Hello from the
, where we have more than 90 minutes until kickoff and players are wandering around the field below me. I just got done with an interesting conversation with
Dennis Franchione
, who is doing color commentary for
.
We talked about a bunch of things, including how he feels about broadcasting a game featuring the team he abruptly left on Dec. 6 to take the Texas A&M job. I'll get to that below. But I also asked him if he regrets the way he exited.
"Oh sure," Franchione told me outside his radio booth. "We all make mistakes. I certainly wish that that hadn't turned out that way. I regret that. I didn't mean for it to turn that way or be perceived that way or anything like that."Franchione, who resigned from coaching the Aggies after the 2007 season, has said very little about the way he left Tuscaloosa. He said there were experiences he had during that time that few people understand. He didn't detail them today. But he did say that there are certain things in his career that he would change, if he could.
"That would be one of them," he said.
I asked, Was it not saying goodbye to his players on the way out?
"Well, I think probably, yes," he said. "The whole thing. Sometimes it's late in the season, you're so tired and worn down, you don't think as well as you should have. And there's no doubt there's a lot of things about that I could've done differently."
Franchione is going to be traveling the country broadcasting games for ESPN Radio, a task he said he is really excited about. He is scheduled for a game every weekend except Dec. 6, which is when his daughter is getting married. He's pumped about seeing parts that he's never visited before. He'll examine how other programs do things, which he said he looks forward to, as well.
"I'm just excited to be involved in college football this year," Franchione said, "to be able to be at ESPN is really a fortunate thing for me."
OK, really, no joke, What did he think when he saw the Crimson Tide on the schedule for his first game?
"At least it's a team I know a little bit about to start with," he said. "So that was good."
No mixed feelings?
"Not really," he said. "I have very fond thoughts and memories of Alabama. Still have many friends there. Ya know, I love the passion, the love that Alabama fans have about Crimson Tide football. And the players, the pride they take in wearing the crimson jerseys, So, a lot of special thoughts."
Clearly, he's trying to put all that behind him... He seems to have thought a lot about it. Interesting, right?