James Franklin, We Hardly Knew Ye

In three years as the head football coach at Vanderbilt (2011-13), James Franklin went 11-13 in the SEC and 24-15 overall.  He went to three bowl games, and won two.  He beat Tennessee two years in a row.  He beat Florida.  He beat Georgia.  At Vandy, these are Harry Potter-like results, and they earned James Franklin the chance to coach at Penn State.  But what of the team he left behind?  Was he able to pass along his success, or would Vandy slide back into its old ways.

Last night, Vandy opened the season at home against Temple on the SEC Network.  New coach Derek Mason was in the house.  After the usual August delay for lightning, the game finally got underway.  What happened?

 Vandy almost lost four timeouts for wearing gimmicky uniforms.

Temple (who won two games last year) beat Vandy 37-7, the Commodores' worst opening season home loss in history.

I thought at the time that James Franklin's job at Vandy was one of the greatest coaching performances I have ever seen, and I think history will prove me correct.