Fantastic Matt Wyatt/Mason Miller Interview Today....

[ShotgunDawg]

As a football nut, this is the best Leach staff interview I've seen yet.

I love what Matt brings to the radio. I don't agree with all his opinions, but am super appreciative that he talks football. He actually talks Xs & Os & about football. Not about hype.

Enjoy!

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[ShotgunDawg]

To add, & this is very premature & we'll have to see if his OL is worth a crap, but Miller is the 1st MSU assistant in a long time that I think may have real head coach presence. He has a good mix of intensity, savvy, & likability.

IDK, something about his demeanor really stood out to me here.

Just throw that in your back pocket for hopefully a bunch of years.

[confucius say]

I'm hoping that so much of this staff having been together the past few years (everybody on the offensive side I believe) will speed up the process. A lot of times, new staffs have to learn each other and work on that dynamic in addition to learning their players.

I don't think OM or Ark has that staff continuity, so hopefully that will hive is an edge there.

[ShotgunDawg]

I'm hoping that so much of this staff having been together the past few years (everybody on the offensive side I believe) will speed up the process. A lot of times, new staffs have to learn each other and work on that dynamic in addition to learning their players.

I don't think OM or Ark has that staff continuity, so hopefully that will hive is an edge there.

Agree & I think you'll see that.

What I've noticed in particular is that things usually work significantly better when the offensive coordinator/play caller has coached with the OL coach & they are on the same page.

Obviously also adding the WR coaches to is outstanding.

You know everyone is already on the same page.

[ShotgunDawg]

I don't think OM or Ark has that staff continuity, so hopefully that will hive is an edge there.

Very much agree & Joe didn't have much continuity either. He did bring Huff, but again, to me the most important relationship is the offensive coordinator & OL coach.

If you can't block, nothing will work.

[Todd4State]

Agree & I think you'll see that.

What I've noticed in particular is that things usually work significantly better when the offensive coordinator/play caller has coached with the OL coach & they are on the same page.

Obviously also adding the WR coaches to is outstanding.

You know everyone is already on the same page.

It's worth noting that Leach also coached offensive line at one point in time in his career.


Very much agree & Joe didn't have much continuity either. He did bring Huff, but again, to me the most important relationship is the offensive coordinator & OL coach.

If you can't block, nothing will work.

I do think that if Moorhead had brought in the OL coach from Penn State that he was friends with it may have helped. And he should have brought in Joe Brady as well to coach QB's. Hindsight of course. I do wonder why he was unable to bring those people with him or why he chose not to bring Brady with him? Breiner didn't do very well at Fordham when he took over as the HC there. We also should have invested in an experienced special teams coach too.

[SmokeyDawg]

I'll get around to listening but I've run into coach Miller several times and I love having that guy in Starkville. Genuine, down to earth, blue collared, joy to be around.

[Harrydawg]

Miller has an awesome story from being a HS football coach in GA where he meat Leach......

Super guy and heck of a FB coach.

[smootness]

And he should have brought in Joe Brady as well to coach QB's. Hindsight of course. I do wonder why he was unable to bring those people with him or why he chose not to bring Brady with him?

Brady was an assistant with the Saints when Moorhead was hired. He may have tried but I doubt Brady would have taken MSU QB coach over that.

[Coach34]

Cant wait to see our OL play in space

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Brady was an assistant with the Saints when Moorhead was hired. He may have tried but I doubt Brady would have taken MSU QB coach over that.

It's so funny because he did interview Brady. His name was even brought up & our fans bitched & complained about him hiring all these guys from the NFL & not from the south. The complaining from that hire would've been louder than it was for Breiner.

[RiverCityDawg]

Cant wait to see our OL play in space

C34 over here waiting for the first time we lose and don't score 30 like a kid waits for Christmas. I'm ready for "Monday morning after - I told you our interior line would get whipped - edition", like we've never gotten whipped up front by the elite defenses we faced before.

[Walkerhill]

It's so funny because he did interview Brady. His name was even brought up & our fans bitched & complained about him hiring all these guys from the NFL & not from the south. The complaining from that hire would've been louder than it was for Breiner.

I doubt that. Breiner had the thinnest resume for an SEC coach I have ever seen.

It was not just the limited experience or the level of play, it was that the Fordham program moved substantially backward in just 2 years under him. That was always suspicious. If the play was for him to be an analyst, okay, but to take one of the staff spots on the basis that basically Joe trusted him and would do most of the offense/qb coaching himself was ... kind of Mickey Mouse stuff. I thought Joe would be great at first, but that was a early eyebrow-raising sign for me.

Hubris on Joe’s part.

[Pennywise]

To add, & this is very premature & we'll have to see if his OL is worth a crap, but Miller is the 1st MSU assistant in a long time that I think may have real head coach presence. He has a good mix of intensity, savvy, & likability.

IDK, something about his demeanor really stood out to me here.

Just throw that in your back pocket for hopefully a bunch of years.

Remember that Mason has been a Head Coach before and Asst HC twice before (and an OC). If Leach put up impressive offenses with Miller here at MSU you never know how high Miller might can rise eventually.

And with all the good continuity we've noticed within the offensive coach staff is there an inverse level of concern with the defense?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I doubt that. Breiner had the thinnest resume for an SEC coach I have ever seen.

Breiner had been a HC for 2 years & an OC for 4 years before that. Albeit at the FCS level. Brady at the time had been a LB coach for 2yrs at a D2 school, a GA for 2 years & an assistant to the assistants for 1 year with the Saints. Breiner resume was tons better. We killed him for hiring Breiner it would've been 10x worse for hiring some 28yr old kid who was his GA at Penn St.

[confucius say]

C34 over here waiting for the first time we lose and don't score 30 like a kid waits for Christmas. I'm ready for "Monday morning after - I told you our interior line would get whipped - edition", like we've never gotten whipped up front by the elite defenses we faced before.

I would venture to guess that we will have less sacks per called pass play than we had this past season. We'll see

[Walkerhill]

Breiner had been a HC for 2 years & an OC for 4 years before that. Albeit at the FCS level. Brady at the time had been a LB coach for 2yrs at a D2 school, a GA for 2 years & an assistant to the assistants for 1 year with the Saints. Breiner resume was tons better. We killed him for hiring Breiner it would've been 10x worse for hiring some 28yr old kid who was his GA at Penn St.

Agree to disagree. A lot of respect for you IYOK.

The Saints stint makes the difference for me, just based on Sean Payton rep. You are probably right people would have bitched about either. We have some fans who bitch about hiring freaking Mike Leach despite his track record so ...

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Agree to disagree. A lot of respect for you IYOK.

The Saints stint makes the difference for me, just based on Sean Payton rep. You are probably right people would have bitched about either. We have some fans who bitch about hiring freaking Mike Leach despite his track record so ...

I get what you're saying & if he would've been on the staff as a QB coach or WR coach it wouldn't have been as much complaining. He was just an asst to the assts. In college terms he was a quality control coach & that was just 1 season. The 2yrs before that he was a GA at Penn St. Fans would've crucified Joe for that hire.

[RiverCityDawg]

I would venture to guess that we will have less sacks per called pass play than we had this past season. We'll see

Oh yeah, I would bet the farm on that one.

[Coach34]

C34 over here waiting for the first time we lose and don't score 30 like a kid waits for Christmas. I'm ready for "Monday morning after - I told you our interior line would get whipped - edition", like we've never gotten whipped up front by the elite defenses we faced before.

Actually Socrates- not at all. I would love for it to work because as an old Veer/Option guy I would like to incorporate it into my offense. But until I see it work in the SEC- I disagree with the philosophy.

[confucius say]

Actually Socrates- not at all. I would love for it to work because as an old Veer/Option guy I would like to incorporate it into my offense. But until I see it work in the SEC- I disagree with the philosophy.

Watching the auburn-WSU game linked in the other thread, I think the wide splits def work better with air raid concepts as opposed to a difference scheme because the ball usually comes out fast and in rhythm. Plus I never saw more than 6 in the box so there is less concern about OL combo blocking up to the next level. We'll see how it works.

[R2Dawg]

Cant wait to see our OL play in space

Cross is so fast, he was made for that kind of setup. He could do some special things at LT in this O.

[Coach34]

Watching the auburn-WSU game linked in the other thread, I think the wide splits def work better with air raid concepts as opposed to a difference scheme because the ball usually comes out fast and in rhythm. Plus I never saw more than 6 in the box so there is less concern about OL combo blocking up to the next level. We'll see how it works.

Auburn was 13th in the SEC in Pass D and 10 in the SEC vs the run

Today you are seeing much more man underneath coverages because of RPOs- which in turn makes it harder to get the ball out as quickly. As I say- I want to see it work.

[Coach34]

Cross is so fast, he was made for that kind of setup. He could do some special things at LT in this O.

He has great feet- no doubt about it

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

Coach34....did you ever spill the beans about where you?ll be coaching this coming season?

[Coach34]

Coach34....did you ever spill the beans about where you?ll be coaching this coming season?

Not until the contract is signed. I will say I was headed back to Louisiana originally but got cold feet and didnt feel good about the job. Backed out at the end.

I'll be coaching in one of the top districts top to bottom in the state this Fall

[Avelso]

Would someone tell Matt how much his podcast crowd would grow if he added the content to his bio each day instead of hour 1 and hour 2.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Actually Socrates- not at all. I would love for it to work because as an old Veer/Option guy I would like to incorporate it into my offense. But until I see it work in the SEC- I disagree with the philosophy.

The wide splits has it positives and negatives for both the offense and defense. Its going to make it a lot harder for dlines to run twist and slants. If the qb is good with his cadence that will be another added advantage for the oline if they are outmanned head up.

[msu15]

Actually Socrates- not at all. I would love for it to work because as an old Veer/Option guy I would like to incorporate it into my offense. But until I see it work in the SEC- I disagree with the philosophy.

LOL, I'll trust guys that have actually been there and done that over you.

[Prediction? Pain.]

Watching the auburn-WSU game linked in the other thread, I think the wide splits def work better with air raid concepts as opposed to a difference scheme because the ball usually comes out fast and in rhythm. Plus I never saw more than 6 in the box so there is less concern about OL combo blocking up to the next level. We'll see how it works.


Auburn was 13th in the SEC in Pass D and 10 in the SEC vs the run

Today you are seeing much more man underneath coverages because of RPOs- which in turn makes it harder to get the ball out as quickly. As I say- I want to see it work.

Though Auburn's D in 2013 was definitely about as weak a unit as there's been for an SEC champion in the past decade, it wasn't a joke or anything. It was still mega talented (especially compared to WSU's bottom-of-the-PAC-12-barrel talent pool), was ranked between 50th and 25th or so nationally in advanced efficiency stats, and was top 3 in the SEC in sacks, TFLs, and passes defended. (Looking back at the stats, I see that 2013 was Dee Ford's senior season. Damn, that dude was a beast.) Not among the SEC's best that year for sure. But serviceable.

As much as I liked seeing proof that an untalented offense early in a Leach regime could compete for a full game against an SEC blue blood, though, it was still only one game seven seasons ago. No doubt defenses have evolved. I too am stoked to see how this is going to work. It's going to be so unlike anything I've ever seen at State that I imagine it's going to take some time for me to even get used to. The air raid is happening at MSU. Wild, wild stuff, man.

(As I mentioned in the other thread, I was just as interested to see Leach's offense's methodical pace as the talent match-ups. At least in 2013, this was not a hurry-up offense. Bill C. has an "adjusted pace" stat that basically adjusts a offense's pace based on its run/pass selection. WSU's adjusted paced was 85th nationally in 2013.)

But hey, no worries regardless on the splits issue. Since our O-line had the 11th worst sack rate in the entire country last year -- that's right; 119th out of 130 -- our pass protection quite literally can't get much worse this year. Hi oh!

[confucius say]

Auburn was 13th in the SEC in Pass D and 10 in the SEC vs the run

Today you are seeing much more man underneath coverages because of RPOs- which in turn makes it harder to get the ball out as quickly. As I say- I want to see it work.

That auburn D line had nfl guys all over it. Adams, Lawson, and Ford to name a few. Not sure what more you want in terms of whether wide splits can work against great sec d linemen.

Regardless, leach runs zero RPO, and even if teams decide to play man (which i think several will), in theory the ball should come out quicker against man. The reads are cleaner and there is no traffic. Plus there is often pressure in man which necessitates getting the ball out on time.

Now whether the receiver will be open or will catch the ball against tight man is an entirely different issue. I'm much less worried about pass pro than I am wr play. Our OL will get beat at times, but not any worse than it did last year with normal splits.