What they're saying:
Trent Franklin on his dad: "He's special because he cares about me, my brother and my sister. He works hard at everything he does and he is a great Christian man. I strive to be like him every day.
Erin Franklin on her dad: "What makes him so special to me is how he’s always been there for me. My dad is a coach to my brothers and I on and off the field. He may be our track coach, or our football coach, but he is also our life coach. He’s always taught us right from wrong. He’s also taught us that nothing worth having comes easy. No one will ever understand how tough it is to have your dad be the coach of every sport you’re in, but I honestly wouldn’t want it any other way. He pushes me to be the best I can be and without him I wouldn’t be where I am today."
David Franklin doesn’t get emotional about a lot of things. Calm, cool and collected are the order of the day for one of Haynesville’s finest.
But get Franklin talking about his children or his father, Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Alton “Red” Franklin, and things change. The Franklin clan will spend Father’s Day at the Beth and Red Franklin home, something that happens just about every Sunday following services at the First Baptist Church in Haynesville.
“It’s the highlight of my kids’ week,” Franklin said. “There’ll be all kinds of vegetables from the gardens and there will be no complaints about whatever is served. It’s Southern home-style food and it’s something we all enjoy.”
David Franklin is a unique individual in the athletic crazy town of Haynesville. He grew up around Tors football as a water boy for teams coached by his dad, then stood out on the field as a player.
After running track at Louisiana Tech, Franklin returned to Haynesville to coach under his father, eventually becoming the head football/track coach and coaching his children Trent and Erin. There's also a budding superstar in 12-year-old Toby.
He became emotional Saturday talking about a moment in time with his father.
“I enjoy every moment I get to spend with my dad, but one thing that stands out to me is the 2009 state championship game. We won the state title and he came up to me and gave me the biggest bear hug right there on the turf in the Superdome,” Franklin said while trying to gather himself. “Later, he told some folks that the only thing better than winning a state championship was seeing your son win one as a coach. I get a little emotional about that.”
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The father-son relationship has melded ever so slightly over the years as their positions with Haynesville football have changed. While Red Franklin was the head coach, he wasn’t the position coach for David.
“We didn’t carry much home. Football was football and home was home,” David said. “My biggest issue was what to call him on the field – dad, coach – Trent started calling me coach Franklin at practice and people would look at him like he was crazy.”
David’s relationship with Trent was a little different, since the father directly coached the quarterback son.
“Until he got to his senior year, there was a lot of correction involved. But those last two years, it was a pleasure,” Franklin said. “He was one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever coached. He worked hard and was coachable, which made things easier.”
Trent has no regrets about playing for his father and uses him as a role model.
"He's special because he cares about me, my brother and my sister. He works hard at everything he does and he is a great Christian man," Trent said. "I strive to be like him every day."
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The Red/David Franklin coaching combo has worked efficiently for Haynesville football, which continues to be successful. Red enjoys not having to worry about the headache of being a head coach with all the planning and directing involved. He just shows up, coaches the defensive ends or center/tackles, then heads home.
“And in several years of coaching together now, he’s only given me one piece of advice. That came a couple of years when I was really hard on the referees,” Franklin said. “Dad told me to back off a little bit.”
Red Franklin has also learned to relax a little around the football team. On a road trip last season, David heard the team getting a little rowdy in the back of the bus. They almost immediately went silent, then started laughing loudly again.
“My dad was back there telling them stories. I don’t know what he was saying, but they were enjoying it,” Franklin said chuckling. “That would have never happened when he was the head coach.”
The Franklin coaching experience continues. David is now coaching Erin, one of the best female athletes in northwest Louisiana. Erin long jumps, runs sprints and has the potential to swim at the collegiate level. She was swimming with Bulldog Aquatics out of Ruston until the hour drive got to be too much, while she also swims in the COSST summer league.
The Tors girls track team came close to winning state last year, but plans are to move up to the top rung next spring.
“My wife keeps reminding me that girls are different from boys and I can’t coach Erin like I coached Trent,” David said. “But Erin is a lot like Trent in always working hard. Our goal is to win state next year. We haven’t won state since like 1951, so it’s been a while.”
Erin said her father has always been there for her coaching on and off the field.
“He may be our track coach, or our football coach, but he is also our life coach,” she said. “He’s always taught us right from wrong. He’s also taught us that nothing worth having comes easy. No one will ever understand how tough it is to have your dad be the coach of every sport you’re in, but I honestly wouldn’t want it any other way. He pushes me to be the best I can be and without him I wouldn’t be where I am today."
David’s best coaching memory with Trent is also one of the worst. The veteran head coach and his quarterbacking son took the Tors all the way to the Mercedes Benz Superdome where they lost 40-7 to Kentwood in the 2016 LHSAA Class 1A championship game.
“That season coaching Trent and those boys I had coached since they were 8 years old -- it was special and a great joy,” David said. “But losing the championship when we didn’t play the way we should have – that was tough. Those guys deserved better.
“That was maybe more difficult to take than my brother Tommy’s 1992 team that had been undefeated from the seventh grade until the championship game of their senior year when they lost to Welsh for the state title.”
Trent Franklin is now playing football at Northwestern State and saw some action at free safety during the Demons’ spring game after being redshirted last season.
“My wife and I went over and watched the game and she asked me if I had the urge to get out there and coach him,” David said. “I said, ‘No, ma’am, I want to just sit back and enjoy this.”'
David Franklin said he enjoys serving on the deacon board at FBC with his father.
“Not a lot of people get to do that,” he acknowledges.
And having the opportunity to share in his children’s athletic successes takes fun to another level.
"Coaching and making memories with children is the best job in the world,” Franklin said. “And being able to do that with your children just makes it even better.”
Twitter: @JimmyWatson6
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