After making headlines by

in a public speech on Tuesday night, Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin apologized to the Crimson Tide coach with a personal phone call,

.

“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.

Franklin's comments came at a high school sports banquet in Macon, Georgia in which he said he plans to out-work Saban and the Alabama program.

“(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.”

Franklin told the Tennessean that Saban accepted his apology.

“He’s got a lot on his plate right now with recruiting. I have a lot on my plate right now with recruiting,” Franklin said. “We spoke briefly. He said, ‘Coach, I have a lot of respect for what you guys are doing up there at Vanderbilt.’ I said, ‘Coach, I’ve got tremendous respect for what you’re doing.’ And that was it. Got off the phone and that was it.”

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