Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
When James Franklin got the head football coaching job at Vanderbilt University, he inherited a fledgling program. Vanderbilt could barely win in the SEC. Recruiting was difficult because Vanderbilt’s best qualities were that it was located in Nashville and it had outstanding academics. However, Franklin has successfully brought great talent from across the country to Nashville and will begin to reap the rewards from it in 2013.
Vanderbilt has multiple opportunities to beat the top teams in the SEC East. The Commodores match-up well every year with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Vanderbilt always seems to give the Gamecocks a tough game even though they lost last season. They will win this season. Franklin’s constant great recruiting classes will finally pay off with a huge victory over Steve Spurrier and ruin South Carolina’s chance at winning the SEC East.
The Commodores look like the biggest unknown threat in the SEC East due to their talent at the skill positions. Franklin has recruited players extremely well and then has made all of the players that he has recruited play to their full potential. Some of the players that he coaches to be stars, come out of high school with very few scholarship offers from NCAA Division 1 programs.
Franklin has been exceptional at Vanderbilt and is finally at a point where he can place this young team on the map with upset wins. The Commodores are not a team that the top SEC East teams can afford to lose focus against because they have every tool to beat any team in the SEC.
