Setting the record straight on James Franklin

I don’t have a dog in the fight here. I’m thrilled we are making a change and there appears to be an actual search with actual interviews being conducted at some point, so I will give the new hire a chance regardless of who I think the best candidate would be (Lincoln Riley cough cough).


That said, I’ve seen some absolutely clueless arguments as to why James Franklin shouldn’t be in consideration.


These rants typically involve complete misinformation regarding the disgusting Vanderbilt rape case and his role in the aftermath.


There are two main allegations that people seem to think Franklin was guilty of, both of which are not only completely unfounded, they are in direct contradiction of the evidence according to the prosecutors and the victim herself. The two are:


1. James Franklin saw video of the rape, told the players to delete it, then lied about it.

2. James Franklin called the victim to pressure her not to go to the authorities.



1. The evidence actually indicates that James Franklin never saw the video of the rape (the details of which are abhorrent and thankfully the monsters responsible are serving lengthy prison sentences, although I think the sentences were still too lenient given the aggravating factors).

This report comes from a team meeting that occurred in the days after the rape where Franklin spoke to the team AFTER KICKING THE SUSPECTED PLAYERS OFF OF THE TEAM. The players were dismissed six days after the rape and just a few days after the team and school became aware of the report.

Franklin never actually saw the video. In fact he was vacationing in Florida with his family when the rape occurred, and went back to TN when he was called by the Vanderbilt administration. He was then briefed on the situation and told what the video showed by the administration and law enforcement.

He then “lied” in the meeting with the players so that they wouldn’t feel they were getting a secondhand account, telling the players that what he “saw” in the video disgusted him. When he spoke to the team, he said he felt it would drive home to the players how shocking it was if he said he saw it rather than he was told what was in it.

The idea that he “lied” about seeing the video, came out years later when he said during his deposition he never personally saw the video. A player that was in that earlier meeting then told a TMZ type outlet that he was lying because he told the team back then that he did see it.

Prosecutors reviewed and disregarded this after speaking with Franklin and hearing his explanation as to why he told the team he saw it.

Regardless, there was never any allegation that he saw the video then tried to cover it up by telling the players to delete it. That is a complete misunderstanding of the events and is proof that someone merely read the sensationalized headlines saying HE LIED ABOUT SEEING THE VIDEO and assuming that meant he saw it and lied saying he didn’t see it.

It’s ridiculous telephone game bullshite that grade schoolers could sort out if they bothered to read the article and not just the headline.



2. By the victim’s own account, Franklin reached out to her after hearing about the rape because he “knew her and cared about her”.


The idea that his contact with her was some way inappropriate came, again, years later by a scumbag defense attorney of one of the rapists trying to create a picture that his client was somehow being ganged up on by the school and the prosecutor’s office.

They put in their pleading that Franklin called her during her medical exam and added in the same sentence that he also asked her to get a group of pretty girls to act as hostesses for recruits.

Clearly that wasn’t in the same fricking phone call. Franklin met her long before the rape to ask her to find hostesses for the team, so when he heard about the rape, he called to check on her and offer any help she may need. This is according to the victim herself.

Again, elementary school readers could figure that out, but people on this board and others like it don’t have the patience or self control to actually think about what they are reading.

Just take away whatever their initial thoughts were and use anything to justify it.


It appears from what I can tell after reading up on the incident that Franklin not only acted quickly and decisively, but also showed concern for the victim of this horrible crime.


Just want to set the record straight before the rant does what it does best and sets their mind to believing complete fabrications as actual fact.