There are two ways to paint a picture of an opposing program to gullible kids recruits, according to James Franklin.
“It’s all over the place. We hear it consistently from a lot of different angles. I think when you have a really good product to sell, you can focus on your product. I don’t necessarily think it’s negative recruiting when people do some research and find some facts. I don’t have any problem with that. There’s no oasis out there. There’s no perfect place. Every place has strengths and weaknesses. I have no problem with people doing research and showing it. But when it’s just negative recruiting without any facts to back it up, that’s the stuff that’s a little frustrating when you’re dealing with 17-year-old and 18-year-old kids that can be easily influenced. Or for a family that really hasn’t been through the recruiting process and they don’t understand, it can be overwhelming. That’s why the trust you have with the young man, his family and his high school coach is very, very important. Because you’re always going to get negative recruiting. Everybody is going to deal with it to a degree. That’s part of the nature of the beast of coaching and competing in the SEC.”
What do you want to bet that Franklin considers himself to be more in command of the facts than any other coach in the conference?
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