Cover the sport of college football long enough, and there really isn’t all that much that’ll surprise you, especially when it comes to recruiting. The tactics of the nation’s best coaches are legendary, whether it’s Auburn’s “Tiger Prowl” limo, Lane Kiffin’s helicopter trips at Tennessee, or the time that Mark Richt went to church to close a recruit. Not to mention, that as we learned in the movie “The Blind Side” there’s nothing that Nick Saban loves more than some good conversation about a set of drapes.
But at Vanderbilt- where recruiting has picked up exponentially under new head coach James Franklin- there’s a decidedly old-school feel to the way they handle things. Franklin, the smooth-talker that he is, likes to ask for a recruit’s hand in “marriage” when a high school player commits.
The concept is simple really. As Franklin describes it the doe-eyed 17-year-olds that he’s courting, when you make a verbal commitment to his school, in a lot of ways it’s like getting engaged. And when you officially sign your letter of intent in February? It’s ‘til death do us part. No word though if Franklin actually gets down on one knee to pop the question.
Anyway, apparently the speech is working. Two separate Georgia recruits committed to Franklin in the last two weeks, and each cited Franklin’s engagement speech as part of the reason why. The speech is apparently much funnier in words than I doing it justice in print.
Here are two separate accounts of what Franklin’s speech. The first comes from Stephensville (GA) recruit Jonathan Wynn, who committed a week ago Monday. Wynn’s quotes are courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s recruiting blog:
“He said ‘that’s great, we’d love to have you’ … and then he said some funny stuff,” Wynn told the AJC. “He was like, you know, now that you’re committed, you’ve got to keep your word if other schools offer you. He asked me ‘What are you going to say?’ I told him I would tell other schools ‘Thanks but I’m already committed.’
“Coach Franklin then had a nice metaphor [about my commitment]. He said it was like ‘we’re engaged right now with this commitment, and next February we’re going to get married when you sign with us.’ I thought that was pretty funny. He has me laughing.”
Apparently, Franklin is giving the speech to all the guys, because fellow Georgia high school star, running back Taurean Ferguson, got the speech as well. Here’s what he told the AJC earlier this week:
“He said ‘With you committing, this is like our engagement. When you sign the letter-of-intent next February, then we’ll be married.’ I thought that was really funny how he explained it like that. And it showed me he really cared about me.”
Who says kids today are afraid of commitment?
Regardless of how corny the speech may, or may not be, it appears to be paying dividends, as Vanderbilt’s recruiting has been on fire under Franklin. According to Rivals.com, the Commodores finished ranked 29th nationally this past February, after not being ranked in the Top 50 in 2011. The group included three four-star commitments.
Then there is 2013, where the Commodores are already off to a hot start, picking up a number of players that other schools are hot after. Wynn had offers from South Carolina and Clemson, while Ferguson had been receiving interest from Auburn amongst others. Another commit, linebacker Nigel Bowden held offers from Louisville, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. No word on if Bowden received “the speech” or not.
And this all doesn’t even include Vanderbilt’s top commit for 2013, quarterback Johnathan McCrary who unexpectedly committed to the ‘Dores just weeks after Signing Day 2012. Rivals.com’s No. 2 ranked dual-threat quarterback in 2013 held offers from a number of schools, and was said to have chosen Vandy over Georgia, and yes Alabama.
Take that Nick Saban! Apparently talking about drapes isn’t so cool after all.
