ShotgunDawg
11-27-2016, 09:32 AM
- Awesome game yesterday that hopefully gave us a glimpse into our future.
- We all knew this was going to be a transition year. It was rough, frustrating, maddening, & even inexplicable at times. However, although we left some wins on the table, by coming out of the season with a likely bowl game, a real, star replacement for Dak, a revamped running game that looks like an MSU running game should, & the quality, young pieces & parts we have scattered all across the field, it kind of feels like we held serve. It certainly wasn't pretty & inexcusable at times, but one could argue that we survived, got out of the season what we needed, & are ready to compete again going into 2017.
- Will Dan fire Peter Sirmon? The better question is: Should Dan fire Peter Sirmon? Because I don't expect & would be really surprised if he actually did fire Peter Sirmon. Everyone has an ego & Dan Mullen's is active. Remember he hired Sirmon & will likely give him the benefit of the doubt this year because firing Sirmon makes Dan look bad. If Dan fires Sirmon we should just all agree that Sirmon must have been egregiously incompetent for Dan to make that move. That being said though, this was the worst MSU defense of my life time. Was it the worst because of poor players? Asking a first year DC to implement a new scheme that the school has never run? or because Sirmon was awful? My guess is that it's a combination of the three, but we are likely going to have to wait till 2017 to figure out the answer to this. One would think going into the 2nd year with some talented young players, it should at least be better. With an average defense, next year's team can be pretty good.
- I also expect Hevesy to stay. The OL played outstanding down the stretch & it showed once again that Hev is pretty coach on the field. However, this doesn't address his recruiting issues. This OL class seems to be his best, so maybe he is improving. He needs to get his ass recruiting immediately.
- Will any coaches get fired or leave? I'm not sure. Dan may leave that up to Sirmon on the defensive side &, other than maybe Sallach & Brad Peterson switching spots, I'm not sure what changes will be made on offense.
- Find a 17ing kicker. It's inexplicable that we have a 12 year old kicking for us while other SEC teams have legitimate athletes. These aren't highly recruited players, so go make the extra effort to find a good one. To me, the caliber of kicker & punter you have is directly equivalent to the effort you put into the recruiting. Good ones are out there with mid-major offers or walk on deals. Go find one. Get off you ass & go find a kicker. It's absolutely absurd what we've been running out there.
- Lastly, this coaching staff has to do a better job in the off season. It's clear that from Jan 2016 - August 2016 this coaching staff sat around with a thumb up their ass. They didn't recruit, plan, or get a better feel for their personnel. Yes yesterday was a great win, but I could've told you in April that Nick Fitzgerald & Aeris Williams were our best options at QB & RB & needed to play. Why did it take so long for Mullen to figure that out? Why was there even a competition between Fitz & Williams? Why wasn't there a greater understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, & identity of the personnel of this team before the season started? All I can say was that this staff completely dropped the ball this past off season, started picking up the pieces of the ball mid-season, & may have squeaked enough into the trash can to get to a bowl. That's inexplicable & I expect better. Even yesterday, with Fitz & Williams running buck wild, there were two possessions in the 2nd quarter where it was the Holloway & Shump show. Why? Why does Dan feel the need to keep SRs involved? Here's a question: If Holloway doesn't get banged up on a kick return yesterday, do we still win like we did? How were we not prepared or ready for Ole Miss to run a fake punt yesterday when they were getting blown off their home field? That could have cost us the game. The lack of awareness this staff shows at times in personnel management & game management is mind boggling.
Again, great win yesterday, but it doesn't completely makeup for a terrible off season of recruiting, planning, & personnel management. Mullen has so much potential to be a great head coach, but he finds a way to screw up the simple things. I like the direction we are headed, but I'm not totally sure I trust the people driving the bus to put forth the off season effort it takes to build an elite team. They've got some pieces returning for next year, but unless a better effort is put forth between Jan & Aug 2017, you can expect another frustrating 2017 season full of inexplicable losses.
All this being said, I support Mullen & believe it's in our best interest for him to be here for a long time. Just wish he'd mature a little as a coach & clean up some of the simple, instinctive things about managing a game & personnel
- We all knew this was going to be a transition year. It was rough, frustrating, maddening, & even inexplicable at times. However, although we left some wins on the table, by coming out of the season with a likely bowl game, a real, star replacement for Dak, a revamped running game that looks like an MSU running game should, & the quality, young pieces & parts we have scattered all across the field, it kind of feels like we held serve. It certainly wasn't pretty & inexcusable at times, but one could argue that we survived, got out of the season what we needed, & are ready to compete again going into 2017.
- Will Dan fire Peter Sirmon? The better question is: Should Dan fire Peter Sirmon? Because I don't expect & would be really surprised if he actually did fire Peter Sirmon. Everyone has an ego & Dan Mullen's is active. Remember he hired Sirmon & will likely give him the benefit of the doubt this year because firing Sirmon makes Dan look bad. If Dan fires Sirmon we should just all agree that Sirmon must have been egregiously incompetent for Dan to make that move. That being said though, this was the worst MSU defense of my life time. Was it the worst because of poor players? Asking a first year DC to implement a new scheme that the school has never run? or because Sirmon was awful? My guess is that it's a combination of the three, but we are likely going to have to wait till 2017 to figure out the answer to this. One would think going into the 2nd year with some talented young players, it should at least be better. With an average defense, next year's team can be pretty good.
- I also expect Hevesy to stay. The OL played outstanding down the stretch & it showed once again that Hev is pretty coach on the field. However, this doesn't address his recruiting issues. This OL class seems to be his best, so maybe he is improving. He needs to get his ass recruiting immediately.
- Will any coaches get fired or leave? I'm not sure. Dan may leave that up to Sirmon on the defensive side &, other than maybe Sallach & Brad Peterson switching spots, I'm not sure what changes will be made on offense.
- Find a 17ing kicker. It's inexplicable that we have a 12 year old kicking for us while other SEC teams have legitimate athletes. These aren't highly recruited players, so go make the extra effort to find a good one. To me, the caliber of kicker & punter you have is directly equivalent to the effort you put into the recruiting. Good ones are out there with mid-major offers or walk on deals. Go find one. Get off you ass & go find a kicker. It's absolutely absurd what we've been running out there.
- Lastly, this coaching staff has to do a better job in the off season. It's clear that from Jan 2016 - August 2016 this coaching staff sat around with a thumb up their ass. They didn't recruit, plan, or get a better feel for their personnel. Yes yesterday was a great win, but I could've told you in April that Nick Fitzgerald & Aeris Williams were our best options at QB & RB & needed to play. Why did it take so long for Mullen to figure that out? Why was there even a competition between Fitz & Williams? Why wasn't there a greater understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, & identity of the personnel of this team before the season started? All I can say was that this staff completely dropped the ball this past off season, started picking up the pieces of the ball mid-season, & may have squeaked enough into the trash can to get to a bowl. That's inexplicable & I expect better. Even yesterday, with Fitz & Williams running buck wild, there were two possessions in the 2nd quarter where it was the Holloway & Shump show. Why? Why does Dan feel the need to keep SRs involved? Here's a question: If Holloway doesn't get banged up on a kick return yesterday, do we still win like we did? How were we not prepared or ready for Ole Miss to run a fake punt yesterday when they were getting blown off their home field? That could have cost us the game. The lack of awareness this staff shows at times in personnel management & game management is mind boggling.
Again, great win yesterday, but it doesn't completely makeup for a terrible off season of recruiting, planning, & personnel management. Mullen has so much potential to be a great head coach, but he finds a way to screw up the simple things. I like the direction we are headed, but I'm not totally sure I trust the people driving the bus to put forth the off season effort it takes to build an elite team. They've got some pieces returning for next year, but unless a better effort is put forth between Jan & Aug 2017, you can expect another frustrating 2017 season full of inexplicable losses.
All this being said, I support Mullen & believe it's in our best interest for him to be here for a long time. Just wish he'd mature a little as a coach & clean up some of the simple, instinctive things about managing a game & personnel