating the mid-level teams in the SEC in two seasons is pretty amazing.

JT engineered an amazing turn around for Cal when he took over (although there are posters who now, 11 years later, seem to want to insist that the early part of his tenure was basically lucking into all those studs Holmoe had recruited following that disasterous 1-10 season) and his 1st two years he went 15-11 (a record Franklin could match with a bowl win).

Harbaugh didn't have a winning season until his 3rd year at Stanford.

Graham and Rodriguez took their respective Arizona schools to 7 win seasons that are considered quite successful.

Whether Franklin is the right man for Cal (or is even interested in Cal), it's pretty rediculous to denigrate 7-8 win seasons at Vanderbilt this early in his tenure as "not good enough".

In my opinion, if we can go 8-4 next year, I would say it was a VERY successful 1st season (and something we will hopefully build on to become a 10+ win program) given where we are now.

Honestly - for those "poo pooing" 7 and 8 win seasons (given what Franklin had to work with when he started) what would make for a successful season in 2013 for Cal - coming off a 3-9 season?

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Agreed! People who post here literally have no idea about what this guy has done at Vandy or how good of a coach he really is. What he has done in such a short time is amazing. Once again, Cal would be lucky to get him. Unfortunately, I hear Vandy will open their wallets to keep him.


Jwc...

Pass.

jcharocv;842020465 said:

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Agreed! People who post here literally have no idea about what this guy has done at Vandy or how good of a coach he really is. What he has done in such a short time is amazing. Once again, Cal would be lucky to get him. Unfortunately, I hear Vandy will open their wallets to keep him.

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I would be very happy with Franklin (along with several other names being bandied about) - and I think it is too bad that enough posters seem to just want to criticize for the sake of criticizing. Whether you want Franklin or not - no one needs to denigrate his accomplishments at Vanderbilt (which IMO are fantastic).

The reality is, at the end of the day, no one is going to make everyone happy - because enough posters are 100% certain "their guy" is the only "right guy" - and because every candidate (no matter how fantasy like it would be) has "something" that someone here will pick on.

If I were to just look at recent history in our conference alone (since I do not have the time to follow "everything"), there are just no guarantees for anyone. Just look at this list of recently successful HC's in the Pac-12...

Kelly - was HC at New Hampshire, an OC at Oregon for awhile, and now is one of the "hot guys" the NFL is supposedly drooling all over (heck, this was JT after 2004) - but after HIS first game at BSU (when Blount punched one of the BSU players) there were people saying he was in too deep, lost the team, and he wasn't even going to last the season.

Harbaugh - was HC at San Diego before coming to Stanford. His personality definitely rubbed many Cal fans the wrong way, and his insistance on recruiting multiple TE's was a source of derision from many on this board. After a couple of struggling years at Stanford (afterall, JT won immediately and JH was still a losing coach after 2 seasons) - it all came together - with Stanford, now headed by Shaw, in excellent position for its 3rd straight BCS appearance.

Carroll - the thorn in JT's side. I believe without Carroll, JT may very well have gotten us to a couple of Rose Bowls. Infact, 2004, we might really have had the chance to argue RB vs. NC if it were not for Carroll's Trojans. In 2006, a win at USC would have gotten us a 2nd Pac-10 title in 3 years. Prior to USC, Carroll's most recent HC stints included getting fired by the Jets after one season - and getting fired by the Patriots after three.

Mora - A lot of fun poked at the Bruins as their first several choices all said "no" and Mora seemed more an NFL guy, no college history, how would he deal with 18-21 year olds, parents, alum, etc. Obviously it is very early in his UCLA tenure - but I am sure all but the most nega-Bearish would be estatic if we were playing in the 2013 Pac-12 Championship game after finishing a 9-3 regular season.

Point is - all 4 guys had a lot of question marks surrounding them when they took over their programs. Nothing on their resume screamed "guaranteed success" - and certainly they each had their fair share of naysayers predicting certain doom the day their hiring was announced.