Hate to be that guy but I am gonna be that guy...

[Todd4State]

Great post! I love Jackie but I never bought the only get up for 3 or 4 games a year stuff. You say that and it kinda becomes a mindset. And like I said I love Jackie!

For me it's either I really love some things that Jackie did or I absolutely hate them. Overall I liked him but I like Dan overall better.

LOVED Jackie's massive o-lines, two running back systems with Davis/Bouie, Dontae/Dicenzo, etc., Joe Lee Dunn pre-2001, emphasis on special teams, the Mad Dawgs (We need to bring them back), and calling Ole Miss Mississippi while calling Billy Brewer a habitual liar and giving MSU fans confidence and something to cheer about.

HATED Jackie's QB development or lack thereof, lack of team discipline during games on both sides of the ball, firing Bruce Arians, punting to Derek Abney over and over, bowl preparation or lack thereof, not being able to beat crappy LSU teams ever except 1999, and inexplicable losses to people like Troy and blowout losses to people like LSU.

Edit to say I HATED the we can only get up for three games mantra and still do.

[Hasu Dackds]

Edit to say I HATED the we can only get up for three games mantra and still do.

If you want to be so strongly opinionated, you need to have some evidence or experience to back you up. I was on my way to posting a yearly list of our 'up' games and considered it a waste of time because we only average 2 or 3 per year.

Some of you are going to continue to ignore this near fact forever, to your own detriment. It's the nature of football. It's a tough sport, and momentum is a big part of it. Navigating this, and your home/away schedule, goes a long way into your W/L record. Saban is about the only coach that can maneuver around this and that's only because he's got the best players and consistently play at a B+/A- level. Normal teams have their few A games, then have to rely on talent the rest of the time.

[Todd4State]

If you want to be so strongly opinionated, you need to have some evidence or experience to back you up. I was on my way to posting a yearly list of our 'up' games and considered it a waste of time because we only average 2 or 3 per year.

Some of you are going to continue to ignore this near fact forever, to your own detriment. It's the nature of football. It's a tough sport, and momentum is a big part of it. Navigating this, and your home/away schedule, goes a long way into your W/L record. Saban is about the only coach that can maneuver around this and that's only because he's got the best players and consistently play at a B+/A- level. Normal teams have their few A games, then have to rely on talent the rest of the time.

I "ignore" it because it's used as an excuse by some in our fan base to make an excuse for poor performance- and I think I was pretty clear about that. Yes "down" games happen but as I said Jackie seemed to coach that way and that's not a good way to be to maximize your potential. And I'm pretty sure Dan Mullen agrees with me. In fact, Jackie is pretty much the only coach I have ever heard say anything like that.

I remember Coach Justice in high school after we beat Vicksburg 17-14 and had to come from behind to do it in miracle fashion say "To go undefeated you are going to have to win a close game at some point". That's a MUCH better attitude to have than "well, we can only emotionally get up for three games".

And there is PLENTY of evidence during Jackie's tenure even during some of his best seasons that his philosophy on that was flawed and IMO held us back some. You can't build respect for your program if you beat Alabama but also lose to 2-9 LSU by 35. People are going to think that the win over Alabama was a fluke. There are multiple blowouts, losses to teams like Troy and Northeast Louisiana that show that his philopsophy is flawed. Dan has pretty much eliminated the non-power 5 losses essentially. Yes, we've gotten blown out a few times but at a much less frequency than Jackie and most of those are probably from Alabama and Saban if I had to guess without looking. And I don't remember Dan getting blown out by a non top 25 team off the top of my head.

[Pollodawg]

For me it's either I really love some things that Jackie did or I absolutely hate them. Overall I liked him but I like Dan overall better.

LOVED Jackie's massive o-lines, two running back systems with Davis/Bouie, Dontae/Dicenzo, etc., Joe Lee Dunn pre-2001, emphasis on special teams, the Mad Dawgs (We need to bring them back), and calling Ole Miss Mississippi while calling Billy Brewer a habitual liar and giving MSU fans confidence and something to cheer about.

HATED Jackie's QB development or lack thereof, lack of team discipline during games on both sides of the ball, firing Bruce Arians, punting to Derek Abney over and over, bowl preparation or lack thereof, not being able to beat crappy LSU teams ever except 1999, and inexplicable losses to people like Troy and blowout losses to people like LSU.

Edit to say I HATED the we can only get up for three games mantra and still do.

Actually, Brewer called Sherrill a habitual liar. Jackie said he didn’t believe Brewer said it because Brewer can’t spell habitual. They call us necks, but Brewer was the biggest hillbilly on the planet.

[cujo]

For me it's either I really love some things that Jackie did or I absolutely hate them. Overall I liked him but I like Dan overall better.

LOVED Jackie's massive o-lines, two running back systems with Davis/Bouie, Dontae/Dicenzo, etc., Joe Lee Dunn pre-2001, emphasis on special teams, the Mad Dawgs (We need to bring them back), and calling Ole Miss Mississippi while calling Billy Brewer a habitual liar and giving MSU fans confidence and something to cheer about.

HATED Jackie's QB development or lack thereof, lack of team discipline during games on both sides of the ball, firing Bruce Arians, punting to Derek Abney over and over, bowl preparation or lack thereof, not being able to beat crappy LSU teams ever except 1999, and inexplicable losses to people like Troy and blowout losses to people like LSU.

Edit to say I HATED the we can only get up for three games mantra and still do.

Thanks Todd