What I want to see improve with our football program

[Todd4State]

There are two main things I want to see Joe and MSU get better right now.

1. Cut out the on the field lack of discipline issues. I'm talking about throat slashes- I think that happened twice this year. Spinning the ball in front of an official. Things that are unnecessary. They're also disrespectful to the game. Actually quit being cocky and arrogant until at least the bowl game and season are over. Finish your job and then get rewarded in January.


2. Do a better job with travel during the bowl season. I'm not sure whose fault that was with the airplane but if it's a result of us being cheap then we need to spend a little extra to correct that. That kind of disorganization I think sort of set the tone during bowl season for us and I believe it cost us a practice or two during bowl prep. Practice that we obviously could have used. We should act like a first class SEC school and not some Sun Belt team that is going to a bowl for the first time in 20 years.

[Mjoelner34]

3. Quit the 'check with me' crap on every play which disrupts the flow and causes us to snap the ball with only 2 or 3 seconds on the clock.

If we're truly running an RPO, is there any defensive alignment where RB run, QB run and QB pass are all locked down before the ball is even snapped? I'm guessing probably not which is why I see no need for the 'check with me'.

[NCDawg]

There are two main things I want to see Joe and MSU get better right now.

1. Cut out the on the field lack of discipline issues. I'm talking about throat slashes- I think that happened twice this year. Spinning the ball in front of an official. Things that are unnecessary. They're also disrespectful to the game. Actually quit being cocky and arrogant until at least the bowl game and season are over. Finish your job and then get rewarded in January.


2. Do a better job with travel during the bowl season. I'm not sure whose fault that was with the airplane but if it's a result of us being cheap then we need to spend a little extra to correct that. That kind of disorganization I think sort of set the tone during bowl season for us and I believe it cost us a practice or two during bowl prep. Practice that we obviously could have used. We should act like a first class SEC school and not some Sun Belt team that is going to a bowl for the first time in 20 years.

I agree with both of these points-particularly the first. We are not a very disciplined team, and this falls on the Head Coach. I really believe the lack of discipline cost us the Kentucky game. One more point-I wish he get the play off faster and quit making the QB look over at him to see what play he wants to run. I think this delay throws our offense off kilter.

[Todd4State]

3. Quit the 'check with me' crap on every play which disrupts the flow and causes us to snap the ball with only 2 or 3 seconds on the clock.

If we're truly running an RPO, is there any defensive alignment where RB run, QB run and QB pass are all locked down before the ball is even snapped? I'm guessing probably not which is why I see no need for the 'check with me'.


I agree with both of these points-particularly the first. We are not a very disciplined team, and this falls on the Head Coach. I really believe the lack of discipline cost us the Kentucky game. One more point-I wish he get the play off faster and quit making the QB look over at him to see what play he wants to run. I think this delay throws our offense off kilter.

I'm interested to see next year if the offense and the check with me's improve next year with a different QB. Not sure whether they will or not. Lack of discipline not only cost us the Kentucky game- but the Outback Bowl as well.

[BrunswickDawg]

People need to pitch #2 as being something that is anybody at MSU's fault. Planes break down. If you travel with any frequency at all, it happens, and it happens to every single airline and charter service. I'll give you a tip - it happens with charter bus companies too. Frequently. And guess what - neither have a whole lot in the way of back up fleets. Why? Because they need those planes and buses rolling to make money.

Could Cohen have made choice based on money? Possibly. But if you have bid for transportation services, you know that airlines/buses charge more for certain locations based on where their hubs are - just like when you buy a plane ticket. I bet all of you base your travel plans on costs - why shouldn't our AD? If Southwest charged $10k a plane for this trip and normally charges us $5k, and another company offers to do it for $7k then you go with the lesser company. It's not like they decided to be cheap and load them on buses with the band for a 12 hour bus ride. People are just looking for dumb ass reasons to blame people. Grow up.

[Homedawg]

It was a chartered plane. Not a whole lot cheap has to do with it.

[dawgday166]

Add no smack talking before games and no bullshit tweets. And I'd get rid of that ridiculous "dunk contest" when we score a TD. Act like you been there before.

Also be more organized during games. We looked Croom level at times as a staff during games. Those 2 quick TOs in 3rd qtr against Iowa were just plain stupid. And also Joe needs to get better at clock management.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

#2 was due to our Athletic Department being cheap. We went away from our normal charter airlines to a discount charter..should have never happened and threw the whole trip in disarray for two days. We had players scattered from Starkville to Tampa for two days while Iowa was there practicing and participating in Bowl activities.

[BrunswickDawg]

#2 was due to our Athletic Department being cheap. We went away from our normal charter airlines to a discount charter..should have never happened and threw the whole trip in disarray for two days. We had players scattered from Starkville to Tampa for two days while Iowa was there practicing and participating in Bowl activities.

And you know this how?? Yes I know they were scattered. But how do you know what the decision making process was and you know for a fact we did something not normal.

[BrunswickDawg]

Add no smack talking before games and no bullshit tweets. And I'd get rid of that ridiculous "dunk contest" when we score a TD. Act like you been there before.

Also be more organized during games. We looked Croom level at times as a staff during games. Those 2 quick TOs in 3rd qtr against Iowa were just plain stupid. And also Joe needs to get better at clock management.

You do know that the first timeout was because the play clock wasn't set properly and Joe was pushing the refs to stop play and reset it. They didn't. He called TO to avoid a penalty.

[dawgday166]

You do know that the first timeout was because the play clock wasn't set properly and Joe was pushing the refs to stop play and reset it. They didn't. He called TO to avoid a penalty.

No ... I didn't know that so he gets a pass on that one. But overall my recollection is we tended to use TOs too much this year due to not getting play called in time or substitution issues. Gotta clean those up IMO.

[Cooterpoot]

And you know this how?? Yes I know they were scattered. But how do you know what the decision making process was and you know for a fact we did something not normal.

Because they used a no-name charter instead of their usual flight provider. He’s correct. Just like we’ve whacked the hell out of marketing. Cohen has a lot of LT in him when it comes to budgeting.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Because they used a no-name charter instead of their usual flight provider. He’s correct. Just like we’ve whacked the hell out of marketing. Cohen has a lot of LT in him when it comes to budgeting.
They didn?t use a Southwest 737 because 70 of the players met the team in Tampa on their on.

[msstate7]

Did the plane cost us some of our 15 bowl practices? I'm not sure how this is to blame for us losing. We sure have lots of excuses.

[BrunswickDawg]

They didn?t use a Southwest 737 because 70 of the players met the team in Tampa on their on.

This is why I say people don't know jack about the decision making process and how travel is handled.

[Quaoarsking]

And I'd get rid of that ridiculous "dunk contest" when we score a TD. Act like you been there before.

Every team does stuff like that. The players like it and it doesn't hurt anything.

[maroonmania]

I agree with both of these points-particularly the first. We are not a very disciplined team, and this falls on the Head Coach. I really believe the lack of discipline cost us the Kentucky game. One more point-I wish he get the play off faster and quit making the QB look over at him to see what play he wants to run. I think this delay throws our offense off kilter.

Yep, can't help but believe that in this area Mullen being a hardass probably helped.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

As far as running the play clock down every play with the check with me’s, I keep thinking about JoMo saying before the season that we will be a left lane team. Which to me meant we would be wide open on offense and playing at a fast pace. Not puttering along at the speed limit. Maybe I interpreted it wrong.

[TexasDawg]

The biggest change I want to see in our program is losing fans like ShotgunDawg

[Todd4State]

Did the plane cost us some of our 15 bowl practices? I'm not sure how this is to blame for us losing. We sure have lots of excuses.

It did cost us a practice or two. But on top of that I think it took away from the bowl experience for our players and made us look second rate to a bowl that already thinks we're second rate. Losing practice may not be why we lost. But I certainly believe practice helps you win. Especially after a month layoff.

[msstate7]

It did cost us a practice or two. But on top of that I think it took away from the bowl experience for our players and made us look second rate to a bowl that already thinks we're second rate. Losing practice may not be why we lost. But I certainly believe practice helps you win. Especially after a month layoff.
So we got 13-14 practices instead of the 15 allotted?

[Todd4State]

So we got 13-14 practices instead of the 15 allotted?

I suppose.

[tcdog70]

1 learn to snap under center so we can run a sneak
2 no RPO from the ten on in. Call a play with an audible and snap it quickly
3 teach the WR to come back to the ball when the pocket breaks down

[Leeshouldveflanked]

So we got 13-14 practices instead of the 15 allotted?

The majority of the practices at Starkville are for you younger players... then you do the Bowl prep for last 3-4 practices at Starkville, take off a week then you continue with the Bowl prep once you get to destination... so yes it did have an effect on the Bowl prep.

[msstate7]

The majority of the practices at Starkville are for you younger players... then you do the Bowl prep for last 3-4 practices at Starkville, take off a week then you continue with the Bowl prep once you get to destination... so yes it did have an effect on the Bowl prep.

Perhaps it did. I'm just sick of it being fitz, refs, rain, WRs, John Cohen's fault, etc. Always an excuse...

[Todd4State]

Perhaps it did. I'm just sick of it being fitz, refs, rain, WRs, John Cohen's fault, etc. Always an excuse...

So it's OK as long as we just blame everything Moorhead? But I guess since that's who you think is at fault for everything wrong with MSU football it's OK to blame him for everything- which is also an "excuse" in it's own right. And if Cohen is the one who arranges for travel it absolutely is 100% his fault. Or whoever does arrange for travel for MSU.


The practice thing to me isn't about winning or losing. It's about doing things in a first class manner and taking advantage of everything that we are given. Do you see Alabama missing bowl practices because the plane wasn't fit to fly? Do you see that happening to Louisiana Lafayette? Please correct me if I am wrong about that. MSU has a history of questionable travel methods especially in football- busing to La Tech in 2008 and then busing to Oxford on the day of the Egg Bowl in 2012 and 2014. I'm not sure why some of our fans think it's OK to not maximize every opportunity to win off the field. The small details are in part why our program is where it is historically speaking. And if I'm spending as much money as I am on MSU football in terms of tickets, BC donations, and travel I damn well do expect the AD to do everything in a first class manner for our team. And on top of that, our players missed out on some of the bowl activities which to me is an important part of it for them because they are the ones working out in the offseason, practicing, getting hurt, having a lot of their day taken up with football activities- again MSU needs to be first class and not cheap.


If you don't want to hear "excuses" - tell MSU to not do things on an organizational level to create them. And you don't have to worry about Fitz being an "excuse" anymore. Of course if you had any shred of football knowledge you would see that people aren't exactly making "excuses" for him in the first place. Joe can't make him see wide open receivers, not throw screen passes at 100 MPH, make the right read on the zone read option, or make him work on his game instead of hanging out with his girlfriend. But hey- that's all Joe's fault for not adjusting the offense to "fit his personnel" by I guess just calling straight handoffs every time because if people like you knew anything you would see that we already watered down the offense to it's bare bones almost and that's the only option left to simplify the thing.

[1bigdawg]

The practice thing to me isn't about winning or losing. It's about doing things in a first class manner and taking advantage of everything that we are given. Do you see Alabama missing bowl practices because the plane wasn't fit to fly? .

The charter company could and should have sent another plane immediately. Todd is right on this. There is no excuse. Also, this is on the athletic department. not the football coach. I am sure it isn't, but it should be a cause for someone to be fired. I feel like everyone is still too good ole boy for that to happen.

[gravedigger]

I'm interested to see next year if the offense and the check with me's improve next year with a different QB. Not sure whether they will or not. Lack of discipline not only cost us the Kentucky game- but the Outback Bowl as well.

When Penn state offense is running correctly, the check with me is done at 15 seconds and qb is calling for the snap at 12, no later than 10.

[Todd4State]

The charter company could and should have sent another plane immediately. Todd is right on this. There is no excuse. Also, this is on the athletic department. not the football coach. I am sure it isn't, but it should be a cause for someone to be fired. I feel like everyone is still too good ole boy for that to happen.

I don't know that someone at MSU should be fired but we definitely shouldn't use the charter company again. So fire the charter company.


When Penn state offense is running correctly, the check with me is done at 15 seconds and qb is calling for the snap at 12, no later than 10.


This is going to be something I look for next season for sure.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I want to see Moorhead quit being so nice and be a leader, not a friend

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I want to see Moorhead quit being so nice and be a leader, not a friend

So you want him to be Dan Mullen?

[BuckyIsAB****]

So you want him to be Dan Mullen?

Idk where you could get that from out of that statement but no. We all have beaten the Mullen horse to death.

Moorhead has got to learn how to still let them know he cares for them but dont take any shit off of them either.

[maroonmania]

So you want him to be Dan Mullen?

Personally I want him to be whoever he needs to be to get control of his team's actions on the field that are costing us games. Normally people continue on with their unruly behavior until there are consequences to deter it.

[Lord McBuckethead]

As far as running the play clock down every play with the check with me?s, I keep thinking about JoMo saying before the season that we will be a left lane team. Which to me meant we would be wide open on offense and playing at a fast pace. Not puttering along at the speed limit. Maybe I interpreted it wrong.

He putted along at the minimun spped limit at that. Sometimes slower. See penalties and tineouts issue.

[Lord McBuckethead]

I would like to see a WR that thinks they are the best, gets separation because they are the best, and a QB that is always looking his way.
I want a RB that runs with purpose and takes pride in the little things to gain that extra yard or two, like Aeris and Norwood.
I want a QB that looks smooth like Cam Newton, and runs an offense like Brett Farve. Dak was good, but he wasn't a total baller. Runs like Dak, makes people miss like Johnny Football, but throws like Dan Marino.

For real though, I want an offense that looks organized and executes. Something that looks like they have a goal in mind and regularly meets that goal.
I want the defense to be exactly what they were this year, every year.
I also want every one of our players to cut the bullshit attitude and penalties. Act like you have been there before guys. Dang. Have the swag but not the arrogance. You can't come out and act like you are the best and get destroyed by UK, Bama, LSU, and now Iowa.

[NCDawg]

Another thing that I wish Moorhead would tell his QB coach to improve on is the flare passes to the RB. Fitz turns at a 90 degree angle very slowly and aims his pass to the RB out in the flat. The entire defense can see it coming because it is so slow in execution, and they run to tackle the RB. Moorhead should watch how quick Mahomes, the KC QB, gets the ball out to the RB on a flare pass.

[WinningIsRelentless]

I don't know that someone at MSU should be fired but we definitely shouldn't use the charter company again. So fire the charter company.




This is going to be something I look for next season for sure.

You are truly special. You could have easily had a issue with any other charter. You are talking about a piece of equipment with over 100,000 moving parts. You are going to have mechanical issues from time to time.

[Todd4State]

You are truly special. You could have easily had a issue with any other charter. You are talking about a piece of equipment with over 100,000 moving parts. You are going to have mechanical issues from time to time.

I've actually had it happen to me at the airport. The wait wasn't long enough to be the equivalent of a football team losing two practices.

[WinningIsRelentless]

I don't know that someone at MSU should be fired but we definitely shouldn't use the charter company again. So fire the charter company.




This is going to be something I look for next season for sure.


I've actually had it happen to me at the airport. The wait wasn't long enough to be the equivalent of a football team losing two practices.

Have you ever had it happen flying private?

I have and it isn?t a easy fix and we only lost 24 hours. Its part of flying charter when you have mechanical issues. It?s no one?s fault, it?s a act of god!!!

[Todd4State]

Have you ever had it happen flying private?

I have and it isn?t a easy fix and we only lost 24 hours. Its part of flying charter when you have mechanical issues. It?s no one?s fault, it?s a act of god!!!

It shouldn't take them 24 hours to get a new plane when an "act of God" happens.

It is an easy fix- use a different charter service.

[WinningIsRelentless]

It shouldn't take them 24 hours to get a new plane when an "act of God" happens.

It is an easy fix- use a different charter service.

Well it does. It?s not like they have multiple of these 30 and 40 million dollar planes sitting and not being used. Then you have to have pilots who are trained on the planes available and not timed out for the day. So 24 hours is really a quick turn around.

[Homedawg]

It did cost us a practice or two. But on top of that I think it took away from the bowl experience for our players and made us look second rate to a bowl that already thinks we're second rate. Losing practice may not be why we lost. But I certainly believe practice helps you win. Especially after a month layoff.

It Didn't cost us a day on the field, per say, it did cost us some meeting time. And Cohen didn't pick the plane. A good number of players met us there and we took a smaller plane than normal. This had nothing to do with cheap.

[Homedawg]

So it's OK as long as we just blame everything Moorhead? But I guess since that's who you think is at fault for everything wrong with MSU football it's OK to blame him for everything- which is also an "excuse" in it's own right. And if Cohen is the one who arranges for travel it absolutely is 100% his fault. Or whoever does arrange for travel for MSU.


The practice thing to me isn't about winning or losing. It's about doing things in a first class manner and taking advantage of everything that we are given. Do you see Alabama missing bowl practices because the plane wasn't fit to fly? Do you see that happening to Louisiana Lafayette? Please correct me if I am wrong about that. MSU has a history of questionable travel methods especially in football- busing to La Tech in 2008 and then busing to Oxford on the day of the Egg Bowl in 2012 and 2014. I'm not sure why some of our fans think it's OK to not maximize every opportunity to win off the field. The small details are in part why our program is where it is historically speaking. And if I'm spending as much money as I am on MSU football in terms of tickets, BC donations, and travel I damn well do expect the AD to do everything in a first class manner for our team. And on top of that, our players missed out on some of the bowl activities which to me is an important part of it for them because they are the ones working out in the offseason, practicing, getting hurt, having a lot of their day taken up with football activities- again MSU needs to be first class and not cheap.


If you don't want to hear "excuses" - tell MSU to not do things on an organizational level to create them. And you don't have to worry about Fitz being an "excuse" anymore. Of course if you had any shred of football knowledge you would see that people aren't exactly making "excuses" for him in the first place. Joe can't make him see wide open receivers, not throw screen passes at 100 MPH, make the right read on the zone read option, or make him work on his game instead of hanging out with his girlfriend. But hey- that's all Joe's fault for not adjusting the offense to "fit his personnel" by I guess just calling straight handoffs every time because if people like you knew anything you would see that we already watered down the offense to it's bare bones almost and that's the only option left to simplify the thing.

Cohen doesn't arrange travel for ANY sport. Each sport has a staffer in charge of travel. Your speculation on this matter is just wrong.

[Todd4State]

It Didn't cost us a day on the field, per say, it did cost us some meeting time. And Cohen didn't pick the plane. A good number of players met us there and we took a smaller plane than normal. This had nothing to do with cheap.


Cohen doesn't arrange travel for ANY sport. Each sport has a staffer in charge of travel. Your speculation on this matter is just wrong.

I know Cohen doesn't arrange travel for ANY sport but since I don't know who does and he is inevitably in charge of them he's getting named by me. Just like when you screw up an order of fries and McDonald's and the customer blames your supervisor since they don't know who you are. They know the supervisor didn't screw it up personally- but they know that they are in charge of the person that did.

And there is no "speculation" here. Our flight got messed up and it cost us some bowl prep and our players missed some bowl activities. Again it's not "we lost because of the plane". It's this wasn't handled in a first class manner.

[Homedawg]

I know Cohen doesn't arrange travel for ANY sport but since I don't know who does and he is inevitably in charge of them he's getting named by me. Just like when you screw up an order of fries and McDonald's and the customer blames your supervisor since they don't know who you are. They know the supervisor didn't screw it up personally- but they know that they are in charge of the person that did.

And there is no "speculation" here. Our flight got messed up and it cost us some bowl prep and our players missed some bowl activities. Again it's not "we lost because of the plane". It's this wasn't handled in a first class manner.

Well Then, if you are so pissed about it and want to blame someone on staff that a plane broke down, which is absurd, blame moorhead who gave the guy the job to be in charge of travel. Which of course is absurd. But........

Based on your logic why not blame Keemun too while we are at it? He's in charge of the university.

[Todd4State]

Well Then, if you are so pissed about it and want to blame someone on staff that a plane broke down, which is absurd, blame moorhead who gave the guy the job to be in charge of travel. Which of course is absurd. But........

Based on your logic why not blame Keemun too while we are at it? He's in charge of the university.

I would blame Keenum if I didn't know who the AD was.

And like I said- it's an easy fix. Use a different charter next time. And I bet we do. Not saying anyone should be fired or blamed other than the charter service. Really odd that any MSU fan would defend the charter service in this case. I guess you don't want our players to enjoy their entire bowl trip which they earned?

[Homedawg]

I would blame Keenum if I didn't know who the AD was.

And like I said- it's an easy fix. Use a different charter next time. And I bet we do. Not saying anyone should be fired or blamed other than the charter service. Really odd that any MSU fan would defend the charter service in this case. I guess you don't want our players to enjoy their entire bowl trip which they earned?

Well you know who the head coach is. He's responsible for football. Blame him. Which again is stupid. Your argument about it not being first class is just beyond absurd. It wasn't like we were flying commercial. And no I'm not defending the charter company. But guess what? Shit happens. And I am defending the people who didn't have one thing to do with a plane leaving the ground. And essentially the only thing we missed was a night in a hotel. Inconvenient? Yes. But otherwise you are making a mountain out of a molehill. Especially since this is one of the improvements you want to see. Not on the list of important

[Todd4State]

Well you know who the head coach is. He's responsible for football. Blame him. Which again is stupid. Your argument about it not being first class is just beyond absurd. It wasn't like we were flying commercial. And no I'm not defending the charter company. But guess what? Shit happens. And I am defending the people who didn't have one thing to do with a plane leaving the ground. And essentially the only thing we missed was a night in a hotel. Inconvenient? Yes. But otherwise you are making a mountain out of a molehill. Especially since this is one of the improvements you want to see. Not on the list of important

I disagree. I think it's very important to be first class in everything that you do. Again- "shit happens" but has this ever happened to Alabama? Or ULL? It's the small details that differentiate programs.

[Homedawg]

I disagree. I think it's very important to be first class in everything that you do. Again- "shit happens" but has this ever happened to Alabama? Or ULL? It's the small details that differentiate programs.

Where did I say being first class wasn't important??? I didn't. I said this mishap had nothing to do with being first class. Again, we were flying charter. We weren't going lowlife. As for the bama and ULL reference, I have no idea. But I'm positive we aren't the first p5 program that had a bad charter experience. Again absurd.

[Todd4State]

Where did I say being first class wasn't important??? I didn't. I said this mishap had nothing to do with being first class. Again, we were flying charter. We weren't going lowlife. As for the bama and ULL reference, I have no idea. But I'm positive we aren't the first p5 program that had a bad charter experience. Again absurd.

You absolutely are saying that being first class isn't important if you defending the people that screwed up in your lame attempt to make this sound not that important. However I heard that Cohen AND Joe were pissed about it so I guess it was important to them. But you can tell them how "absurd" they were being about it. Instead of using Southwest we used a charter called Miami Air and that was a mistake period. Whoever you want to blame. But I bet it doesn't happen again no matter how "absurd" you think it is.

[Homedawg]

You absolutely are saying that being first class isn't important if you defending the people that screwed up in your lame attempt to make this sound not that important. However I heard that Cohen AND Joe were pissed about it so I guess it was important to them. But you can tell them how "absurd" they were being about it. Instead of using Southwest we used a charter called Miami Air and that was a mistake period. Whoever you want to blame. But I bet it doesn't happen again no matter how "absurd" you think it is.

Whatever dude. Have fun.

[WinningIsRelentless]

You absolutely are saying that being first class isn't important if you defending the people that screwed up in your lame attempt to make this sound not that important. However I heard that Cohen AND Joe were pissed about it so I guess it was important to them. But you can tell them how "absurd" they were being about it. Instead of using Southwest we used a charter called Miami Air and that was a mistake period. Whoever you want to blame. But I bet it doesn't happen again no matter how "absurd" you think it is.

Miami Air isn?t a small operation.

[BrunswickDawg]

You absolutely are saying that being first class isn't important if you defending the people that screwed up in your lame attempt to make this sound not that important. However I heard that Cohen AND Joe were pissed about it so I guess it was important to them. But you can tell them how "absurd" they were being about it. Instead of using Southwest we used a charter called Miami Air and that was a mistake period. Whoever you want to blame. But I bet it doesn't happen again no matter how "absurd" you think it is.

Miami Air's New Slogan: "Good enough for the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers, but not good enough for MSU."

[Political Hack]

1) our brand is shrinking. It was growing. I was a fan of the Cohen hire and did not have a high opinion of Strick (too soft), but Strick makes Cohen look like a rookie when it comes to fund raising and marketing.

2) Team discipline is the worst it's been since Jackie Wayne.

3) you can't call a play call with 5 seconds left in the play clock and not allow your QB a chance to scan the field pre-snap.

4) RTGDF with RBs.

5) Tweak the system to your personnel, at least a little, every single season. You need knew wrinkles and this helps create that and gets your players in the best position to win. The reluctance to make changes at times this year reminded me of Croom a little. And that's scary.

6) JoMo needs to be who he is. When fans were pissed he wasn't showing enough "fire" he came out the next game and looked "fake mad" (at least to me it looked forced). This isn't an acting contest. It's not a PR stunt. Just coach football to the best of your ability and tell the fans to deal with it while you try to win games.

7) if your offense depends on the deep ball to work, you'd better throw it in practice until it works. If it doesn't work, you'd better find someone who can make it work.

8) Related to #2, hold your team leaders accountable. Our team leader, who was already no-contact last spring got suspended for game 1. What in ever loving hell!?!?! Inexcusable as a player. Unacceptable. That's a locker room killer out the gate for the entire spring and week 1. Low and behold we fail our first two major tests in SEC play. We weren't ready.

9) Tell the SEC they can kiss our Mississippi Mud if they ever try to group us with Ole Miss ever again. A dumpster fire of a program under constant investigation that's trying to actively hurt our student-athletes (physically (Fitz) & legally (Leo)) causes 99% of the problems in the rivalry. Their actions resulted in us getting called to the commissioners office because things got heated on the field. Cohen should've declined the meeting with Sankey and invited him to a one in one sit down. Under no circumstance are we behaving like them. Not on the field. Not out on the town. Not at the police station. Not in the classroom. Not in recruiting. And not in brothels.

[Prediction? Pain.]

2) Team discipline is the worst it's been since Jackie Wayne.

For those of you who've coached football, what do y'all think most affects team discipline? Is it straight-up coaching? Are some groups of players just better at it than others? Or is it an unpredictable mix of both?

I ask because all the discipline talk spurred me to look up penalty stats and I'm not sure if I can make heads or tails out of them. If I was to venture a guess based on numbers alone, I'd say this group of players seemed to just be a little worse at on-field discipline than other groups we've seen in the past decade. But I'm not sure that squares with all the numbers.

So here are our SEC ranks in penalties per game and penalty yards per game in SEC play since 2009:

2009 - 1st, 1st
2010 - 1st, 1st
2011 - 4th, 4th
2012 - 1st, 5th
2013 - 2nd, 2nd
2014 - 7th, 4th
2015 - 2nd, 4th
2016 - 5th, 8th
2017 - 7th, 7th
2018 - 7th, 8th

So the last three years have been markedly different from the previous seven. Maybe it's a little more a function of this specific group of dudes?

But then if you look at national penalty-yards-per-penalty stats, the recent numbers are more variable (and this excludes games against FCS opponents):

2009 - 22nd
2010 - 32nd
2011 - 23rd
2012 - 53rd
2013 - 27th
2014 - 5th
2015 - 108th
2016 - 84th
2017 - 64th
2018 - 47th

Now, keep in mind that the yards-per-penalty range is fairly small, usually between 7 and 11 yards per penalty each year. So unless you're in the top or bottom part of the range in a given year, the relative rank may not mean too much. Still, it's surprising to see the drop from Mullen's first six years and his last three. Equally surprising to see the relatively good number this year (borderline top third nationally) given that our penalties per game and penalty yards per game were unchanged from the past couple of years. But maybe the addition of 4 non-con games to the mix -- 3 FBS non-cons in the regular season and 1 in each year's bowl -- made a big difference some years, including this one. I don't know.

Oh, and just in case anyone was on the fence about whether we seem to get hosed an abnormal amount year after year, here are national ranks for opponents' penalties and penalty-yards-per game:

2009 - 116th, 117th
2010 - 72nd, 87th
2011 - 55th, 46th
2012 - 102nd, 87th
2013 - 92nd, 85th
2014 - 119th, 122nd
2015 - 115th, 114th
2016 - 109th, 118th
2017 - 107th, 79th
2018 - 123rd, 127th

Same goes for SEC-only stats. Since 2009, we've been ranked 10th or lower in the SEC in SEC opponents' penalties per game seven times.

Hail State, y'all!

[Political Hack]

Holy hell. Nobody ever commits penalties against us!!!!

Penalties is certainly one measure, but arrests, suspensions, social media, and locker room commitment are tougher to measure. This team seemed to be lost at times this year and was undisciplined in key moments (drops show lack of focus, etc... in addition to penalties).

Looking at the improvement the team made after a couple of years under a new staff gives me hopes that it's just an adjustment phase with a new staff.

[Jarius]

1) our brand is shrinking. It was growing. I was a fan of the Cohen hire and did not have a high opinion of Strick (too soft), but Strick makes Cohen look like a rookie when it comes to fund raising and marketing.

2) Team discipline is the worst it's been since Jackie Wayne.

3) you can't call a play call with 5 seconds left in the play clock and not allow your QB a chance to scan the field pre-snap.

4) RTGDF with RBs.

5) Tweak the system to your personnel, at least a little, every single season. You need knew wrinkles and this helps create that and gets your players in the best position to win. The reluctance to make changes at times this year reminded me of Croom a little. And that's scary.

6) JoMo needs to be who he is. When fans were pissed he wasn't showing enough "fire" he came out the next game and looked "fake mad" (at least to me it looked forced). This isn't an acting contest. It's not a PR stunt. Just coach football to the best of your ability and tell the fans to deal with it while you try to win games.

7) if your offense depends on the deep ball to work, you'd better throw it in practice until it works. If it doesn't work, you'd better find someone who can make it work.

8) Related to #2, hold your team leaders accountable. Our team leader, who was already no-contact last spring got suspended for game 1. What in ever loving hell!?!?! Inexcusable as a player. Unacceptable. That's a locker room killer out the gate for the entire spring and week 1. Low and behold we fail our first two major tests in SEC play. We weren't ready.

9) Tell the SEC they can kiss our Mississippi Mud if they ever try to group us with Ole Miss ever again. A dumpster fire of a program under constant investigation that's trying to actively hurt our student-athletes (physically (Fitz) & legally (Leo)) causes 99% of the problems in the rivalry. Their actions resulted in us getting called to the commissioners office because things got heated on the field. Cohen should've declined the meeting with Sankey and invited him to a one in one sit down. Under no circumstance are we behaving like them. Not on the field. Not out on the town. Not at the police station. Not in the classroom. Not in recruiting. And not in brothels.

On point 3, I know you're off because the qb at Penn State was able to do it just fine (and the qb everywhere else he has been). We did not have the personnel to run what he wanted to run and he had ZERO clue how to adapt his offense. Snapping the ball too late had nothing to do with our issues on offense. The rest of your points look pretty fair to me.