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?
Get The Picture 
I wouldn’t bet against you. James is quite confident that he’s right when he drops a little tidbit about somebody else.
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Adding to the mix of the nature of the beast, Mark says, “You hate the fact that that’s what is going on out there, but you cannot put your hand in the sand either.”
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Yeah, Franklin’s comments jumped out of that article to me too. I feel certain he does a lot of “research” on the schools against which he is recruiting. I am sure a lot of that “research” centers on the potential pitfalls and problems that would befall any athlete who signed with those schools.
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I am probably the only one on this here blog, but I do not have any issues with Franklin’s recruiting tactics.
I think he is in a much different situation than anyone other school in the conference. Vandy is a private school with fewer students and higher academic standards than just about everyone else.
Plus, he has track record of sticking by an scholarship offer even to a kid even when it might not be the most prudent thing to do.
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I read Mark Richt’s take on negative recruiting as well. But I think I would have to ask a kid like Tunsil one question: Why are you decommitting from a school that will have a legitimate chance to play in the SECCG every year you’re there, to commit to a school who will never get to that game your entire college career. We know it wasn’t a quality of education matter.
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Because every O-lineman thinks they’re the next Michael Oher.
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I think that’s a large part of it. Also, “big fish in a small pond” is an attraction for a lot of kids. If Tunsil had stayed with his UGA commitment, he may not be as big a fish as he is already at Ole Miss.
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Ole Miss (tunsil) and Auburn (Adams) paid those kids. That’s all there is to it. The Garner relationship with Adams was just bs
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Getting to live with Sandra Bullock in Nashville with loads of money. I’m in, can watch the Dawgs in High Def every week if I want to. Life looks good!
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Franklin, good or bad, says out loud what the other coaches are thinking.
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