Things are changing fast and I admittedly don't have a clear vision of what college football will look like in the future. BUT for now and the immediate future we at least know State can compete and we have a blueprint for what it will take at MSU to reach a success level our administration and fanbase are good with. Dan Mullen (bless his job searchin heart) gave us that. The old questions that potential coaches had about the program, it's demands and it's potential are all answered. Oh it's still gonna take a lot of money, some good luck and a whole lot of hard work but we know, without question, it can be done...that's no longer conjecture. My point is the HC job at MSU is no longer a "dead end" job (like so many have suggested through the years) and is in fact probably a better gig than some of the "blue blood" schools because the expectations are more reasonable. Now I'll take off my "maroon colored glasses" and return to being a Sixpacker LOL.
It's beyond Mullen. You have to take the best of Jackie too, and even Bellard. You can also look at some positive things Felker and Croom did in recruiting. So what is this blueprint?
1) Recruiting all the MS (and surrounding state's) athletes. All those guys did this to an extent. You certainly try to get the stars, but you have to take the raw projects too. You have to go get the small high school QBs and turn them into WRs and DBs, that sort of thing. The big defenders can be DEs or LBs. You have to be flexible. Need to use JUCOs effectively, it's a must.
2) You have to rule with an iron fist, with a chip on your shoulder. From the S&C to the sidelines. Mullen and Jackie did this, and when Jackie lost this edge, he lost the program.
3) Scheme wise, you need an innovative offense, and honestly this has always been run based. Bellard, Sherrill, Mullen. It fits our available talent. We have to road grade. Defense should be taken care of by number 1 above, we honestly should never have a bad defense if we are managing our roster the right way. The minimize special teams as much as you can outside kicker and punter, which you have to have.
We should never get away from this plan. Which makes you wonder why we ever went Moorhead's way in the first place. Maybe he appeared to be that same sort of guy in the interview??
From the guys everybody is mentioning, the ones who fit the mold are Napier, Hudspeth, Monken and Calhoun. Maybe Judge? I don't know much about him. But honestly what is the right innovative offense?
