Tony Franklin finally may have found his home on the Virginia football team. The team journeyman, Franklin will most likely spend significant time at safety in 2005, following a season and a half of starting at cornerback.
Franklin entered Virginia as a highly touted running back from St. Peter Chanel H.S. in Cleveland three years ago but found himself stuck in a crowded backfield among Wali Lundi and Alvin Pearman.
Following the 2002 season, which he red-shirted, Franklin was moved to cornerback at the start of the 2003 season, where he saw playing time in every game while starting the final six. Last season Franklin started every game while recording 78 tackles -- an all-time record among Cavalier cornerbacks. Following the departure of last season's two starting safeties, Jermaine Hardy and Marquis Weeks, and the suspension of talented junior cornerback Philip Brown, the safety position was left depleted. Now it appears that Franklin will move to fill that void and take over one of the starting safety positions.
Franklin "seemed very comfortable there from the start," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "The first day he was there, it was amazing to see how quickly he acted right at home
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