Baseball: We have a program that recruits itself, but when you get a top 10 recruiter nationally in Cannizaro, the sky is the limit. We should have top 10 recruiting classes every year, and Cannizaro will do just that, as we are already seeing. The best part is that he is going to let our players play, and players we will have. Also, the difference in a great team and an elite team could be 1 or 2 guys that decide to go to school after getting drafted in the top 5 rounds. We didn't see a lot of that with Cohen but I think with Cannizaro's MLB connections we will sign 1 or 2 guys a year that end up turning down some big signing bonuses to play in the best baseball stadium and atmosphere College Baseball has to offer.

Basketball: Howland is also a top 10 recruiter nationally, and basketball is a sport where we can have atleast a top 15 class every year. Basketball is the most recruiting based sport, and we have a guy that is going to sign only 4-5 star caliber players. What's the best part? He can actually coach them too. We tried to hire a developer instead of a recruiter in Ray, and we see what that did to our basketball program. 2-3 years down the road we will be at the point where we are back to expecting a Tourney bid every year. With Howland's consistency as a recruiter and coach, we will be a top 4ish SEC team until Howland retires, because he's not leaving for any other school(we got so lucky there, maybe the best all around hire in MSU sports history?).

Football: Football is not a sport where we can recruit nationally on a consistent basis, unless we took the Ole Miss route. Mullen is a developer, and signs guys that fit his program. He doesn't often go after the talented guys with character issues, like you see with Ole Miss and Auburn. This creates an oppurtunity for implosion seasons that we have seen all too often from OM and Auburn. When you try to hire a recruiter to a school that shouldn't recruit nationally you either end up sucking because you have a bunch of individuals(Orgeron at Ole Miss) or get busted by the NCAA(Freeze at Ole Miss). Mullen sticks to the plan and has created a floor at 5-6 wins with an average year of 7-9 wins and a 10-11 win season when things line up. Sometimes we too quickly forget the days when a 7 win season felt like we won the national championship. Consistency is key for our football program, and we have the most consistent coach in our history. Do whatever it takes to hold onto him for as long as he wants to coach football.


We have guys that can recruit at an elite level in the two sports that we have the ability to do that, and a developer in the sport where we have to take that route. No square pegs in round holes leads to consistency and consistency leads to taking the next step. Consistency is what our Athletic Department needs, and now we have an athletic director that we can also rely on to nut the 17 up when the time calls and do what it takes to win. I think all 3 coaches are perfect fits for what we are try to do in each of their sports. It's hard to not be excited about the future of the Big 3 sports.