James Franklin says Rutgers and Maryland don't have a chance recruiting locally
Attention Maryland and Rutgers: James Franklin is looking forward to recruiting against you.
Franklin's Penn State caravan was in Baltimore on Wednesday and the subject of playing the Terrapins came up. Maryland and Rutgers are moving into the Big Ten this year, and both are on the schedule.
Both are also in close proximity to Penn State and in an area where Franklin has recruited in before.
Such successes, Franklin suggested, must be accompanied by tenacious recruiting. The new coach aspires to dominate in an area extending six hours in any direction from Penn State's campus. That, of course, includes the Baltimore-Washington region considered by the University of Maryland as its base.
"I consider this in-state. I consider New Jersey in-state," Franklin told the crowd. While there are other schools in the region, "they might as well shut them down because they don't have a chance."
Welcome to the Big Ten, Terps and Scarlet Knights. Now you've got your home turf being claimed by a coach who has coached as many Big Ten games as you've played in.
Perhaps Franklin's jab was not only to fire up the Baltimore crowd but also one towards Rutgers coach Kyle Flood, who called the Nittany Lions "a team from Pennsylvania" last week.
Franklin's previous recruiting experience in the area comes from his time as a Maryland assistant. Before becoming the head coach at Vanderbilt, Franklin was the offensive coordinator for the Terrapins from 2008-2010, where he was initially deemed then-coach Ralph Friedgen's successor.
We've expressed our love for trash talk before, so we're not complaining about a verbal triple threat match if Maryland coach Randy Edsall wants to get in on the fun. It's not very often you can get three coaches lobbing verbal grenades at each other. Plus, it adds even more intrigue to the Big Ten's expansion.
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is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
