Dec. 30, 2011
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Joe Howell’s Day 5 Photos | John Russell’s Day 5 Photos
We are now less than 24 hours from kickoff in Memphis. The Commodore faithful continues to stream into town, adding to a downtown area that is buzzing with folks visiting for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and the New Year’s celebration on Beale Street.
With kickoff just a few hours away, the onslaught of Liberty Bowl fan events reached a fever pitch on Friday. Fans received an appetizer of what was to come on Thursday night with the Vanderbilt Party at B.B. King’s. On Friday, the main course was served, beginning with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Parade at 3 p.m. The parade was up and down Beale Street and featured the Spirit of Golf Marching Band and the Vanderbilt cheerleaders and dance team.
At 5 p.m., the Bash on Beale Street Pep Rally took place amongst a sea of fans donning their black and gold. Fans were then invited to attend the Vanderbilt Bowl Kickoff Celebration across the Peabody Hotel at AutoZone Park. The fan events for the day were capped by the President’s Gala Dinner and Dance at the Peabody Hotel.
As the activities began to pick up for the fan base, they slowed down significantly for the team, which shifted its entire focus onto the game.
In the first of two team meetings Friday, Head Coach James Franklin discussed the finality of the season and the importance of leaving everything on the field for one last game.
“Visualize yourself making successful plays,” Franklin told the team. “Don’t save anything. This is the last one. At the end of the game you should be exhausted. Leave it all out on the field. Let’s play with poise, let’s outwork them, and most importantly, let’s out-execute them. Let’s play smart, sound football. Focus on Vanderbilt, six seconds at a time. You don’t have to be great for 60 minutes, you have to be great for six seconds at a time. The best football you got.”
Team Photo Day
Vanderbilt got its first look at the Liberty Bowl Stadium Friday morning when the Commodores held their team photo at the stadium. If you’ve ever taken a family photo, you know how much of a challenge it can be to get lined up properly and have everyone looking at the camera at the same time. The Commodores tried to do the same thing today with more than 100 people. Thankfully, there was a lot of planning that went into the photo and the design was already laid out before the team arrived.
Even with the work that went into it on the front end, nothing ever goes as planned, so there were many adjustments that had to be made on the fly. The most noticeable came when the players lined up in reverse numerical order before Coach Franklin had the order of each row flipped.
One of the funnier moments came after everyone was situated for the team photo … except one person. Jemal Griffin, football chief of staff, hustled from a meeting to reach the stadium for the team photo. Once he arrived, the team clapped as he made his way across the stadium. However, once he got within 20 feet, Coach Franklin jokingly hollered at him to turnaround and leave. In the end, the photos turned out great, and will be used from years to come to recognize the school’s fifth bowl team.
After the team photo, each position group had their picture taken with their coach. The coaching staff was also photographed along with many of the team’s support units. Watch Video
James Franklin Press Conference
Following the photo shoot, Coach Franklin hustled across town to formal pregame press conference with the local media. Before the press conference, Coach Franklin autographed footballs with Cincinnati Head Coach Butch Jones. Watch Video
Parade & Pep Rally
Beale Street had a distinct Vanderbilt feel Friday afternoon as Commodore fans filled the street for the the Liberty Bowl Parade at 3 p.m. and then made the short walk to the Bash on Beale Street Pep Rally at Handy Park at 5 p.m. The pep rally featured a battle of the bands and Coach Franklin spoke words of encouragement to the crowd which virtually engulfed the green space of the park. Watch Video
Six Seconds T-Shirts
On Friday, Vanderbilt’s players were surprised to receive Vanderbilt dri-fit t-shirts with the team’s infamous mantra of “Six Seconds” written on the back of the black shirts.
Senior Share
Throughout the season, Coach Franklin has had a senior speak each Friday night in the team meeting before a game. The new tradition is called “Senior Share.” This Friday, with it being the night before the last game of the year, Franklin had all nine seniors speak in front of the team.
The seniors spoke of their love for the team, their desire to go out as champions, all the hard work they and their teammates have put in and the importance of not taking this bowl game for granted.
“I remember being at the Music City Bowl as a freshman,” Tim Fugger said. “I was thinking we had made it and I was going to have four bowl rings. It doesn’t work that way. Take it one day at a time.”
“Ever since Coach Franklin and staff came in here, we’ve been talking about Brand New Vanderbilt and we’ve been talking about what we are going to do,” T.J. Greenstone said. “With each day that has come along this season, we started being about it. Tomorrow is the climax to all of that. It is the last time we will be together.”
After every senior had spoken, the entire team stood and gave them a standing ovation.
The Senior Share took place following the team’s inspirational video for the week. Before each game, Vanderbilt’s top-notch video department creates an inspirational video to show at the team meeting. This week’s video was very well received and began with the inspirational halftime speech by Billy Bob Thornton in the movie “Friday Night Lights.” After the speech, the word “Champion” appeared on the screen with its definition appearing below.
The video then transitioned into a chronological recap of the year beginning with the first practice of the spring, followed by the spring game and summer workouts before showing highlights from throughout the regular season. The entire video was put to the Phil Collins track “In the Air Tonight.”
When Coach Franklin took the podium for the team’s final Friday night meeting of the season, he talked about the lessons that can be learned in life from teamwork and preached the importance of the opportunity that lies in front of the team Saturday.
“I want to see all you guys be so successful in life,” Franklin said. “The game and games are a parallel of that. The guys that you can depend on on Saturday, guys in this room, it is going to be the same thing the rest of your life. And you’ve got to be able to do it play in and play out, six seconds at a time, one quarter at a time, one game at a time.
“It is about making plays. The opportunity is now here. Your time is going to come and you’ve got to step up and make the play just like in life. You are going to have opportunities that come and when they come, you have to seize the opportunity. Just like we talk about seizing the day every single day.”
Franklin closed the team’s meeting with a message that drove home his feelings for the team and the meaning of Saturday’s game.
“This has been one of the most unbelievable experiences of my lifetime with the coaches, with the players, with all you guys,” he said. “I love you guys. I’ve loved this experience and I want it to end the right way. I have a burning desire, just like you guys, to end this the right way. I want you guys to have those rings that you can be proud of; that when you come back to homecoming next year, and you come back 10 years from now, that you put that ring on and you are proud and you are proud of the Black and Gold. That is what I want you guys to experience. I want it so badly, I really do. Let’s go out and handle our business. Sleep very well tonight knowing you are prepared, let’s get up in the morning, let’s have our pregame meal and let’s go over and handle our business in front of our friends, in front of our family, the people that care about us, but most importantly the people in this room. I love you guys. I’m proud to be your football coach. Let’s finish this thing the right way.”
