re: Can Vandy be elite?

Franklin won 9 games two years in a row. Can they be "elite"? No. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are elite. But they can get back to where Franklin had them and even beyond. They play in the division that currently is the most favorable for them. There are three national championship-winning coaches in the West. In the East the new guy goes up against Missouri and Kentucky, which are manageable, South Carolina, who also is starting over, and a program at Tennessee that has been a shitshow for over a decade. Although getting to Georgia or Florida's level is likely an impossible mountain to climb, Mullen and Smart have certainly proven that they capable of shitting the bed on any given Saturday. Add in the fact that their permanent West opponent isn't Alabama, LSU, or Texas A&M. Can they be elite? No. Can they be really good...as they were getting to be under Franklin...and then catch lightning in a bottle one year and get to Atlanta? Sure.

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Same goes for Northwestern and Stanford. It can be done.

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Northwestern has a more manageable pool of opponents and better football history. Stanford is one of the most reputable universities on the planet. Vandy is a great school, but it isn’t in Stanford’s tier.

Sure the made-up scenario aint happening. But what is 30% of it does. They invest in facilities enough. And maybe they don't money whip someone established, but hire and up and comer that builds them into a 7-5/8-4 type team.

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Sure the made-up scenario aint happening. But what is 30% of it does. They invest in facilities enough. And maybe they don't money whip someone established, but hire and up and comer that builds them into a 7-5/8-4 type team.

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James Franklin 2.0.

Franklin had them going in the right direction. Take one of those 8-4 teams, then catch Mullen...like Kentucky did in 2018...or Smart...like Vandy did in 2016...on a day when they come out flat, and yeah, they could get to Atlanta. And both of those losses were at home for those teams. If they could get to Atlanta just once, then who knows what the future would be. No, they'll never be elite. But they could be pretty damn good.

Yep. Vandy can equal what Baylor puts out. They have absolutely no administrative support at all. None

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The #1 issue in any team being elite is the guy running the show.

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No doubt.

I have seen this play out before my very eyes with Tim Corbin. He took over a program that had not been to the postseason in 20+ years. 17 years and 2 national championships later, Vanderbilt is among the college baseball elite. The only problem is that college football is not college baseball.

James Franklin was the closest thing to Corbin, but he only stayed 3 years. Thus, the problem. Any coach who has success at Vanderbilt will likely be gone shortly thereafter. The key is finding the right guy who can coach, recruit, change the culture, and turn Vanderbilt into his dream job. Of course, the university and alumni have to be willing to spend money along the way.

Could it happen? Sure. Is it likely? No.

Yes anyone can be elite in the SEC. It just depends on how much a school really wants it.

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James Franklin 2.0.

Franklin had them going in the right direction. Take one of those 8-4 teams, then catch Mullen...like Kentucky did in 2018...or Smart...like Vandy did in 2016...on a day when they come out flat, and yeah, they could get to Atlanta. And both of those losses were at home for those teams. If they could get to Atlanta just once, then who knows what the future would be. No, they'll never be elite. But they could be pretty damn good.

Agreed, but they also would need to find a window like existed in 2010-2016 where the East was down and they can maybe win the division with 2-3 losses. Kind of how Missouri capitalized in 2013 and 2014 and USC did in 2010. And they would really have to catch a down Florida and/or UGA. It would be very difficult for them to win the division without beating one of those two teams. I think that window has closed for the time being, so I don't think it's very likely they'd be in a position, even with a situation like they had with Franklin, to sneak their way into the SECCG any time soon. But it's certainly "possible." If State, Missouri, and South Carolina can find windows to win the division, there's no reason Vandy can't have the stars align with the right coach.

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That's really my point...the stars would have to align, but it could happen. This hire is critical.

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I have seen this play out before my very eyes with Tim Corbin. He took over a program that had not been to the postseason in 20+ years. 17 years and 2 national championships later, Vanderbilt is among the college baseball elite. The only problem is that college football is not college baseball.

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I think baseball presented a much more unique opportunity for Vanderbilt. On one hand, they have some advantages with financial aid that other schools don't. And on the other, baseball is also a sport where you don't really need a big AD with a lot of money to do well. Many of the all-time great programs like Pepperdine, Wichita St, Cal St Fullerton, etc. have tiny stadiums, no fan support, low budget ADs, etc and still have managed to establish powerhouse programs at times. Corbin also got into the fold when it was really just LSU, Florida, State, USC and to a lesser extent Ole Miss in the SEC, with State kind of middling when Corbin was getting rolling at Vandy. Also, to call a spade a spade, baseball is not recruiting the same types of elite players from the same types of backgrounds, for the most part, that football is. A Vanderbilt education is going to mean more to a greater number of baseball recruits than it will to an elite football player who wants the best road to the NFL, with a good education not mattering nearly as much.

It's just so hard to compare what's possible in a sport like baseball to a sport like football. The resources you need to compete at the highest level in football dwarf that of baseball. You'll certainly see some upshoot G5 football programs sustain success in their leagues. But there's a reason why no one has broken through the Big 6 in the SEC in football to win an SEC title, despite some great individual seasons sprinkled in. At a certain point, the money and resource disparity is just too much for the other programs to overcome.