Little James Franklin has a very strict policy: during the season only he and players will talk to the media, not his assistants.
After Fourth and Five-Ohio State edition, as he left the field, Little James was second guessed on that call for the first time. Take a look:
A PSU student,
states the obvious, and states it about as calmly and rationally as a person could.
L'il James' verbal response:
Okay. Acceptable. He knew he fucked up. He did not have to be told he fucked up but he was told by a PSU student and that's an acceptable response, yeah it's sarcastic, no it's not an acknowledgment, that would have been endearing, yes, it would have been better to not respond but okay, he was upset that he had FUCKED UP, and if you're going to respond that is an acceptable response.
And with that James Franklin went nuts.
Tried to shake his security detail and go into the stands to attack the student.
Bad look, no?
After Fourth and Five-Ohio State edition, as he left the field, Little James was second guessed on that call for the first time. Take a look:
states the obvious, and states it about as calmly and rationally as a person could.
L'il James' verbal response:
Physically went after the student.
Ah, the old up and under ploy. Franklin tries to get loose.
The solid white cap has Franklin in a bear hug as the offending student says:
Li'l James shakes free of Solid White Cap.
Solid White Cap, who may be a woman, recovers quickly,
and pushes PSycho James down the tunnel.
In the post-game press conference Li'l James was all Big James, "I take responsibility," but as David Jones wrote four years ago, "it's pretty clear James Franklin is full of crap" and as the legend of Fourth-and-Five-Franklin spread Li'l James reemerged. That very strict policy of Li'l James to deny media access to his assistants so as not to throw them under the bus because Big James always takes responsibility, that policy had some bend to it--it was okay to throw an assistant under the bus if James was the bus driver! And so, just this past Thursday, five days after Fourth and Five-Ohio State edition and for the first time since training camp in August James Franklin pulled offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne out from underneath the Franklin Express, dusted him off and made him available to the media so that he could commit hari kari before the world and absolve James Franklin. The thing that I regret the most, Ricky said, was seeing poor Little James Franklin, the head coach of the team, my superior and my employer, and the players, have to defend my call.
Hold on a second Ricky, nice try but hold on a second there. Head coach James Franklin called two timeouts before the abortion. Urban Meyer, OSU's head coach, called one of his own. You and James talked about what play to run as ad nauseum as you can get in the middle of a game. You didn't force the abortion on James; James had the power to overrule you, to tell you that it was an abortion of a play and order you to come with another one; James had the power to overrule you entirely and call his own play. At best (and at worst) James Franklin after thinking about it a lot, agreed with the play. But Ricky, by the look of James with that obnoxious student after the game, whew, it sure looks like that was James call. He sure took it as if he had made the call all by his lonesome.
So no, Ricky, your confession is a false one. In every way Little James Franklin owns that Fourth and Five. James Franklin is at his worst, his littlest, when he thinks. There is some fatality in the wiring up there when James is doing the think thing. It don't turn out good. I mean, my God, the dumb ass called another abortion on Fourth and Five two days after Ricky's false confession to the first one!
The label that most gets under Fourth-and-Five Franklin's skin is that he is a great recruiter. Damning by faint praise is how FFF takes it because he knows that it is intended to elide over his cramps in his
thinking muscle and those are legitimate, those Fourth and Fives really happened. He gets out-coached and he shoots himself in the foot with his flabby thinking muscle. The ultimate compliment paid to the late Bear Bryant, that he was such a great in-game coach that his recruiting didn't matter; Bear, it was said, could take his'n and beat your'n or take your'n and beat his'n. With James Franklin it is the opposite, it is recruiting that he has the excellent reputation for and the ultimate compliment paid to Bear Bryant could be turned on his head and applied to FFF: He could take his'n and beat his'n or take your'n and beat his'n.
The label that most gets under Fourth-and-Five Franklin's skin is that he is a great recruiter. Damning by faint praise is how FFF takes it because he knows that it is intended to elide over his cramps in his
thinking muscle and those are legitimate, those Fourth and Fives really happened. He gets out-coached and he shoots himself in the foot with his flabby thinking muscle. The ultimate compliment paid to the late Bear Bryant, that he was such a great in-game coach that his recruiting didn't matter; Bear, it was said, could take his'n and beat your'n or take your'n and beat his'n. With James Franklin it is the opposite, it is recruiting that he has the excellent reputation for and the ultimate compliment paid to Bear Bryant could be turned on his head and applied to FFF: He could take his'n and beat his'n or take your'n and beat his'n.
No Ricky, it's pretty clear James Franklin is full of crap.
