Todd4State
11-24-2023, 03:03 PM
The first and most imperative thing to me is the product on the field needs to be taken care of. Defensively and special teams wise in general we have been OK or even really really good over they years at times. We need to continue to stay aggressive on defense and create havoc. It's fun to watch aggressive defenses create havoc and I've loved that since the days of Buddy Ryan doing that with the Chicago Bears in 1985. Special Teams we have neglected at times but as Jackie Sherrill showed us in 1998 a good special teams unit can help you win games. We need a coach that will emphasize special teams to help us have an advantage over other SEC teams.
Now on offense. Traditionally MSU has been run first blue collar. This has worked with sporadic and usually average results to bad results. MSU was building with the Air Raid and unfortunately we never quite got to see the finished product there. A QB that is more willing to push the ball down the field more and better more athletic receivers like MSU has been accumulating would have led to a more explosive offense. It's also pretty boring to run the ball for three yards and a cloud of dust. Our fans were OK with boring because they felt we had no choice but for it to be that way but football has changed and while I don't think the running game will ever completely die out passing is becoming more and more prevalent in the game and it's more exciting in general because by nature you are going to get more explosive plays and you're going to give yourself more opportunities to score and therefore more points. Something like Jeff Lebby's offense seems perfect. There is an emphasis on passing down the field and it is an offshoot of the Air Raid. At the same time there is a distinct running component to the offense so those RTDB fans aren't completely left out while everyone else is having fun scoring points. The best offenses I have ever seen in my life in no particular order- the West Coast offense run by Bill Walsh, the Air Coryell, the Air Raid, the Run and Shoot, the Fun and Gun, and I'll go ahead and add the Veer and Shoot- all have one thing in common besides being fun and scoring tons of points- they all liked to pass the ball. Now I do like me some good old fashioned service Academy football and triple option games from time to time but I also think that Volkswagen Beetles are cute too. I personally drive a Mustang. The offenses I mentioned are the muscle cars of football for you Camaro and Charger fans. MSU needs to drive out on the field in a Mustang instead of the Ford Focus offense it put out there under Barbay.
Recruiting- we need to recruit Mississippi hard still and we also need to use the portal much better. Last night the thing that stood out to me was that even though Ole Miss had all of these portal guys because the Egg Bowl meant so much to our guys we almost beat them on sheer state pride alone. Meanwhile Kiffin has to "teach" his guys about the rivalry. So we need someone that can actually clean up the state and we need someone that can get more of the 4-5 star in state players to come to MSU. Now we do need to use the portal- but it should be to fill holes rather than build an entire team with it. But the core group still needs to be from Mississippi. MSU needs to probably double what it invests in recruiting currently and expand the recruiting staff. We also need to do things to promote our recruiting accomplishments better. We're almost embarrassed if we land a high profile recruit. Of course NIL is a huge part of this and Charlie has done and will continue to do an outstanding job with that.
S&C- can't ignore this. Jackie, Dan, and Leach all understood and got this. Not sure why it dropped off but I have a feeling the coaching staff not holding people accountable was a big reason.
Fan stuff- Bring back the 1998 logo permanently. Fans, players, everyone not named Larry Templeton love it. Improve Gameday. Make sure The Junction is safe. Move the faculty to the upper deck if they're going to sell their tickets on the secondary market. Do whatever it takes to make MSU the best in the SEC as far as environment goes.
Looking forward to much better days! Hail State!
Now on offense. Traditionally MSU has been run first blue collar. This has worked with sporadic and usually average results to bad results. MSU was building with the Air Raid and unfortunately we never quite got to see the finished product there. A QB that is more willing to push the ball down the field more and better more athletic receivers like MSU has been accumulating would have led to a more explosive offense. It's also pretty boring to run the ball for three yards and a cloud of dust. Our fans were OK with boring because they felt we had no choice but for it to be that way but football has changed and while I don't think the running game will ever completely die out passing is becoming more and more prevalent in the game and it's more exciting in general because by nature you are going to get more explosive plays and you're going to give yourself more opportunities to score and therefore more points. Something like Jeff Lebby's offense seems perfect. There is an emphasis on passing down the field and it is an offshoot of the Air Raid. At the same time there is a distinct running component to the offense so those RTDB fans aren't completely left out while everyone else is having fun scoring points. The best offenses I have ever seen in my life in no particular order- the West Coast offense run by Bill Walsh, the Air Coryell, the Air Raid, the Run and Shoot, the Fun and Gun, and I'll go ahead and add the Veer and Shoot- all have one thing in common besides being fun and scoring tons of points- they all liked to pass the ball. Now I do like me some good old fashioned service Academy football and triple option games from time to time but I also think that Volkswagen Beetles are cute too. I personally drive a Mustang. The offenses I mentioned are the muscle cars of football for you Camaro and Charger fans. MSU needs to drive out on the field in a Mustang instead of the Ford Focus offense it put out there under Barbay.
Recruiting- we need to recruit Mississippi hard still and we also need to use the portal much better. Last night the thing that stood out to me was that even though Ole Miss had all of these portal guys because the Egg Bowl meant so much to our guys we almost beat them on sheer state pride alone. Meanwhile Kiffin has to "teach" his guys about the rivalry. So we need someone that can actually clean up the state and we need someone that can get more of the 4-5 star in state players to come to MSU. Now we do need to use the portal- but it should be to fill holes rather than build an entire team with it. But the core group still needs to be from Mississippi. MSU needs to probably double what it invests in recruiting currently and expand the recruiting staff. We also need to do things to promote our recruiting accomplishments better. We're almost embarrassed if we land a high profile recruit. Of course NIL is a huge part of this and Charlie has done and will continue to do an outstanding job with that.
S&C- can't ignore this. Jackie, Dan, and Leach all understood and got this. Not sure why it dropped off but I have a feeling the coaching staff not holding people accountable was a big reason.
Fan stuff- Bring back the 1998 logo permanently. Fans, players, everyone not named Larry Templeton love it. Improve Gameday. Make sure The Junction is safe. Move the faculty to the upper deck if they're going to sell their tickets on the secondary market. Do whatever it takes to make MSU the best in the SEC as far as environment goes.
Looking forward to much better days! Hail State!