Progress won’t be made until we discuss something besides it
You asked for it, Vanderbilt fans.
You wanted a real, competitive football team, with real, competitive expectations. You wanted a bowl game, a swarming defense, and a recruiting class that could rival those of the SEC big boys.
You wanted a university committed to academics and athletics, and by extension, an actual department to oversee the latter.
You wanted a little hope that the future might be better than the past.
And guess what? You got it. All of it.
So, now that that your wishes have been fulfilled, it’s time to be disappointed – maybe even upset – at the prospect of opportunity lost. High expectations and historical successes appear to be falling by the wayside, to be replaced with yet another frustrating, sub-.500 season of Commodore football.
Now, allow me to step aside for a second, and give you a chance to meditate on missed opportunities against South Carolina and Northwestern, or on embarrassment in Athens.
Upset yet? Good.
Let’s send all that pent-up negative energy in a positive direction.
Let’s start talking about how to right the ship.
Yes, thank The Commodore Himself – surely smiling down from The Big Mansion in the sky as he watches Jordan Rodgers struggle to convert on third-and-long – that our football team isn’t quite as horrendous as usual.
But now that we’ve put that aside, let’s s discuss the actual product on the field, because we’ve reached a point where being better than the past should no longer be satisfactory, where not being bad – as Vanderbilt football has been for most of its existence – should simply not be good enough.
We can start by asking questions that will help this program reach its potential:
Is the offense running as efficiently as possible? Are the right plays being called? Are the right players on the field at the right times?
Are our student-athletes being put in the best possible position for success?
I’m going to be honest with you: I’m not sure of the answer to any of these questions. But, what I am sure of is that these same questions are asked by football fans of every stripe – amateur or professional – on a weekly basis.
And I am also sure that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Vanderbilt Football will not have taken a definitive step forward until the present becomes of more interest than the past, or until the possibility of progress to come becomes of more import than progress already made.
When the student body begins to bicker over defensive schemes and third down draws, in much the same way they do about the Titans, and the Giants, and even the Volunteers – that’s when we’ll know: a New Era is finally upon us.
Until then, we’re stuck watching the same old movie, with the all the familiar genre tropes: hope replaced with anguish; expectations continually dashed; and most of all, no matter the circumstance, the can’t-shake-it feeling that a loss is looming.
Until then, we will continue to be satisfied with moral victories and close calls. Until then, we will continue be content dwelling just above the SEC cellar, having recently vacated our long-held spot within it.
I’m not sure there is another program in the country – Alabama probably withstanding – that is so consumed by its history, or that waxes more about happenings outside the lines rather than the action between them.
From here on out, the past needs to stay exactly where it is: Because the fact of the matter is, that with considerable talent on both sides of the ball and more on the way, the chance for a bright future is finally here.
Let’s seize it.
There is no doubt that, over the last year, James Franklin has taken a program stuck in college football’s Bronze Age and turned it into something more worthy of the SEC gold standard than ever before. In the process, Franklin has proved himself to be a great recruiter, maybe a better motivator, and perhaps even – as many a magazine or newspaper profile would have you believe – an exceptional human being.
But it remains to be seen whether or not Franklin’s coaching prowess extends to the gridiron itself.
Shocker: football isn’t exactly a moral game, and Bobby Knight and Bear Bryant weren’t exactly impeccable human beings. In this respect, James Franklin could be Jesus incarnate or the devil’s spawn and it wouldn’t matter – he has a football team to coach. So it’s about time to start evaluating whether he and his players are doing the jobs they’ve been tasked to do, and doing them successfully.
Am I saying that Franklin is, in actuality, doing a bad job, or that any of his starters should be riding the pine?
Of course not. I’ve barely thought about it yet, mostly because the discourse surrounding Vanderbilt football has kept me content with the status quo.
No longer. It’s time to swing for the fences or – to use a more apt analogy – throw it deep.
It’s time to start talking.
This is just one of many conversations to have, one of many questions that, if answered, can help to keep our football program running in the right direction.
Right now? We just seem to be running in place.