Offensive Machine Keeps Rolling at MTSU
Tony Franklin is entering the first season of his second stint here with the Blue Raider Nation. Franklin will hold the same position, OC/QB coach, he did during his first go round with the Blue Raiders in 2009. His pedigree is turning out stud quarterbacks at every level of high school and college football. He carries a resume that not too many other coaches can bolster, having coached two number one overall NFL Draft picks, Tim Couch in 1999 and just this year Jared Goff. Franklin is known for his cerebral approach to the passing game and has had success at the majority of his stops throughout his career.
Franklin Speaks to the Media
Franklin, along side Tyrone Nix, Defensive Coordinator, sat down to answer a few questions during MTSU’s football kick off press conference earlier in the month.
The first question proposed to Franklin was on topic of head coach Rick Stockstill. Did Franklin think Stockstill was still the man he was when he first got the MT job? Franklin addressed the question by saying.
“Yeah, absolutely. There were a lot of reasons for why I came back, but I would’ve never considered coming back if he wasn’t who he was last time. He’s a special guy in this business. There’s not many like him, and what you see every day, he’s just consistent. He’s just a good man, good guy to be around, and a good football coach. Players play hard for him because they like him.”
The next question aimed at Franklin was about a Stockstill, this time Rick’s son and MTSU’s starting QB, freshmen sensation Brent Stockstill who is entering his sophomore year. Tony was asked what does he believe to be Brent’s biggest strengths coming into the season?
“I think the biggest thing with Brent, I’ve never seen a football player work any harder than him, regardless of where I’ve been, from high school coach to a college coach. I’ve never seen anybody work harder than him. He’s a leader, which is difficult sometimes when you’re a coach’s son. They like him, they respect him and you worry about that as a coach sometimes that your head coach’s son is the starting quarterback. I made a couple of phone calls to some people, before Rick and I decided to do this. They told me what I expected to them to tell me. They told me that Rick would play the best player regardless and that Brent was a special kid. Well I didn’t know how special until I got here.”
Coach Franklin giving high praise to Brent, especially considering the amount of talent Franklin has been around and coached. The finale question directed at Franklin was on his thoughts of any particular players poised for a breakout season in 2016.
“I haven’t seen enough yet, but I know this, every year that you win a championship there are surprises that nobody really counted on and we’ve got some good walk-ons, some good young freshmen that are here and we’ll just have to see. You can’t ever tell until they play and you throw them out there and you go ‘wow’ I thought he might be okay, but he’s actually pretty good.”
