{"id":150,"date":"2012-09-26T01:43:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T06:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jessegolomb.tumblr.com\/post\/32317653010"},"modified":"2012-09-26T01:43:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T06:43:00","slug":"plea-to-vandy-fans-let%e2%80%99s-talk-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/2012\/09\/plea-to-vandy-fans-let%e2%80%99s-talk-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Plea to Vandy Fans: Let\u2019s Talk Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progress won\u2019t be made until we discuss something besides it<\/em><\/p>\n

You asked for it, Vanderbilt fans.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

You wanted a university committed to academics and <\/em>athletics, and by extension, an actual department to oversee the latter.<\/p>\n

You wanted a little hope that the future might be better than the past.<\/p>\n

And guess what? You got it. All of it.<\/p>\n

So, now that that your wishes have been fulfilled, it\u2019s time to be disappointed \u2013 maybe even upset \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Upset yet? Good.<\/p>\n

Let’s send all that pent-up negative energy in a positive direction.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start talking about how to right the ship.<\/p>\n

Yes, thank The Commodore Himself \u2013 surely smiling down from The Big Mansion in the sky as he watches Jordan Rodgers struggle to convert on third-and-long \u2013 that our football team isn\u2019t quite as horrendous as usual.<\/p>\n

But now that we\u2019ve put that aside, let\u2019s s discuss the actual product on the field, because we\u2019ve reached a point where being better than the past should no longer be satisfactory, where not being bad \u2013 as Vanderbilt football has been for most of its existence \u2013 should simply not be good enough.<\/p>\n

We can start by asking questions that will help this program reach its potential:<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

Are our student-athletes being put in the best possible position for success?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to be honest with you: I\u2019m 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 \u2013 amateur or professional \u2013 on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

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 \u2013 that\u2019s when we\u2019ll know: a New Era is finally upon us.<\/p>\n

Until then, we\u2019re 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\u2019t-shake-it feeling that a loss is looming.<\/p>\n

Until then, we will continue to be satisfied with moral victories<\/em> and close calls<\/em>. Until then, we will continue be content dwelling just above the SEC cellar, having recently vacated our long-held spot within it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure there is another program in the country \u2013 Alabama probably withstanding \u2013 that is so consumed by its history, or that waxes more about happenings outside the lines rather than the action between them.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s seize it.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that, over the last year, James Franklin has taken a program stuck in college football\u2019s 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 \u2013 as many a magazine or newspaper profile would have you believe \u2013 an exceptional human being. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it remains to be seen whether or not Franklin\u2019s coaching prowess extends to the gridiron itself.<\/p>\n

Shocker: football isn\u2019t exactly a moral game, and Bobby Knight and Bear Bryant weren\u2019t exactly impeccable human beings. In this respect, James Franklin could be Jesus incarnate or the devil\u2019s spawn and it wouldn\u2019t matter \u2013 he has a football team to coach. So it\u2019s about time to start evaluating whether he and his players are doing the jobs they\u2019ve been tasked to do, and doing them successfully.<\/p>\n

Am I saying that Franklin is, in actuality, doing a bad job, or that any of his starters should be riding the pine?<\/p>\n

Of course not. I\u2019ve barely thought about it yet, mostly because the discourse surrounding Vanderbilt football has kept me content with the status quo.<\/p>\n

No longer. It\u2019s time to swing for the fences or \u2013 to use a more apt analogy \u2013 throw it deep.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to start talking.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Right now? We just seem to be running in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Progress won\u2019t be made until we discuss something besides it
\nYou asked for it, Vanderbilt fans.
\nYou wanted a real, competitive football team, with real, competitive expectations. You wanted a bowl game, a swarming defense, and a recruiting class that… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1010,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}