Vanderbilt coach apologizes for saying he only hires assistants with attractive wives

Vanderbilt football coach James Franklin has apologized for saying that he only hires assistant coaches if they have attractive wives.

Franklin made the comments in a radio interview with Nashville's 104.5 "The Zone" earlier this week:

"I've been saying it for a long time, I will not hire an assistant coach until I've seen his wife. If she looks the part, and she's a D-1 recruit, then you got a chance to get hired. That's part of the deal. There's a very strong correlation between having the confidence, going up and talking to a woman, and being quick on your feet and having some personality and confidence and being fun and articulate, than it is walking into a high school and recruiting a kid and selling him."

On Thursday, the second-year head coach issued a mea culpa on Twitter.

The 40-year-old Franklin led the Commodores to the Liberty Bowl in his first season but the team lost six of eight conference games and finished with an overall 6-7 record. So he may want to consider recruiting assistants with better football acumen instead of checking out their better-halves.

Last year, Franklin made headlines by arriving via helicopter at high school games to scout players. One can only wonder if he was also scouting their coaches' wives.