Explain the Franklin/Vandy Love to Me

The non-sense around James Franklin's "men of honor" quotes (or misquote, if you have any reason to believe him) continues.  We all know it was Kiffin level douchebaggery when he said it. Also, he knew exactly what he was saying, when he said it, and that he did so intentionally.  We all thought it interesting on the day he said it, since he had gotten one of those men to leave North Carolina after the kid began orientation.

Yeah, Larry Fedora isn't impressed:

“What does [Franklin] say about the kids that were committed elsewhere and de-committed from their places to go to his place? That’s my comment. What is his comment on those people? He’s got someone in his recruiting class that did that very thing. He’s saying those guys are not men of honor? Basically, he’s saying he has got kids in his own recruiting class that are not men of honor. He said that, and I didn’t.”

Hey, I love me a good pissing contest.  My money is on the guy who is named after a hat, as opposed to an asshat. Blutarsky, as per usual, has a good take on that side of it.

My question is this: What about Franklin's actions suddenly make him some cult hero or actually make Vanderbilt a force to be reckoned with? Just talking to the casual Georgia (or SEC, for that matter) fan, you would think he signed a Top 10 class.  He did...Top 10 in the conference. Yes, they were more competitive than normal, but they beat no team with a winning record.  The closest they came was their game against Georgia.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why Franklin isn't Lane Kiffin, but with a lesser coaching pedigree. Is it because of his 'We aren't going to take it' attitude and the fact he wanted to fight Todd Grantham?

What I saw was a team that was undisciplined to the point of danger and that had the inability to close. Definitely sounds like Kiffin to me.

TD