James Franklin lays out one of his Vandy players

Literally.

A lot of head coaches, especially at the collegiate level, like to take a hands-on approach in teaching the game to their players. Not a lot of them, however, would go so (awesomely) far as James Franklin did during practice Monday.

It appears that, of late, the Vanderbilt head coach has been getting under center and taking reps at quarterback during summer camp. Franklin did as much yesterday, only this time he got up close and personal with one of his players after one of his passes went awry. The Tennessean has the deliciously cool details:

After Franklin was intercepted by LB Archibald Barnes on a pass over the middle, the coach gave chase toward the front left pylon as Barnes attempted to return the pick for a score. Sophomore DB Andre Hal was shielding Barnes when Franklin – not wearing any pads, mind you – put two arms into Hal and sent him flying out of bounds. It was a priceless moment.

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Franklin’s quote after laying out one of his own players might have been even better than the fact that he actually laid out one of his own players.

“I didn’t know who it was (I hit),” Franklin said. “I was trying to find out who it was. It was fun. It was fun to get out there and compete with them and fly around and show them how competitive that we’re all going to be in this program … everyone.”