It wouldn't make much sense for, say, the present day Tom Brady or Peyton Manning to commit to present day Georgia Tech. No matter how much this guy may impress them, their skill set does not match the offense. Yet, knowing this, prevailing wisdom out there says players commit to a school, not a coach.
Nevermind that this quote is most often uttered by coaches leaving one school for another, it's the accepted philosophy in the recruiting world. And James Franklin doesn't buy it.
“I don’t know what the (unwritten) rules are there,” Franklin said on The Dan Patrick Show. “I know that I’ve been sitting in living rooms with families and kids, and selling them on a dream and selling them on a vision and our relationship. And I think a lot of people say kids should commit to a school, not a coach. But the reality is they do. Families and kids, they want to make sure their son is going to be taken care of, and it’s about the relationship aspect."
Franklin is obviously looking at this from a self-serving position - as he tries to lure Vanderbilt recruits with him to Penn State - but it's not any more self-serving than the opposite, when a coach leaves behind committed recruits at his old job.
“So my responsibility is to do everything in my power to make sure that I put a team together that can help Penn State be successful," Franklin added. "The people that I’ve been recruiting for the last two years that I know inside and out, and know the type of men they are and type of families they come from, that’s going to happen. And my job now is to do everything I possibly can to help Penn State be successful.”
Franklin is one of the few coaches to challenge the common knowledge on this occasionally divisive topic. But that shouldn't be surprising. He's the same guy who looked at the Vanderbilt job and thought he could win there.
Do you agree?