The Big Picture

[PassInterference]

Crootin needs to be a much, much bigger priority.

I'd put crootin and coaching on equal planes. Rank a coach's coaching on a scale of 1-5. Rank a coach's crootin on a scale of 1-5. Add those 2 numbers together and that's how good of a coach you are.

This is why schools that croot the lights out still fail at football. And it is why MSU's that don't croot the lights out can still occasionally compete.

Mullen gets 4 out of 5 for coaching and 2 for crootin. So Mullen is a net 6.

Freeze is a 4 at crootin and a 2 at coaching. Freeze is a net 6.

Both programs are practically equal. They leapfrog each other in national and conference rankings. You can give one program or the other an edge on different days or years.

We've got to recruit better. If we can get Mullen to a 3-4 in crootin, it would be a big step forward. And it seems it ought to be easier for us to croot better than it would be for Freeze to coach better.

I'd like to say I like our upside better than Ole Miss's. But I don't know what our crootin roadblocks are other than Bracky.

[cheewgumm]

Can't agree that Mullen is a better coach than Freeze. Especially since Freeze OWNS him on the field.

[SDDawg]

Freeze is a better coach and has proven it 3 out of 4 years, almost beat us in 2013 too. I don't buy this line of thinking... but recruiting is important and we're screwing it up again.

[Coach007]

Most sensible post.

Obviously stars do matter. That's not to say there are not great players over looked. But we are not recruiting at a high level! Not a MID level. If we could consistently stay in the top 20 of recruiting, we would be a much better team.

[bluelightstar]

What is this idea that Freeze can't coach? At this point it's time to drop that line of thinking.

Mullen's not some great gameday coach. At this point he should've been able to at least luck into an upset win over a good team.

[TrapGame]

Mullen's recruiting philosophy is turning sows ears into silk purses. Freezes philosophy is filling silk purses with coins.

[Coach007]

Freeze is a better coach and has proven it 3 out of 4 years, almost beat us in 2013 too. I don't buy this line of thinking... but recruiting is important and we're screwing it up again.

So there is no correlation between winning and the recruitment of top players? It's all coaching?

[Coach007]

What is this idea that Freeze can't coach? At this point it's time to drop that line of thinking.

Mullen's not some great gameday coach. At this point he should've been able to at least luck into an upset win over a good team.


I think he is saying that with the level of talent Freeze has, he should have won the west. Mullen did far more with less.

[PassInterference]

Can't agree that Mullen is a better coach than Freeze. Especially since Freeze OWNS him on the field.

That's been the case because Freeze crooked better. Of the course of entire seasons, it's a wash.

[SDDawg]

So there is no correlation between winning and the recruitment of top players? It's all coaching?

There's a correlation, but we have to stop discounting Freeze as a coach. He screws up a fair amount, but he also wins big games. I can't stand the guy but I can no longer pretend Dan is better, he's clearly worse.

[PassInterference]

I think he is saying that with the level of talent Freeze has, he should have won the west. Mullen did far more with less.

That's it exactly.

Is that class of 2013 any more skilled now than they were as freshmen? Not much. Freeze croot a but doesn't do a lot to develop the talent.

MSU is just the opposite.

The two schools have pretty much been neck & neck in the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS OVER A WHOLE SEASON (not just in egg bowls - get over that, folks).