At first I wasn't sure how to feel when I heard that Bobby Johnson was stepping down from coaching less than two months before the season starts against Northwestern.
It's a tough position that Vandy now finds itself in, if it wasn't already hard enough.
The timing is horrible, but the reason is not. According to Johnson himself, he decided to call it quits because "football isn't life, it's a way of life". Amen to that. He has his priorities straight. I just wish he would've done this a lot sooner.
However, you can't condemn the man too much. It's tough thing to do leaving what he calls his way of life. He probably second guessed himself a few times before finally coming to grips with what he had to do.
He also went on to say that he would basically feel terrible if he was asked if he was doing the best he can just to leave in December.
At first glance Johnson's coaching slate at Vanderbilt looks terrible and people who don't follow Vanderbilt probably don't understand why people may be upset about this.
Let me just say this. Coaching at Vanderbilt is an uphill battle from day one because you're coaching at a school where athletics is a distant second to academics. In fact, Vanderbilt doesn't even have an athletics department technically.
Despite Johnson had Vanderbilt competing week in and week out. You can't expect a coach to just walk into Vanderbilt and make them an SEC champion. It's almost impossible.
Johnson did the best he could with the talent he had and did so much with so little. You put Johnson as the coach at a bigger program and I guarantee you he has success.
The team has been handed down to interim coach Robbie Caldwell will take over and get a chance to win the job.
But there are rumors swirling around the Phillip Fulmer and even Tommy Bowden will hear talks from Vanderbilt for the job. If a big named coach gets the job at Vanderbilt then recruiting could get a lot better for a school that has little to draw the top football prospects.
Those possible coaching replacements leave a shred of hope left for Vandy fans.
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