A kind of wacky, adolescent foolishness of Vanderbilt University head football James Franklin was on display this past week. He said that he looks for assistant coaches based on how attractive their wives are, not on their experience.
He shared his assistant coach hiring criteria on an FM station, "The Zone," in Nashville on Wednesday. Franklin said, "His wife, if she looks the part and she's a D-I recruit, then you've got a chance to get hired. That's part of the deal." Franklin kept going, "There's a very strong correlation between having the confidence and going up and talking to a woman, and being quick on your feet and having some personality and confidence and being articulate, than it is walking into a high school and recruiting a kid and selling them."
He seems to be saying that if a coach has an less-than-gorgeous wife, then he's not smart enough, not confident enough, and not quick-on-his-feet enough to be a good recruiter. Franklin's focus is on outward beauty.
The controversial statements created a stir. Franklin wanted to save face and started tweeting. "My foot doesn't taste good, I hope I did not offend any 1, I love & respect." He went on, "Attempt at humor obviously fell a few yds short." He tweeted, "If a man can convince the women of his dreams 2 marry him, he can probably do just about anything, that type of confidence along w/coaching skills is what I am looking 4." He tried one more tweet to dig out of his hole, "As a husband & father of 2 daughters I regret the way I conveyed my message!"
Franklin's problem wasn't as much his words but what his words revealed. His heart needs to be fixed. Franklin doesn't seem to understand that inward beauty is so much more valuable than outward beauty. Go ahead. Look at the potential coach's wife. But be seeking to hire assistant coaches who are smart enough to marry women with great character.
Listen carefully, Coach Franklin. An assistant coach who has an outwardly beautiful wife without character is neither smart nor wise.
About ten years ago, Cleveland Indians pitcher Chuck Finley found this out the hard way. He married an outwardly beautiful woman, actress Tawny Kitaen. They argued and she attacked him with her high heels. There's only one conclusion. Finley made a dumb pick.
So, if a head coach wants to hire really smart assistant coaches, what kind of woman should a head coach want an assistant coach to have?
1. Hire a coach whose wife fears the Lord. "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30).
2. Hire a coach whose wife wears godliness and good works. "Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness-with good works" (I Timothy 2:9-10)
3. Hire a coach whose wife has a gentle and quiet spirit. "Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (I Peter 3:3-4).
If a coach (or any man) marries a woman with those three characteristics, then he's a very smart man. He might not know football. But he's a very smart man.
Question: Just how did I manage to marry a woman with both character and good looks?
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