IYOK...

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

Have seen a hint here and there of what direction you would like to see MSU go going forward. I think all of us would like to see a State of the State type post from you on what your thoughts are of the season so far, thoughts on the players, coaches, etc. and most importantly where you stand on what you'd like to see going forward after the season and then what you actually think may happen after the season.

I for one, and I think I can speak for many others, enjoy reading your posts and would like to get your thoughts on the topics I mentioned above.

thanks

[Commercecomet24]

I second that

[gtowndawg]

I third that

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I appreciate the love but there's others on the board with much more knowledge & info than me. Concerning the program I think we all see that this season has been a disaster. For all the woulda coulda shoulda 1 play away at some point you have to realize you are what your record say you are. Good teams find a way to win & bad teams find a way to lose. We see what side of the coin we are this year. Sometimes team pull out a close game & they go on a run because they found a pull out a tough game. Well this year this team went the other way. After the South Alabama gam every close game at the win we just can't find a way to make that play to get the W.

As far as players there are some guys that you can tell are playing better & some who haven't for whatever reason.

OFFENSE

I think we're seeing the rawness & lack of reps from Fitz. He shows flashes of being really good then he makes a bad read on the option or stares down a WR on a pass. I think Fitz will be solid but we're having to go through the growing pains. My hope is Tiano & Keytaon push him in the spring so we won't feel like he can coast going into next season.
The rest of this year I would love to see Aeris & Gibson as the primary backs. We have to see if they can carry the load next year. Simple as that. Kylin is more physically ready than any HS back we've signed. The key will be mentally.
We're set at Slot WR for the rest of this year & the foreseeable future with Dear & Mixon. What I do want to see from those 2 are more routes down the field. Esp Mixon he's tailor made for the option routes that we used to run with Bump & Tubby. At outside WR need to see what Jesse & Couch can do. Esp Couch I like what I've seen from him. Next year an outside rotation of Gray, Couch, Todd, & Stephen Guidry will be very solid IMO.
OL. What hasn't been said about the OL. No need to harp on it. They haven't been good. Something has to change & we all know what.

DEFENSE

There has been some bits & pieces of hope with the young guys. Simmons, Spencer, F. Adams, & Thomas all have flashed talent. The next step is becoming consistent playmakers. The talent is there just have to do it every down. Bringing in Pope & Autry next year along with Kobe coming off his RS. Again a lot of talent. A lot of guys with a lot of SEC offers. Time to show it.
LB a little good mostly bad. Richie just hasn't looked comfortable all year in the 3-4. Gray & Ward give you what they've got but are limited. Leo is our next stud LB. He will be even better next year. I'm excited to see Erroll Thompson next season. He looks like a 3-4 ILB & when he hits you you go down. We'll take a Juco MLB also I suspect for depth & just in case Erroll isn't ready for the f/t job. At the Star I know JT will be back but Willie Gay there's your playing time. It's waiting for you come get it. At the Viper I let Sweat & Gerri fly off the edge. It's time for Gerri to be the player we know he can be. I don't know what the issue is but he has to play like a star.
CB again not a lot to say. I think Durr has been solid. I think we have to keep Jamal there just to give a sense of home & comfort. Jamal is in position most of the time he just doesn't know what he's doing yet. A full spring & summer playing only CB I think he will be fine. Cam Dantzler will be in the rotation next year mark it down & may start. Remember I said this. I would also be putting the full court press on Keisean Nixon from Arizona Western I think he is that good.
Safeties unless Brandon Bryant play matches his physical tools we won't be as good as we can on defense. He has 1st rd talent but he has taken a huge step back so far this season. McLaurin has made some plays & missed some plays. Just has to keep getting reps. Smitherman has started getting some more playing time but too early to know what we have. Where he plays next year I think depend on how we close with the Juco Safeties & CB.

COACHING

It's no surprise I want Mullen back. I think he's the guy for the job agree or disagree that's fine. I don't see anyone else out there available that can do better than Mullen. Yes he needs to come out after the season & say this season was unacceptable & won't be tolerated. He needs to say he's 100% committed to MSU & is planning on being here for another 10yrs. After he makes that statement he needs to announce that he is letting Hev & Sallach go. Thank them for all they've done but it's time to move in another direction. If he decides to let Knox go too I can understand. As far as who would get 1st calls if it would me I'd go

TE Coach - Brad Peterson. I think Brad is a very good coach but I also think he would do a good job on the recruiting trail. He's also very smart, intense, & gets the most out of his guys. He's also not a guy who would just agree with Mullen just to agree.
OL Coach - Will Friend. Currently the OC/OL Coach at Colorado St. Will is a MS guy but he's coached in the SEC (UGA). He has experience coaching in the south but also experience helping put together an offensive game plan & he's a pretty darn good OL Coach.
RB Coach - Robert Gillespie. Currently the RB Coach at Tennessee. Again another MS guy who's coached at big time programs. Before he was at TN he coached at West Virginia, Oklahoma St, & South Carolina. He also played ball at Florida. He's a very very good recruiter & also a good RB coach.

These are just who my 1st calls would go to but I'm sure there are a lot of other talented coaches out there. Sorry for the length but I got to rambling.

[BrunswickDawg]

From Dan's mouth** to Dan's ear. Let's hope Dan listens to Dan.

[Commercecomet24]

You can keep rambling, love hearing your thoughts and analysis. Thank you for you info, appreciate it!

[Coursesuper]

Will' dad is also back in vegas now. That's a great call on him.

[Lloyd Christmas]

It's no surprise I want Mullen back. I think he's the guy for the job agree or disagree that's fine.

Just playing devil's advocate: Would you still feel this way if we lost to Samford this weekend?

[AROB44]

Do you think a change needs to be made in the strength and conditioning position?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Just playing devil's advocate: Would you still feel this way if we lost to Samford this weekend?

It would give me pause but yes as long as he done all those things as soon as the year was over.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Do you think a change needs to be made in the strength and conditioning position?

I can't speak on the S&C Coach but the guys don't look out of shape or their physiques any less they're just playing worse.

[basedog]

I appreciate the love but there's others on the board with much more knowledge & info than me. Concerning the program I think we all see that this season has been a disaster. For all the woulda coulda shoulda 1 play away at some point you have to realize you are what your record say you are. Good teams find a way to win & bad teams find a way to lose. We see what side of the coin we are this year. Sometimes team pull out a close game & they go on a run because they found a pull out a tough game. Well this year this team went the other way. After the South Alabama gam every close game at the win we just can't find a way to make that play to get the W.

As far as players there are some guys that you can tell are playing better & some who haven't for whatever reason.

OFFENSE

I think we're seeing the rawness & lack of reps from Fitz. He shows flashes of being really good then he makes a bad read on the option or stares down a WR on a pass. I think Fitz will be solid but we're having to go through the growing pains. My hope is Tiano & Keytaon push him in the spring so we won't feel like he can coast going into next season.
The rest of this year I would love to see Aeris & Gibson as the primary backs. We have to see if they can carry the load next year. Simple as that. Kylin is more physically ready than any HS back we've signed. The key will be mentally.
We're set at Slot WR for the rest of this year & the foreseeable future with Dear & Mixon. What I do want to see from those 2 are more routes down the field. Esp Mixon he's tailor made for the option routes that we used to run with Bump & Tubby. At outside WR need to see what Jesse & Couch can do. Esp Couch I like what I've seen from him. Next year an outside rotation of Gray, Couch, Todd, & Stephen Guidry will be very solid IMO.
OL. What hasn't been said about the OL. No need to harp on it. They haven't been good. Something has to change & we all know what.

DEFENSE

There has been some bits & pieces of hope with the young guys. Simmons, Spencer, F. Adams, & Thomas all have flashed talent. The next step is becoming consistent playmakers. The talent is there just have to do it every down. Bringing in Pope & Autry next year along with Kobe coming off his RS. Again a lot of talent. A lot of guys with a lot of SEC offers. Time to show it.
LB a little good mostly bad. Richie just hasn't looked comfortable all year in the 3-4. Gray & Ward give you what they've got but are limited. Leo is our next stud LB. He will be even better next year. I'm excited to see Erroll Thompson next season. He looks like a 3-4 ILB & when he hits you you go down. We'll take a Juco MLB also I suspect for depth & just in case Erroll isn't ready for the f/t job. At the Star I know JT will be back but Willie Gay there's your playing time. It's waiting for you come get it. At the Viper I let Sweat & Gerri fly off the edge. It's time for Gerri to be the player we know he can be. I don't know what the issue is but he has to play like a star.
CB again not a lot to say. I think Durr has been solid. I think we have to keep Jamal there just to give a sense of home & comfort. Jamal is in position most of the time he just doesn't know what he's doing yet. A full spring & summer playing only CB I think he will be fine. Cam Dantzler will be in the rotation next year mark it down & may start. Remember I said this. I would also be putting the full court press on Keisean Nixon from Arizona Western I think he is that good.
Safeties unless Brandon Bryant play matches his physical tools we won't be as good as we can on defense. He has 1st rd talent but he has taken a huge step back so far this season. McLaurin has made some plays & missed some plays. Just has to keep getting reps. Smitherman has started getting some more playing time but too early to know what we have. Where he plays next year I think depend on how we close with the Juco Safeties & CB.

COACHING

It's no surprise I want Mullen back. I think he's the guy for the job agree or disagree that's fine. I don't see anyone else out there available that can do better than Mullen. Yes he needs to come out after the season & say this season was unacceptable & won't be tolerated. He needs to say he's 100% committed to MSU & is planning on being here for another 10yrs. After he makes that statement he needs to announce that he is letting Hev & Sallach go. Thank them for all they've done but it's time to move in another direction. If he decides to let Knox go too I can understand. As far as who would get 1st calls if it would me I'd go

TE Coach - Brad Peterson. I think Brad is a very good coach but I also think he would do a good job on the recruiting trail. He's also very smart, intense, & gets the most out of his guys. He's also not a guy who would just agree with Mullen just to agree.
OL Coach - Will Friend. Currently the OC/OL Coach at Colorado St. Will is a MS guy but he's coached in the SEC (UGA). He has experience coaching in the south but also experience helping put together an offensive game plan & he's a pretty darn good OL Coach.
RB Coach - Robert Gillespie. Currently the RB Coach at Tennessee. Again another MS guy who's coached at big time programs. Before he was at TN he coached at West Virginia, Oklahoma St, & South Carolina. He also played ball at Florida. He's a very very good recruiter & also a good RB coach.

These are just who my 1st calls would go to but I'm sure there are a lot of other talented coaches out there. Sorry for the length but I got to rambling.

Thank you IYOK, you said it better than anyone could. I total agree in what you are saying.

[Lloyd Christmas]

It would give me pause but yes as long as he done all those things as soon as the year was over.

I'm currently in the "Mullen deserves to be fired, but we just can't do it this year" camp. However, if he loses to Samford he has to be canned. An SEC coach cannot be allowed to lose to South Alabama and Samford at home and keep his job. I'm sorry, he just can't.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I'm currently in the "Mullen deserves to be fired, but we just can't do it this year" camp. However, if he loses to Samford he has to be canned. An SEC coach cannot be allowed to lose to South Alabama and Samford at home and keep his job. I'm sorry, he just can't.

When you say it like that well.......

[Commercecomet24]

We beat Samford and find a way to wi. 2 of the last 4( including the egg), finishes with a good class and Mullen makes those necessary changes we would have some renewed interest and momentum headed into next year. Lot of ifs I know but not impossible.

[msstate7]

We beat Samford and find a way to wi. 2 of the last 4( including the egg), finishes with a good class and Mullen makes those necessary changes we would have some renewed interest and momentum headed into next year. Lot of ifs I know but not impossible.

Let's say somehow we do finish 5-7, would you feel much better headed into next season? I certainly would

[civildawg]

Let's say somehow we do finish 5-7, would you feel much better headed into next season? I certainly would

Everyone would. We can all handle a 5-7 season. A 3-9 or 2-10 season is dang near unforgivable when you play 3-4cupcakes and Kentucky though.

[Thick]

If we finish 5-7, it would be tremendous....BUT then comes the how in the hell did you lose to USA and U.K.?

[msstate7]

If we finish 5-7, it would be tremendous....BUT then comes the how in the hell did you lose to USA and U.K.?

Byu also... 5-7 would be great, but we'd all be saying should've been 8-4 haha

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

I appreciate the love but there's others on the board with much more knowledge & info than me.

Damn Dan! We've been trying to tell you that all year!

We do appreciate the info though. Pretty much nailed it. Before Auburn I was in the camp we need to keep him, after Auburn, I was he needs to go. After BYU I flipped back due to the effort I saw us play with. Kentucky was hard to watch, but it's just who we are right now. I did however, numerous times during the Ky game, catch myself saying after a play....he's a freshman, he's a soph. When someone posted the 10 plays broken down and dissected in an earlier post I counted how many fresh. and soph. were involved. Out of the 16 players singled out, 13 were either fresh. or soph. making those mistakes.

I, for one, think those 13 players will be making most of those plays next season. And I hope Mullen is the one coming out of the tunnel with them.