Some positive signs in football recruiting for 2019 for Moorhead

[Ari Gold]

Dan loved and ate up the “developer of player” and turning 2 and 3 stars into sec players that the media labeled him as.
It was safe for Dan. If they were just average or didn’t contribute oh well they weren’t suppose to be good. If they became SEC guys and Pros, Hey look at me I’m a genius and can find talent and develope it.

[5049]

Dan loved and ate up the ?developer of player? and turning 2 and 3 stars into sec players that the media labeled him as.
It was safe for Dan. If they were just average or didn?t contribute oh well they weren?t suppose to be good. If they became SEC guys and Pros, Hey look at me I?m a genius and can find talent and develope it.

I am not fan of Dan Mullen (anymore) but lets not go off the cliff here. He did a good job developing players and that was his MO from the first day he got here. His first speech as coach he intended to recruit the raw talent within 5 hours of Starkville and coach them up. It was a good strategy, and one Moorhead should not ignore.

[Ari Gold]

I am not fan of Dan Mullen (anymore) but lets not go off the cliff here. He did a good job developing players and that was his MO from the first day he got here. His first speech as coach he intended to recruit the raw talent within 5 hours of Starkville and coach them up. It was a good strategy, and one Moorhead should not ignore.

I never said he wasn’t good in that area. Just saying he and the staff was lazy in recruiting and didn’t go after some guys that with more effort we may could have closed.
You can’t just recruit the state of Miss and compete with the big boys.

[Cooterpoot]

Considering one coach on staff said the handcuffs have been take off recruiting now, I'm going to agree the last staff was lazy as 17.

[TrapGame]

Considering one coach on staff said the handcuffs have been take off recruiting now, I'm going to agree the last staff was lazy as 17.

Some folks have forgotten the stories out of camp over the years. Billy G basically saying if they don't come to our camp he doesn't want them.

I'm sure Moorhead will get a good bit of talent out of MS/AL/LA but we can't let opportunities to get in with some national guys go by. Dan let our #1 ranking go to waste. We could have been in the discussion for some national talent had that been used better by the staff.

[5049]

I'm sure Moorhead will get a good bit of talent out of MS/AL/LA but we can't let opportunities to get in with some national guys go by. Dan let our #1 ranking go to waste. We could have been in the discussion for some national talent had that been used better by the staff.

No question on this. Again, Dax Muffins' legacy is what he failed to accomplish.

[parabrave]

Some folks have forgotten the stories out of camp over the years. Billy G basically saying if they don't come to our camp he doesn't want them.

I'm sure Moorhead will get a good bit of talent out of MS/AL/LA but we can't let opportunities to get in with some national guys go by. Dan let our #1 ranking go to waste. We could have been in the discussion for some national talent had that been used better by the staff.

1st part of post is exactly what BG told me at a signing day event in Gulfport in 2013. I asked him if he was kidding.

[bostondawg]

Dan loved and ate up the “developer of player” and turning 2 and 3 stars into sec players that the media labeled him as.
It was safe for Dan. If they were just average or didn’t contribute oh well they weren’t suppose to be good. If they became SEC guys and Pros, Hey look at me I’m a genius and can find talent and develope it.

An excellent post that I agree wholeheartedly with.

If I may take Ari's point and extrapolate a bit (too far): I think that was Dan's entire mindset about the football program. It was safe to take 3 star kids and try to develop them (which he was good at). If they don't pan out, you can't call the kid a "bust" and blame it on Dan. But I also think Dan thought that way about MSU as a whole. He could take safe/conservative philosophies on playcalling, coach staffing, recruiting, etc., and if he wasn't successful, the media would always blame it on po old 3* MSU not being meant to be a major program. Meanwhile, if Dan had been aggressive and failed, it might have looked bad on him--like his ideas didn't work.

Let's face it. Two things can be true at the same time:
1) It isn't that hard to win 6 games at MSU and go to a bowl. We're an SEC school and have 4 or so automatic wins every year. But the media doesn't spin it this way. Their narrative makes it such that winning 6 games here is a major accomplishment.
2) For Dan, because of (1), there weren't a ton of incentives to excel. He could coast for a few years, go to bowl games, enjoy the country club, and some bigger program was going to have to hire him eventually.

Because the media spins six wins in Starkville as an accomplishment of monumental proportions, Dan was smart to just do simply that and coast. Just take 3* kids and coast. Just hire your friends as coaches and coast. As long as you win 6 games at MSU, you'll always be considered a good coach by the media.

There are programs that people call "sleeping giants." MSU isn't one of them, probably, but I think MSU had an awakening of its own a few years ago: modernizing the football program. Before Dan, our horrible athletic leadership had led us to CUSA-level facilities and expectations. Dan played a crucial part (along with Stricklin) in updating facilities. But once the facilities were updated, Dan had the easiest job in football. We gave him top notch facilities, and then only asked for 6 wins a year for him to be considered an excellent coach.

[Indndawg]

Dan loved and ate up the ?developer of player? and turning 2 and 3 stars into sec players that the media labeled him as.
It was safe for Dan. If they were just average or didn?t contribute oh well they weren?t suppose to be good. If they became SEC guys and Pros, Hey look at me I?m a genius and can find talent and develope it.

Even h/s coaches said he doesn't have SEC speed and would be better at LB....