Coaching Staff and Recruiting

Editors Note: VandyChris5 put together a pretty interesting piece in the fanshots that raises a good debate. I encourage y'all to take a look at it.

I watched with great interest the Maryland vs ECU bowl game and came away with a great idea for our staff at Vanderbilt for Coach Franklin.  Brace yourself, it's a biggie:

HIRE THE ENTIRE STAFF FROM MARYLAND AND DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!

Think about the reasons why we should do this.  This staff, in its entirety, has gone 5-2 in bowl games over the past ten years.  They took a school that had one winning season in the previous 10 years and made them competitive in the ACC and were a 70% success rate in becoming bowl eligible.  Then thinks about how this staff now is unemployed, despite having the ACC coach of the year on it and has gone from 2-10 to 9-4 in one season.  I would think that they know a thing or two about what they are doing.   Heck, Franklin can even bring in Ralph Freidgen, and assign him the assistant head coaching duties.  Even if he doesn't come along, you still have a staff in place that has worked together for several seasons and you bring that continuity to Vanderbilt.

As for the recruiting, with the reputation Coach Franklin has, I think improvements here will be immediate.  Imagine the following:

Fact: 94 members of the current Rivals250 prospect list are believed to have received either verbal or written offers to play football at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt only offers a prospect even verbally if they believe the prospect has a reasonable chance to clear admissions with the university. Vanderbilt's admissions policy with student athletes are said to be on a case-by-case basis and the key area of emphasis for the university is whether or not a student can compete in the classroom enough to graduate from the school.

Fact: An estimated 50 more athletes from the Rivals250 are believed to have academic profiles that would fit Vanderbilt's general criteria for it's football players.

Fact: Stanford University currently has the 10th best recruiting class for the 2011 signing period according to Rivals.com. Last year, Stanford ranked 26th nationally and in 2009, Stanford ranked 20th. Vanderbilt could have accepted virtually every player that signed with Stanford during those three classes. That includes 14 prospects ranked in the Rivals250 as well as 21 four-star and 40 three-star recruits overall.

Fact: The other eleven SEC schools currently have a combined total of 225 commitments for the 2011 period. An estimated 87 of those prospects either had a verbal or written offer from Vanderbilt during one time of their recruitment. Based on information available, it is believed that as many as 34 more prospects could've received offers from Vanderbilt with further recruiting and attention. That means over half of that current group would likely be able to qualify under Vanderbilt admission standards. Many prospects that annually sign with Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Alabama in the SEC, can typically qualify under Vanderbilt admission standards. Grades are not a big issue in comparison.

With the reputation Coach Franklin has as a recruiter, I believe that when the statement is made that with FURTHER ATTENTION as many as 34 other prospects would have signed with Vanderbilt, I don't think CJF will let these kids get away.  With the money being promised now like it has never been promised before, why would he back off on better talent than what we currently have coming in? 

When you combine the improvement that will come in the recruiting department and the way that the Maryland staff has performed over the last 10 years, it is a positive combination.  You bring in all of that experience and continuity and it also becomes a tool in recruiting.

I say lets go hire the staff that made Maryland a perennial bowl team and put this wrecked ship back into the water and see how it floats.