What A Pipeline!

[50's PONY]

A&M head coach's son named Blinn coach--Brad Franchione to take over Buccaneers

By RICHARD BRAY/Sports Editor
Blinn College introduced Brad Franchione, the son of Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione, as the 15th head football coach of the Blinn Buccaneers in the program's 86-year history this morning.

"This is the beginning of the Brad Franchione era," Blinn athletic director Kevin Steele said. "We expect this era to be as outstanding as Blinn's history of success."

Franchione comes to Blinn from Texas A&M-Commerce, where he was the defensive line coach. Franchione was in Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. from January 2003 to February 2004, where he was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator/recruiting director. Before that, Franchione had coaching stops at the University of Tennessee-MartinWest Alabama, East Central University and Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kan.

Franchione's first goals are to hire a coaching staff and to begin recruiting. He admits that because of the coaching change, the Bucs are behind in the recruiting chase.

"My short-term goal is to finalize the coaching staff and recruit the best athletes we can get at this point in time," Franchione said. "Our top priority is to graduate student athletes. We're going to spend time making sure we're doing the right things in the classroom.

"As a football coach, I'm a competitor and I want to win. I'm going to have a set of goals for every season. The obvious ones are to win a conference championship, and once we achieve that we have a chance at a national championship."

Franchione begins work for the Bucs immediately, and will hit the recruiting trail Friday. He said he will be in Waller Friday to see Don Brooks, who starred for the Waller Bulldogs this season and helped Waller capture the District 18-4A championship.

"We're a little late in recruiting so we're going to have to scramble to find talent, recruit it and and sign them so we can have a national championship-caliber team next year.

"Offensively, we'll strive to be as explosive as last year and with the spread offense, we'll be similar, though it's hard to get away from the running game too much when you've got a running back like James Johnson."

Franchione said he will likely run the defense, which he considers his area of expertise. He said the Bucs can expect to run a 4-3 defense that brings an aggressive attitude to that side of the ball.

Franchione said meeting Brenham High School head coach Glen West is another of his priorities. Blinn has not signed a BHS football player to a scholarship since punter Lance Lane joined the team in 2002.

"When you look at players of equal talent, you've obviously got to take care of your local talent first," Franchione said. "That's going to be the measuring stick we'll use - where do those guys stand up against the other guys we could potentially be recruiting. I think you've got to hold those guys a little bit closer to your program because there are people who will support what we're doing here within a close enough range to see their son play here."

Franchione inherits a program that went 9-2 this season and beat Jones Community College (Miss.) in the Sea Company Golden Isles Bowl, 18-14. Former head coach Scott Maxfield left to take the head coaching job at Division II Henderson State University.

"We have a good core to start building with," Franchione said. "We have a good core of returning athletes to build a program with. I'm excited to help James Johnson continue his success, and Ryan Mouton will help us get started on the defensive side of the ball."

Franchione's sister, Libby, was already enrolled at Blinn's Bryan campus when the job opened. In addition, Franchione attended former Blinn head football coach Willie Friz's football camp at Coffeyville Community College when he was young.

"I'm impressed already with the community," Franchione said of Brenham. "I know it's a proud community that's been in the business of higher education for 110 years. I grew up in a small town, I cherish small towns, and I know their values and that they're hard-working folks. I look forward to knowing everybody."

While Franchione followed his father's footsteps in choosing a career, he has separated his career from his father's path. Since working under his father at the University of New Mexico as a student coach, Franchione has gone his own direction.

"That's always been something I've prided myself on," Franchione said. "I wanted to be known as someone who works hard and who cut his own niche in life. Dad told me it would be harder for me in some cases and harder in others and it has been. It's not exactly what he does, but it's real close and now I get a chance to put it into motion and run a program."

The work Franchione has put in to emerge from his father's shadow was a big draw for Steele.

"I'm not going to tell you that (the Franchione name) didn't play a part because you want to take everybody as an individual and you certainly can't deny that there's a last name that means something in this area of the country," Steele said.

"I appreciate the approach his father took, and when I looked at his past I saw that his father really wasn't paving any ways for him. He wanted him to learn everything from the ground up, so I didn't have any fear that anybody had ever made his life easier. When I saw his resume, the fact that his last name was Franchione was just icing on the cake."

Franchione said that while Texas A&M would have an advantage in recruiting Blinn athletes in the future, that doesn't mean he's shutting the doors to other Division I programs.

"There's no question everybody involved in the profession has looked at it that way," Franchione said. "The thing I know about my father and his program is they'll do whatever it takes to be successful. He didn't need me at a two-year school before and he doesn't need me here now.

"I want to make sure we're an institution that serves all four-year schools. Obviously, A&M could have an advantage, but in now way do I want that to hinder other four-year schools from recruiting here."

Franchione also cited his father's proximity as an advantage.



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Copyright © 2005 The Brenham Banner-Press
http://www.brenhambanner.com

[SWC2010]

When you scratch this thing, it really smells.

They can recruit [deleted] all HS academic levels without worry with this new Blinn JC (read A$M JV).Now, all the A$M non-qualifiers will end up (incredibly) at Blinn. They will then run the virtual identical schemes that A$M run for 2 seasons. They will walk into College Station as prepared as any Jr on A$M scholarship.

It truly opens a pipeline of JUCO's into A$M. This along with the current recruits will give the 12th man alums the FB machine they desired- Franchione will create his own 'Miami' on the Brazos!

[Dooby]

It will be real interesting to see who gets "scholarships" to go to Blinn and who pays for them.

[EastStang]

Do NAIA rules permit non-qualifiers to be on scholarship? I suspect they do not since JUCO is there for the academically challenged. So, as long as a JUCO has a football team, it can and probably does offer scholarships. This really does smell funny. But, its not against the rules.

[PK]

I'm not so sure JUCOs have scholarships. Div II and Div III schools have football teams, but no scholarships...I think that is correct.

[The XtC]

Junior colleges do give scholarships.

NAIA schools are not bound by the same academic rules as NCAA members.

Div 2 schools give a limited number of scholarships. D-3 schools are non-scholarship.