Who are these people and do they watch football?

[ShotgunDawg]

I'll just leave this here. I honestly don't understand how any logical media member could watch our football team and how young it is, and come to this conclusion.

Why does this stuff get written about us and not other schools?

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2013/dan-mullen-miss-state-window-closing/

[CadaverDawg]

How does this guy have a job? I'm being serious, does he even watch football?

"Expect a split " regarding BG and Kentucky? A good journalist would at least know that Mullen doesn't lose to inferior teams.

I'm as hard on Mullen as anybody, but this guy obviously has an agenda or Mullen ****ed his girlfriend

[ShotgunDawg]

Welcome to the age of twitter. Holy F*** this is bad. We are all on here talking about how good our young players are, how this ship is headed in the right direction, and how this years team would beat last year's team ass, but little did we know we were all seeing a mirage. Apparently, we've been watching the wrong team. ***

I'm Ok with people having their opinion, and if they thought the team they saw on the field for 3 quarters sucked ass, then I'm find with that although I disagree with them.

What I don't understand is the motivation for this article. This article reeks of motive.

[bluelightstar]

This article reeks of there's no obvious coach on the hot seat so the media narrative is that it's going to be Mullen.

[BrunswickDawg]

And this type report is why we all need to be realistic, patient, and all be in the same boat. I'm not a black helicopter type, but it is pretty clear people look for reasons to call us a failure - just because we can't compete with the powers and in today's world "if you're not first, you're last" attitude and attention span.

All of the power schools have one thing in common, they built their power and rep under long term coaches that built them into winners. The super powers like Bama have been strong enough to keep multiple top coaches for lengthy runs, but everyone forgets that unless they keep building they fail. Look at the big names of the 80s and 90s that have succumbed to the win now attitude and fired winners (or pushed them out) and are now crap, or recovering crap. Miami, Notre Dame, Nebraska, USC, UCLA, and Tennessee all have had major rough patches when they don't let coaches build. Clemson, Auburn, and OM have all had their "good coach who isn't good enough" and then run through their Orgerons before they got back to some semblance of respectability. Mullen is not perfect, he does some things I don't like, but damn it, he has the best record through 4+ seasons at State than any coach since my grand dad was playing high school football. That speaks volumes about our football situation and why we need to give Dan the real chance of being our Bear, or Dooley, or even Kang 2.0. - just because everyone wants us NOT to.

Now get off my lawn ya damn kids!!

[BeastMan]

I don't read SDS b/c it has been terrible since its inception. There layout and format is the best on the Internet but their writers just aren't very good. For instance, the guy that wrote that 1 is a South Carolina guy. How in the world would he be knowledgeable enough of the happening and climate of MSU to write a credible story? He can't so he piggybacks other guys like Barrett Sallee.

[CadaverDawg]

I don't read SDS b/c it has been terrible since its inception. There layout and format is the best on the Internet but their writers just aren't very good. For instance, the guy that wrote that 1 is a South Carolina guy. How in the world would he be knowledgeable enough of the happening and climate of MSU to write a credible story? He can't so he piggybacks other guys like Barrett Sallee.

Wish you'd write a piece calling this clown out

[DownwardDawg]

Wow! Reading shit like that makes me want Mullen to succeed really bad. It pisses me off that people like this can write this dribble with no knowledge of our program whatsoever. I've been as hard on Mullen as any of our fans but I hope he gets it turned around and we win 9 games next year.

[CadaverDawg]

If by some chance we beat South Carolina.....somebody remind me to bump this article.

[Will James]

To be fair he said expect a split at worst. Kentucky is by no means a lock and if Merlin loses to BG God help us all.

17 straight losses to ranked teams is horrible.

[cheewgumm]

Not beating anybody good is terrible. That has to change sometime or maybe not. It seems most of our fans will be cool with scheduling down and being "patient", taking the 6 or 7 wins and call it "building". Why, I don't know.

We're going to win 7 next year, and Mullen will be here for a while. Will we be " better"? Eh... We'll see. I'm skeptical until we actually beat someone decent.

Count me as someone who thinks we should expect more quickly. As an sec team we shouldn't wait so long to make changes if needed. Maybe Mullen can do it and I hope he can but no history points to him being able to do it yet.



To be fair he said expect a split at worst. Kentucky is by no means a lock and if Merlin loses to BG God help us all.

17 straight losses to ranked teams is horrible.

[ShotgunDawg]

Not beating anybody good is terrible. That has to change sometime or maybe not. It seems most of our fans will be cool with scheduling down and being "patient", taking the 6 or 7 wins and call it "building". Why, I don't know.

We're going to win 7 next year, and Mullen will be here for a while. Will we be " better"? Eh... We'll see. I'm skeptical until we actually beat someone decent.

Count me as someone who thinks we should expect more quickly. As an sec team we shouldn't wait so long to make changes if needed. Maybe Mullen can do it and I hope he can but no history points to him being able to do it yet.

I think it obvious that when you look at every component of the program: on field talent, stadium, sell-outs, and new facilities, that we are getting better. Last year and two years ago I would have roasted you for saying you are skeptical, but I am actually to the point where I can't blame people for not believing.

When we beat someone good, I'll probably say, "I told you so", but until then, I think it's perfectly logical and acceptable to be skeptical. The truth is that its time for Mullen to pull an upset, and until he does, I fully understand people that aren't totally on the bandwagon.

[cheewgumm]

I want to be on the bandwagon, believe me.

A lot of the stuff( facilities, etc...) I would think have to do with $ which is mostly just due to being on the sec.

I can't really say our talent is better relative yo past years. I think a lot of people think football at state started with croom. So everything is compared through the filter of (" we were so bad under croom... Look how Mullen has brought us back.")

I get that if that is your memory but there was a time before croom and our talent compared more favorably to other sec teams. Everyone can say " yeah but the sec was down" which is true, but the year we went to sec championship didn't tenn win the national championship? Maybe not , i cant recall. regardless, We were a worthy opponent. Are we a worthy opponent to bama now?


I think it obvious that when you look at every component of the program: on field talent, stadium, sell-outs, and new facilities, that we are getting better. Last year and two years ago I would have roasted you for saying you are skeptical, but I am actually to the point where I can't blame people for not believing.

When we beat someone good, I'll probably say, "I told you so", but until then, I think it's perfectly logical and acceptable to be skeptical. The truth is that its time for Mullen to pull an upset, and until he does, I fully understand people that aren't totally on the bandwagon.

[BulldogBear]

Why do I smell some buried connection to the Bears as many of these media types have? Or at least one of the SEC "Big Boys." Seriously, I believe they try to change perception in order to affect recruiting.

[DownwardDawg]

I want to be on the bandwagon, believe me.

A lot of the stuff( facilities, etc...) I would think have to do with $ which is mostly just due to being on the sec.

I can't really say our talent is better relative yo past years. I think a lot of people think football at state started with croom. So everything is compared through the filter of (" we were so bad under croom... Look how Mullen has brought us back.")

I get that if that is your memory but there was a time before croom and our talent compared more favorably to other sec teams. Everyone can say " yeah but the sec was down" which is true, but the year we went to sec championship didn't tenn win the national championship? Maybe not , i cant recall. regardless, We were a worthy opponent. Are we a worthy opponent to bama now?

Yes, Tennessee won the NC that year.

[Coach 57]

Look I am as fired up as the next maroon fan on here. But it actually will take time for us to be where I think you guys (and myself) want us to be. In order to beat a good team in this conference you need a few things.

1.) good to great QB play on 3rd down throughout the game.
2.) great to good game plan on both sides of the ball
3.) turnovers, not only T.Os but CAPITALIZING on them into points.
4.) a defense that plays well in spots not necessarily dominant.
5.) a closing game plan not too late & NOT too early


I named them in order of importance. Our biggest problem is consistent #1 execution. Sometimes even #2 as it pertains to last years defense, offensive play calling (last yr & this yr) and then sticking with a struggling QB. Until these get rectified we WONT beat any team that is superior to us in talent. I believe that #1 will be fixed next yr just based on offensive philosophy and ability of Dak. Experience of the staff (especially with Dan) will help #2. Both if those together will help #3 & #5. And if we are able to keep Collins, #4 will take care if itself. Now with that said if you look at our schedule I expect us to be right on schedule with where I & most expect us to be.

[FISHDAWG]

problem is we / and or Mullen have made it easy for the rest of the college football world to slam us .... to be quite honest Mullen has almost lost me as well - I see next year as being the judgment year .... 5 years is a long time with out an upset of somebody .... and spare me the UGA & Florida comments as I just wont buy them

[SignalToNoise]

I don't read SDS b/c it has been terrible since its inception. There layout and format is the best on the Internet but their writers just aren't very good. For instance, the guy that wrote that 1 is a South Carolina guy. How in the world would he be knowledgeable enough of the happening and climate of MSU to write a credible story? He can't so he piggybacks other guys like Barrett Sallee.

Quoted for truth.

SDS is awful. Maybe even as bad as bleacher report.

[FlabLoser]

Look I am as fired up as the next maroon fan on here. But it actually will take time for us to be where I think you guys (and myself) want us to be. In order to beat a good team in this conference you need a few things.

1.) good to great QB play on 3rd down throughout the game.
2.) great to good game plan on both sides of the ball
3.) turnovers, not only T.Os but CAPITALIZING on them into points.
4.) a defense that plays well in spots not necessarily dominant.
5.) a closing game plan not too late & NOT too early


I named them in order of importance. Our biggest problem is consistent #1 execution. Sometimes even #2 as it pertains to last years defense, offensive play calling (last yr & this yr) and then sticking with a struggling QB. Until these get rectified we WONT beat any team that is superior to us in talent. I believe that #1 will be fixed next yr just based on offensive philosophy and ability of Dak. Experience of the staff (especially with Dan) will help #2. Both if those together will help #3 & #5. And if we are able to keep Collins, #4 will take care if itself. Now with that said if you look at our schedule I expect us to be right on schedule with where I & most expect us to be.


I completely agree with that list of things which must happen AFTER we overhaul our approach to compliance and pay top tier money for coordinators.

[CadaverDawg]

I want to be on the bandwagon, believe me.

A lot of the stuff( facilities, etc...) I would think have to do with $ which is mostly just due to being on the sec.

I can't really say our talent is better relative yo past years. I think a lot of people think football at state started with croom. So everything is compared through the filter of (" we were so bad under croom... Look how Mullen has brought us back.")

I get that if that is your memory but there was a time before croom and our talent compared more favorably to other sec teams. Everyone can say " yeah but the sec was down" which is true, but the year we went to sec championship didn't tenn win the national championship? Maybe not , i cant recall. regardless, We were a worthy opponent. Are we a worthy opponent to bama now?

We were 8-3 that year I believe. We have had as good a year under Mullen (2010) against a tough SEC, as we did that Championship year against a "down" SEC.

[Jack Lambert]

Yes, Tennessee won the NC that year.

But the SEc West was horrible. I think we won the west with a three way tie breaker.

The entire SEC is different today. Heck it is different then it was seven years ago. It is a very hard conference and I think all five of Mullen's teams would have been in the upper tear of most other conferences. If you take Missouri and A&M out there are only three teams in the SEC Mullen has not beaten. (Bama, LSU and SC) We have only had one shot at SC. Unfortunetly for Mullen until he beats LSU or Bama fans are going to be down on him, no matter what our record is.

[MadDawg]

Damn that was bad. If your head doesn't hurt after reading the following paragraph, you need to check your pulse.

"Worst case scenario is Mississippi St. loses its next two games at home to Bowling Green and Kentucky (expect a split at worse) and Mullen’s fired prior to the Bulldogs’ visit to South Carolina on Nov. 2. Would athletic director Scott Stricklin make that move midseason? No, but Mullen’s seat will continue to heat up as the losses build."

Ok, so let's examine this:

- Worst case scenario is we lose to BG and KY.
- What I really mean is worst case scenario is a split.
- And when MSU loses to both of those teams, they will fire Mullen.
- Wait, what I mean is no way the AD would fire Mullen mid season.

The writer of this article needs to go back to the clinic and let them finish the lobatomy.

[CadaverDawg]

Damn that was bad. If your head doesn't hurt after reading the following paragraph, you need to check your pulse.

"Worst case scenario is Mississippi St. loses its next two games at home to Bowling Green and Kentucky (expect a split at worse) and Mullen?s fired prior to the Bulldogs? visit to South Carolina on Nov. 2. Would athletic director Scott Stricklin make that move midseason? No, but Mullen?s seat will continue to heat up as the losses build."

Ok, so let's examine this:

- Worst case scenario is we lose to BG and KY.
- What I really mean is worst case scenario is a split.
- And when MSU loses to both of those teams, they will fire Mullen.
- Wait, what I mean is no way the AD would fire Mullen mid season.

The writer of this article needs to go back to the clinic and let them finish the lobatomy.

I've never seen a worse article.

This article is almost the worst I've ever seen.

This guy may get fired over this.

But his editor won't fire him over one article.

***

Does this^ sum up the way he writes?

[cheewgumm]

No team that Mullen has had would come close to beat that team. The fact is we are in year five still waiting on a signature win.

I'm not saying that we fire Mullen right now, but our fans sure are making a lot of excuses and saying to Be patient.

I expect that next year our record will be decent because our schedule changes so much. But just because our record is better does not mean you're getting better. I'm just looking for us to actually get Better.

[CadaverDawg]

No team that Mullen has had would come close to beat that team. The fact is we are in year five still waiting on a signature win.

I'm not saying that we fire Mullen right now, but our fans sure are making a lot of excuses and saying to Be patient.

I expect that next year our record will be decent because our schedule changes so much. But just because our record is better does not mean you're getting better. I'm just looking for us to actually get Better.

I don't view it from a wins and losses standpoint, and neither should our AD. We shouldn't have to wait for a tanked season to fire our coach if we know he isn't getting it done just by watching the product on the field.

Am I saying fire him now? No. But if he doesn't win 8 games with the schedule and talent we have next year, we should fire him. Because if he can't win 8 games next year with that talent, that schedule, and these coaches....it ain't gonna happen. So if he wins 6-7 games next year, I say we fire him and get a new guy in here while the cupboard is still full. No need to wait until he sinks us for several season before firing him IMO.

[cheewgumm]

Our ad is not firing Mullen after he wins seven games.

[bluelightstar]

Our ad is not firing Mullen after he wins seven games.

Having Kentucky on the schedule coupled with AU, Arkansas, and Vandy at home means that winning anything less than 8 is a coaching failure. Sad to say I agree though.

[Barking 13]

Look I am as fired up as the next maroon fan on here. But it actually will take time for us to be where I think you guys (and myself) want us to be. In order to beat a good team in this conference you need a few things.

1.) good to great QB play on 3rd down throughout the game.
2.) great to good game plan on both sides of the ball
3.) turnovers, not only T.Os but CAPITALIZING on them into points.
4.) a defense that plays well in spots not necessarily dominant.
5.) a closing game plan not too late & NOT too early


I named them in order of importance. Our biggest problem is consistent #1 execution. Sometimes even #2 as it pertains to last years defense, offensive play calling (last yr & this yr) and then sticking with a struggling QB. Until these get rectified we WONT beat any team that is superior to us in talent. I believe that #1 will be fixed next yr just based on offensive philosophy and ability of Dak. Experience of the staff (especially with Dan) will help #2. Both if those together will help #3 & #5. And if we are able to keep Collins, #4 will take care if itself. Now with that said if you look at our schedule I expect us to be right on schedule with where I & most expect us to be.

This 'un gets it....

[CadaverDawg]

Our ad is not firing Mullen after he wins seven games.

So in other words, it's not the schedule that you are arguing about in other threads....it is the fact that it will take a losing record consecutive years for our AD to fire a coach, and without a tough schedule that won't happen.

By the way, I agree with you that our AD won't do that. Which means we may end up with a coaching AND AD problem. Because as bluelight just said, a 7 win season next year would be a failure when looking at our schedule and returning talent. But instead of firing a coach that has obviously plateaued....we will allow him to keep the downward spiral until we have a rebuild on our hands.

Again, not saying that will happen. I am hopeful that Mullen wins 6 this year, 9+ next year, and then starts rolling with recruiting. I'm just saying that if he wins 6-7 or worse next year, the writing is on the wall, and we can prepare for some rough years ahead.

[Johnson85]

I can't really say our talent is better relative yo past years. I think a lot of people think football at state started with croom. So everything is compared through the filter of (" we were so bad under croom... Look how Mullen has brought us back.")

At least top to bottom. Sherrill and even Crooms had some talented teams, but they always had a glaring weakness that limited them. Sherrill had a couple of teams with championship quality talent everywhere but a couple of positions (primarily qb). We have solid talent everywhere on the field now. And Mullen has finally started pulling in some playmakers along with the solid talent. The only question is can Mullen recruit a quality SEC O-line (looking shaky, as of right now) and can Mullen keep his playcalling fresh and aggressive enough to be competitive (he still gets too conservative, but it looks like maybe he has recognized this tendence and is trying to change it).

[Homedawg]

To be fair he said expect a split at worst. Kentucky is by no means a lock and if Merlin loses to BG God help us all.

17 straight losses to ranked teams is horrible.

It not as bad as mighty Tennessee. And they have 100k+ stadium.

[Barking 13]

and another thing folks aren't pointing out that is obvious... not even a level playing field as far as money, talent, etc. of the top 15 or so teams... don't get me wrong, we have good talent, but when you've got 5 stars on the bench at say, Bama, vs. hardworking, developing 3 stars, it's hard to hang....

It would be like me trying to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series or FLW.. yeah, I can catch fish, but I don't have all the goodies that go along with the big boys...

[Johnson85]

I'm not saying that we fire Mullen right now, but our fans sure are making a lot of excuses and saying to Be patient.



Mullen is improving his recruiting. It went from shitty, to solid but without playmakers and without enough good O-Line, to simply lacking O-line. If it turns out we have several young projects that are going to come in and be good, he may have already turned the corner and gotten recruiting to the point where we can at least be competitive. It doesn't look like he's going to be an elite recruiter, but if he could get some O-Line, I think we are basically recruiting good enough at every other position to be in that second tier of SEC teams behind LSU, Bama, and UGA.

Mullen has been complacent on O, and I think he pissed away a chance to get a good win against a mediocre OkSt. team, but it seems to have lit a little bit of a fire under him. I'm frustrated with him, but I think we've improved enough on offense that it's worth seeing how he does when gets to have a full off season with three qb's that fit his system, so they can focus on the plays that he is more comfortable working with.

It'd be better to not have these issues, but since he mostly beats the teams he's supposed to beat, I think we'd be well served to be patient.

If we finish up the year with losses to Arkansas and Ole Miss, I think it's fair to question whether he can really improve enough to keep us out of the bottom of the west and whether we should do something sooner rather than later.

[ChupacabraDawg]

My opinion is you have a lot of folks out there that crap on MSU regardless of what we do. We could have played in the BCS Championship last year and these folks would find something to slam us on. I don't really get the hate for MSU. I can't remember us being some dominating force in anything but minding our own business. Its very strange. I guess its entirely possible this guy went to Ole Miss, Auburn, etc and has some sort of hatred for us...

[cheewgumm]

Ummm..yeah, that is a big part of my argument. Not that I am looking for a way to fire the coach. I'm saying you don't scehdule 7 wins through playing nobody, then never fire the coach because he is winning 7 games. I could win 7 games, if we're playing Alcorn, Troy, etc...


So in other words, it's not the schedule that you are arguing about in other threads....it is the fact that it will take a losing record consecutive years for our AD to fire a coach, and without a tough schedule that won't happen.

By the way, I agree with you that our AD won't do that. Which means we may end up with a coaching AND AD problem. Because as bluelight just said, a 7 win season next year would be a failure when looking at our schedule and returning talent. But instead of firing a coach that has obviously plateaued....we will allow him to keep the downward spiral until we have a rebuild on our hands.

Again, not saying that will happen. I am hopeful that Mullen wins 6 this year, 9+ next year, and then starts rolling with recruiting. I'm just saying that if he wins 6-7 or worse next year, the writing is on the wall, and we can prepare for some rough years ahead.

[CadaverDawg]

Ummm..yeah, that is a big part of my argument. Not that I am looking for a way to fire the coach. I'm saying you don't scehdule 7 wins through playing nobody, then never fire the coach because he is winning 7 games. I could win 7 games, if we're playing Alcorn, Troy, etc...

I'm agreeing with you. But I'm saying we shouldn't have to make it all or nothing in order to determine our coach's success and whether we should keep him.

In other words, if we can guarantee 6 wins by scheduling easy OOC we should ALWAYS do that. Especially if it won't effect our chances at a natty if we were ever to go undefeated, since we play a tough SEC slate. But at the same time, we should still be able to judge our coach on performance, not just wins and losses, while also keeping a bowl streak alive by scheduling easier OOC. Does that make sense?

I'm trying to say that there is a way to satisfy both of our stances. I want bowl games and winning seasons, but to also hold our coaches accountable by their performance, not just wins and losses. You seem to want to play a tougher schedule so that we can know f a coach is capable of winning tough games, and then it will make it easier to fire them if they aren't succeeding because their record won't be misleading due to weak opponents.

I say we should accomplish both, by scheduling to have winning seasons, but do away with the mindset that "we can't fire a coach that wins 6 games at MSU". It's that mindset that is the problem, not the schedule. Which is why I say that even if Mullen wins 6 games next year, he should be fired. Especially if we don't bowl this year. Why? Because he will have a guaranteed 4 wins next year, and the talent and schedule to easily win 7-8. So 6-7 wins would be underachieving, and underachieving with an experienced group and great schedule in year 6 deserves getting fired...regardless of wins and losses.

[BrunswickDawg]

Let’s look at this a little differently. Someone tell me the difference from where Mullen is in year 5 and where Jackie was in year five? After 5 seasons, Jackie was 28-28-2. 16-23-1 in SEC Play. He was 3-2 against OM, 0-3 in Bowls. If you go by the “Signature Win Moving Goal Post” theory – meaning a team you beat that is typically great only wins 6-8 that season and doesn’t count – Jackie had 1 win UF in ’92 (Texas was bad in ’91 & ’92 – look it up). For a Big Win we beat a ranked Tennessee in ’94 that finished 8-4. There were bad losses – ’93 LSU, ’94 LSU, ’94 Louisiana-Monroe, many losses against even teams, and wins against bad teams. I can tell you from seeing every one of those home games as student, those teams were not better top to bottom than what we have now. Fire Jackie then, and what happens? That recruiting class after that season was some of the core of the ’97-’00 peak for Jackie. You think that holds together with Bobby Wallace as coach? A guy from UNA with MSU ties who was the Hud of the ‘90s? At least Wallace actually won something, albeit at D2 – he hasn’t done anything since then.

So Dan is 31-25, and will have at worst 3 more wins by season end. He is 13-21 in SEC play, so he will likely be close to even with Jackie there. Big Win – UF in ‘10 (finished 8-5, #22 same as ’94 TN for Jackie). Lots of wins against bad teams, no losses against real stinkers (like those LSU and La-M teams). 2-1 in Bowls and 3-1 vs. OM. And because we apply the “Moving Goal Post Signature Win” theory and count UGA and TN the same as Texas for Jackie, the only real difference is the UF Signature win.
Our only coach since WWII to last more than 7 seasons is Jackie. Call it whatever you want to - patience, apathy, little-brother syndrome – but are we seriously putting a coach with the same and arguably better results on the hot seat halfway through 5 based on the lack of 1 win? Now, if we lose out we have a different situation. Win 6-7 and we will be talking about Dan’s “growth as a coach after a bad start”, because we have already seen some of that against Alcorn and LSU. Sneak in an upset at USC, who have 3 lose-able games besides us on the schedule, and we have our “but they only went 8-4 this year it doesn't count win.”

Until we start showing real regression, our history shows us if we want to build a winner, we stick with the solid coach.

[cheewgumm]

We waited too long to fire Jackie too, probably.

for the record, I like Dan and don't want to see him fired. I'm just saying...we have a tendancy to be too patient, and we discount our job because we finish low in the league. I think our job is one of the top 20 in the country...or at worst top 25. We should act like it.



Let’s look at this a little differently. Someone tell me the difference from where Mullen is in year 5 and where Jackie was in year five? After 5 seasons, Jackie was 28-28-2. 16-23-1 in SEC Play. He was 3-2 against OM, 0-3 in Bowls. If you go by the “Signature Win Moving Goal Post” theory – meaning a team you beat that is typically great only wins 6-8 that season and doesn’t count – Jackie had 1 win UF in ’92 (Texas was bad in ’91 & ’92 – look it up). For a Big Win we beat a ranked Tennessee in ’94 that finished 8-4. There were bad losses – ’93 LSU, ’94 LSU, ’94 Louisiana-Monroe, many losses against even teams, and wins against bad teams. I can tell you from seeing every one of those home games as student, those teams were not better top to bottom than what we have now. Fire Jackie then, and what happens? That recruiting class after that season was some of the core of the ’97-’00 peak for Jackie. You think that holds together with Bobby Wallace as coach? A guy from UNA with MSU ties who was the Hud of the ‘90s? At least Wallace actually won something, albeit at D2 – he hasn’t done anything since then.

So Dan is 31-25, and will have at worst 3 more wins by season end. He is 13-21 in SEC play, so he will likely be close to even with Jackie there. Big Win – UF in ‘10 (finished 8-5, #22 same as ’94 TN for Jackie). Lots of wins against bad teams, no losses against real stinkers (like those LSU and La-M teams). 2-1 in Bowls and 3-1 vs. OM. And because we apply the “Moving Goal Post Signature Win” theory and count UGA and TN the same as Texas for Jackie, the only real difference is the UF Signature win.
Our only coach since WWII to last more than 7 seasons is Jackie. Call it whatever you want to - patience, apathy, little-brother syndrome – but are we seriously putting a coach with the same and arguably better results on the hot seat halfway through 5 based on the lack of 1 win? Now, if we lose out we have a different situation. Win 6-7 and we will be talking about Dan’s “growth as a coach after a bad start”, because we have already seen some of that against Alcorn and LSU. Sneak in an upset at USC, who have 3 lose-able games besides us on the schedule, and we have our “but they only went 8-4 this year it doesn't count win.”

Until we start showing real regression, our history shows us if we want to build a winner, we stick with the solid coach.

[MarketingBully01]

Kentucky is shit. Kentucky is a 2-10 team. Stoops won't build anything at Kentucky. We will win the next two games to get to 4-3 and have a chance against South Carolina. I think we end up going to the BBVA bowl at 6-6 and beat Arkansas and Ole Miss to end the season. If we can upset South Carolina we can get to 7-5.