Someone hacked my account last week. Those who know me well know I’m just not the reasonable, positive type, like the misguided fool who wrote under my byline tried to be.
I understand the point he was trying to make (as idiotic as it indeed was). Essentially, due to the inherent, imbalanced power structure, managing expectations in college football is far different than “accepting our place” in college basketball. There just aren’t many 10-win coaches out there, so they have to be created over time. Oregon and Virginia Tech are the only two programs in the past 20 years that gained and then maintained their status as part of college football’s elite. The Virginia Tech model is certainly one we can follow (we have the resources), and while TOB will arguably leave State a program better off than he inherited, it’s time for us to replace him with someone who can advance it to the next level, because he clearly isn’t capable.
My first call: James Franklin. He’s young (40) and energetic, has NFL experience; he’s widely appreciated as a solid recruiter (Top 25 in 2012), and is winning at Vanderbilt (by Vanderbilt standards). He was Yow’s chosen coach-in-waiting at Maryland before she left (he was not her replacement Kevin Anderson’s, however), so there’s clearly an opportunity…but — big but — Franklin currently makes around $3 million per year (estimated) in Nashville, so someone’s pockets deeper than mine will have to open up to make that kind of commitment.
No sleep ’til Atlanta.
