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James Franklin in Vanderbilt dugout, Clark Lea in the stands for SEC title game
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There’s an interesting dynamic at play in Hoover, Alabama, as Vanderbilt battles Ole Miss for the SEC Baseball Tournament title.
Former Vanderbilt football head coach James Franklin is not just in attendance at the game, but present in the Commodores’ dugout. Franklin, who has been at Penn State since 2014, spent 3 seasons as Vandy’s head coach from 2011-13. During that time, he built up a good relationship with Vandy baseball coach Tim Corbin — who is still at the head of the baseball program.
With that in mind, it wasn’t too surprising to see Franklin present at the game on Sunday afternoon. However, it was a bit striking to see current Vandy football coach Clark Lea also at the game — but in the stands.
Franklin was part of the broadcast during the game as well. The cameras panned to him celebrating after Vanderbilt took an early 2-0 lead on a home run. He also later participated in a brief TV interview with the SEC Network broadcast.
Franklin had tremendous success in a short stint at Vanderbilt. He won 9 games in back-to-back seasons before moving on to Penn State. When Vanderbilt won 9 games in 2012, it was the first time the program had accomplished that feat since 1915.
Lea is approaching his 5th season at Vanderbilt. He’s coming off of his best campaign yet in Nashville, which included 7 wins and a historic victory over Alabama.
There was plenty of reaction on social media to Franklin getting the dugout treatment over the current Vandy head coach:
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
