Posted by: Chris Vannini on January 30, 2013

James Franklin has always been good for a quote, and this one might be the biggest.

While speaking at a high school in Georgia, Franklin referred to Nick Saban as "Nicky Satan."

"There's this guy down at Alabama, his name is Nicky Satan. You guys have probably heard of him before," Franklin told people at a banquet. "I'm going to outwork him. I'm going to outwork him and that's our plan every single day."

That's certainly going to draw some headlines. Was it a slip of the tounge?

Check it out below. (Not mobile-friendly)

Update: The Tennessean got an apology from Franklin.

"Obviously, tremendous respect for Coach Saban," Franklin said. "I just got off the phone with him. Tremendous respect for them. I've got tremendous respect for what they've done. Everybody is chasing them. The guy has won three or four national championships. (I was) really talking about the work ethic that he has a reputation for, and that we're going to outwork them.

"I made a joke. And in today's society with all the media and social media and people with tape recorders and things like that, that doesn't come off that way. I know people have tremendous pride in Alabama, and their fans are fanatical. So I understand. But it was a joke and I didn't mean to offend anybody."

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com