If the reported Gus Malzahn offer doesn’t work out, the Vanderbilt Commodores are expected to offer either Maryland Terrapins offensive coordinator James Franklin or Stanford Cardinal associate head coach Greg Roman, according to The Tenneseean’s Jeff Lockridge.
Lockridge notes Franklin has interviewed twice with Vice Chancellor of Athletics David Williams and has been in curiously high spirits all week, though he could just be geeked about the Terps Military Bowl against ECU? The Washington Post’s Eric Prisbell reports Franklin may receive an offer today. Williams confirmed that Franklin is a candidate.
Prisbell had previously mentioned Franklin as a candidate along with former Miami Hurricanes coach Larry Coker and Temple Owls coach Al Goden.
Franklin coached wide receivers for the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Since then he’s worked as OC for Kansas State and the Terps, before then working as a position coach of various positions at various smaller colleges.
Roman’s name has popped up less frequently. He’s in his second year at Stanford after stints with the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens.
Based on the picture presented by all these reports, it looks as if Vandy has decided to take one big shot at a big name, and if the Malzahn thing doesn’t work out then they’ll offer a guy something closer to the traditional Vandy price range.