By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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After a turnaround season on the field, James Franklin lands the Commodores best class ever.

For much of the 80-year history of SEC football, Vanderbilt has been little more than an afterthought. One six-win season won’t change that perception, but Commodores coach James Franklin has followed up a surprising 2011 season by landing a recruiting class stronger than what seemed possible at the SEC’s smallest and most academically challenging university.

Traditionally, four-star recruits don’t even visit Nashville, but Franklin’s second class includes three four-start recruits, according to Rivals.com rankings. One of those –Nashville’s Caleb Azubuike – is a defensive linemen, arguably the most difficult position at which to land elite talent.

The 2012 class was based more in the South than in prior years, which only one signee hailing from north of Virginia, and six from Tennessee. The 2010 class, the final one of the Bobby Johnson era, had only one player from the Volunteer State.

The other two four-star players are Tennessee natives, Memphis running back Brian Kimbrow and Paris offensive lineman Andrew Jelks. Kimbrow had scholarship offers from almost every major program east of the Mississippi River. Jelks, whose father is a University of Tennessee graduate and season-ticket holder, chose the Commodores over the Volunteers and Alabama.

Franklin and his staff were also very involved in Georgia, one of the most talent-rich states in the country. Vanderbilt landed three linebackers from the Peach State, including Tucker’s Jacob Sealand.

Despite losing out on five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel to Notre Dame, the Commodores did sign a quarterback, Patton Robinette from Maryville, Tenn. Robinette, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee, has enrolled for the spring semester after a last-minute switch from North Carolina.

Winning six games in his first season was a remarkable accomplishment, but Franklin isn’t satisfied with simply mediocrity. He expects to eventually compete for SEC East titles, and his 22 signees in the Class of 2012 have only added to the momentum generated on the field this past fall.