Tuesday, January 18, 2011

We're reserving judgment on Franklin's staff

We've been quiet lately, mostly because there's not much to say before signing day. Several people have requested we analyze the assistant coaching staff, but I'm not too excited about doing that because you measure the success of a staff based on how well they complement the head coach and work together as a team, not by how big their names are. So while some of you understandably wanted to be wowed by the names of the assistant coaches and were a little bit disappointed when you weren't, we'd rather just wait and see the results, which will take a while.

The first test is signing day on Feb. 2. Looks like we won't be signing a hotshot quarterback. Franklin has visited verbal commitment Shaun White in Pensacola so he wants to keep at least one of our two QB verbals, while Damien Fleming has been waffling, perhaps because he's not wanted. Who knows. But I do know that most Vandy fans myself included are hoping Jordan Rodgers gets healthy and turns out to be half the quarterback his brother is. If he can establish himself as our leader the next two seasons, we should have a decent team — we're young, with lots of young linemen and receivers — and Franklin would buy himself some time to sign a talented quarterback in 2012 and then develop him.

Franklin has lured a bunch of impressive recruits to campus for a visit, including four-star running back Bishop Sankey, so that's a good sign even if nothing pans out this year. He doesn't have many scholarships to dole out anyway.

Just a few thoughts. I'll have something tomorrow.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rodgers??? Rodgers??? GORO!!!!

Anonymous said...

For those of us afar and out of the loop, so to speak, do you have the skinny on why goro is persona non grata?

Dimon said...

Good question. Two theories:
(1) Jimmy Kiser and the other Vandy coaches didn't know how to evaluate and most importantly develop quarterbacks. Why in heaven's name do you not play Goro in at least one of the many blowouts we had last season? We could have two quarterbacks with experience right now, and we have one who's a senior with a badly damages psyche.
(2) Despite coaching and training, Charlie Goro has not developed into the quarterback the coaches had hoped for. Now it's time to move on to somebody else.

Here's what I think:
Bobby Johnson's staff did not know how to evaluate future college quarterbacks. They've got to find diamonds in the rough and polish them, and they did a great job with linemen like Williams and Welch, linebackers like Benoit and Marve, and defensive backs like Moore and Lewis. But not QBs. Remember that Jay Cutler was recruited by former Alabama/NFL quarterback Jeff Rutledge.

So what's up with Goro? We'll find out in the spring when he starts working with this staff, which features three college quarterbacks who have an impressive track record of identifying and developing young talent. If they love Goro and groom him into an SEC quarterback, then it'll be a damning statement about the former Vandy staff.

Will said...

Any word on the defensive side of the ball.....I religiously check FootballScoop several times a day to no avail. Seems like we need to get it final so we can make a last second splash signing day!! Looking forward to seeing CJF at the game tonight.....and getting ready for Spring Ball!!

Anonymous said...

Great post. I have noted all along that the previous staff was not very good at evaluating talent.It was hard to watch the staff keep trying to make an SEC quarterback out of LS. I felt like we did a poor job of recruiting (QB's) if we did not have 1 qb who could challenge LS to start. Kiser was awful. Charlie Fisher was awful. Also, I feel that much of the wr problems were from poor coaching. Hard to imagine that Brady Brown was highly recruited out of Texas but has not caught a pass in 2 seasons. The manner in which Mathews, Boyd, and Krause were handled last season was pathetic given the overall state of the wr core. A better football staff would have used the young guys and benched the "upper classmen" such as Wimberly, Udom, Cole, ect after so many drops. I agree with Herb Hand in that a fresh coaching staff could generate 2-3 more wins with a better evaluation and use of our existing talent.