New football coaching staff thoughts

[Todd4State]

Dan exceeded my expectations as far as hires overall and I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is his best staff that he has put together at MSU in terms of balancing coaching ability and recruiting.

HC/OC- Dan Mullen. Should pass Allyn McKeen in career wins this year with a season like last year and mathematically has a chance to pass Jackie on the all time wins list this year if we go 15-0. Of course, that's not likely but Dan will probably pass him next year in all likelihood. If the next two years are comparable to 2014-2015 you can make an argument that Dan is the best coach we have ever had. Also, his QB development is unquestioned as both Pro Bowl starters this year were developed by him and Nick and Keytaeon appear to be following on the same path as his other QB's. As long as Dan is here, we should be able to legitimately recruit QB's nationally which is huge for us because Mississippi hasn't really produced a top flight SEC QB prospect since Tyler Russell- and yes I think Myles Brennan will be a bust for LSU.

QB- Brett Elliott. This was an expected hire and not really a sexy hire to me. I would have been fine if Dan wanted to coach QB's- but Elliott could be a very underrated hire. He has been an OC twice now and many consider him a rising coaching prospect. His resume' is similar to Brian Johnson and if he turns out like that- that's fine with me. At worst he's Scott Sallach 2.0. His position group is going to be much more star studded than Sallach's though. And I do like the fact that he has play calling experience. Dan obviously let Johnson call some plays and having someone like Elliott that has experience with play calling will free up Dan to do some of the head coaching duties he needs to do. Pretty solid hire.

RB- Greg Knox. I think he gets a lot of flack for Holloway and Shumpert and for Aeris, Lee, and Gibson "not being ready because the excuse of the week". That said, when used properly Holloway was effective. I doubt Knox was telling Dan to run him up the middle. Aeris looks like a very solid RB for us. I think Kylin Hill will be a star in the SEC and even Dontavian Lee looks like at worst a special teams head hunter and at best a guy that can play the Nick Griffen role and FB/RB for us. That's several four star guys and relatively good production out of his group- not to mention he coached Vick Ballard and Josh Robinson who both got into the pros. Verdict- Country Club but I'm OK with him.

WR- Billy Gonzales. He's kind of like Knox but I think he's considered a better overall coach. He has certainly had his misses on the recruiting trail lately- AJ Brown, Stephen Guidry, etc. but he has also brought in Jamal Couch and he landed four star Reggie Todd late in the process. He also has a commitment from one of the best in the state in Malik Heath. He did a great job with Fred Ross who set some school records and will be in the NFL, Gray has been solid even though feel he is out of position most of the time and I think Malik Dear has met expectations so far and will likely get better. He gets the same verdict as Knox- CC but I'm OK with it.

TE (cough assistant o-line cough)- DJ Looney. I like this move a lot. He has been in the SEC before at Georgia as a coach and he played at and loves MSU. I think that's one reason why Matt Luke has recruiting success at Ole Miss- he absolutely loves it there and it comes through in recruiting. That and massive bags of cash of course. My point is, I don't think we've had an assistant like Looney in a few years that was very loyal and tied into MSU and I think we've missed that on the recruiting trail. He also has connections to EMCC which will help balance the Ole Miss presence there after all of their guys go there after not making the NFL. I think he will be an outstanding recruiter and will really help us out on o-line recruiting which is where we've had a lot of trouble. I think he also could be a good coach to boot and despite the title, I think he will help out with the o-line some as well as the TE's of course.

OL- John Hevesy. He has his faults. But I also think he has some value as well. I think he knows a lot about o-line from a technique standpoint. And I think the fact that Dan trusts him a lot and is a good friend of Dan's probably benefits Dan a lot on and off the sideline. Obviously I would have re-assigned him because the fact of the matter in college football is you have to be able to recruit at least at a minimal level. And in the SEC weaknesses are magnified exponentially. But as I said, I am fine with Looney helping him out and by hiring Looney Dan killed two birds with one stone on the recruiting front and also probably landed our o-line coach of the future in Looney. Country Club but it is what it is.

DL- Brian Baker. I thought he did a solid job in recruiting this year- especially with the Aaron Odom saga. Let's be honest- more often than not we would have come out empty handed in the past with that situation. He has NFL experience and while DL was a huge weakness last year, we at the very least appear to have attempted to address it. I think he's pretty solid as a coach. I would give him a B only because his unit was a big weak link last year but I don't think it will last nor do I think it was his fault.

DC/LB- Todd Grantham. He's by far the most qualified DC hire we have had under Dan. I like this move a lot and I hope he becomes Dan's Joe Lee Dunn. He has had success in the SEC and ACC as well as in the NFL. He's a big reason why we got Odom back as well and he helped seal the deal with Willie Gay. I'm excited to see what he brings to the table and I'm excited to see MSU bring in a coach of his caliber. He's also very intense and he gets big time bonus points for going after James Franklin and Heaven help Peter Sirmon if we play Louisville in a bowl. Home run hire by Dan.

CB- Terrell Buckley. Probably the best recruiter on the staff and to be honest I thought he did a very solid job with our corners. Jamal Peters was pretty good for never having played the position before I thought. Graham looked better and Durr was pretty solid and didn't seem to have to make as huge a jump from JUCO to MSU. He also has NFL experience and has gotten us some good players from Florida. My verdict is I think he is a home run hire as a recruiter and an underrated coach on the field.

S- Ron English. This move surprised me. But I think it's a solid move- other SEC teams were looking at him to be a DC and he has been a DC in the Big Ten and a head coach in the MAC. I love his intensity and I fear for Brandon Bryant if he loafs. The only bad thing I see about him so far is he may have a bit of a potty mouth. I can't wait to watch him call Hugh Freeze a shitbird for not hiring him.

K/P (Off the field)- Chris Boniol. At one time I admit that I thought it would be good to have Boniol on the field and after consideration, that would have been a mistake. The fact of the matter is we don't need a coach to make a lot of personal in home visits to kickers. I love the fact that we have a coach that is a former NFL kicking coach on staff because that in and of itself is what we need to attract quality kickers. Kudos to Boniol for landing an Army AA K/P/KO guy. I think we are going to see our kicking fortunes turn around over the next couple of years.

The Mystery 10th assistant coach- Brad Peterson/Tony Grantham/????????? I think this will be interesting to see how Dan plays this. Peterson has been rumored to have been promised an on the field job. But maybe not. Grantham has been rumored to also be the extra coach- but if that was the case, wouldn't Dan have put him on the staff as an analyst or something? And maybe Dan will and it hasn't been announced yet. Or maybe Dan goes a totally different direction. It will be interesting to see.

At any rate I'm very excited to see this staff and what happens going forward.

[msbulldog]

Helluva post, Todd, many good points.

[Joe Schmedlap]

I recognize Mullen's talent for QB development, but I would pump the brakes on national QB recruiting. Dak was a superstar at State, but was as overlooked talent in Louisiana. Fitzgerald played QB in high school only as a senior in high school on a running team in Georgia. Overlooked and under developed talent. Keytaon Thompson is the first high school superstar QB Dan has signed at State, and tge kid was from nearby Louisiana. I don't think this qualifies as elite QB recruiting on a national level. It certainly qualifies for amazing player evaluation and player development. Dan is the man.

Does anyone else still find it odd and disappointing that Nick Tiano transferred out? I'm still SMH at that decision.

Oh, and something odd is going on in Louisiana. Several high school coaches and several top prospects have an ax to grind with LSU. Opportunity knocks...

[Reason2succeed]

Eventually Hev needs to be moved to "OL quality control" or something like that so that DJ Looney can coach OL.

I suspect that Mullen and Looney know that the TEs are going to be a big part of the offense next year so they moved DJ there to get some good stats on his resume. Sallach's career is at a stand still anyway. He has a job here but no one is going to come poach him to do anything. Don't be surprised if you see him move on to what looks like an equal or lesser position somewhere else. However DJ's career is on the rise and Mullen wants to create a huge coaching tree so he needs to fertilize it.

I like the return to intensity on defense and I love the amount of experienced coaching we now have. Both English and Grantham have DC experience when last year no one on that side of the ball had any DC experience. I expect to see a huge difference next year.

I feel good about the talent at State both playing and coaching. I expect great things out of next year's team.

[1bigdawg]

One more note: I believe English will probably be one and done as he will go on to better opportunities. I don't have any problem with that as I believe that he will be able to correct our issues at safety in that one year. Peterson might be a candidate to take his place.

[1bigdawg]

Eventually Hev needs to be moved to "OL quality control" or something like that so that DJ Looney can coach OL.

I suspect that Mullen and Looney know that the TEs are going to be a big part of the offense next year so they moved DJ there to get some good stats on his resume. Sallach's career is at a stand still anyway. He has a job here but no one is going to come poach him to do anything. Don't be surprised if you see him move on to what looks like an equal or lesser position somewhere else. However DJ's career is on the rise and Mullen wants to create a huge coaching tree so he needs to fertilize it.

This would be ideal.

[oildawg]

It is a great post - and I agree. I am optimistic about this coaching staff. After 8 years, we know we have an excellent coach in Mullen.

I like that quote from the "30-for-30 Believeland - This is Cleveland" - where the father told his son about Game 7 of the NBA finals - something like this - "Son, never trust your feelings about how a game will turn out. I have been wrong so many times on a feeling. But, I got to say, I have a good feeling about this Game 7!". I sure can relate to that....

[louisvilledawg]

Dan exceeded my expectations as far as hires overall and I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is his best staff that he has put together at MSU in terms of balancing coaching ability and recruiting.

HC/OC- Dan Mullen. Should pass Allyn McKeen in career wins this year with a season like last year and mathematically has a chance to pass Jackie on the all time wins list this year if we go 15-0. Of course, that's not likely but Dan will probably pass him next year in all likelihood. If the next two years are comparable to 2014-2015 you can make an argument that Dan is the best coach we have ever had. Also, his QB development is unquestioned as both Pro Bowl starters this year were developed by him and Nick and Keytaeon appear to be following on the same path as his other QB's. As long as Dan is here, we should be able to legitimately recruit QB's nationally which is huge for us because Mississippi hasn't really produced a top flight SEC QB prospect since Tyler Russell- and yes I think Myles Brennan will be a bust for LSU.

QB- Brett Elliott. This was an expected hire and not really a sexy hire to me. I would have been fine if Dan wanted to coach QB's- but Elliott could be a very underrated hire. He has been an OC twice now and many consider him a rising coaching prospect. His resume' is similar to Brian Johnson and if he turns out like that- that's fine with me. At worst he's Scott Sallach 2.0. His position group is going to be much more star studded than Sallach's though. And I do like the fact that he has play calling experience. Dan obviously let Johnson call some plays and having someone like Elliott that has experience with play calling will free up Dan to do some of the head coaching duties he needs to do. Pretty solid hire.

RB- Greg Knox. I think he gets a lot of flack for Holloway and Shumpert and for Aeris, Lee, and Gibson "not being ready because the excuse of the week". That said, when used properly Holloway was effective. I doubt Knox was telling Dan to run him up the middle. Aeris looks like a very solid RB for us. I think Kylin Hill will be a star in the SEC and even Dontavian Lee looks like at worst a special teams head hunter and at best a guy that can play the Nick Griffen role and FB/RB for us. That's several four star guys and relatively good production out of his group- not to mention he coached Vick Ballard and Josh Robinson who both got into the pros. Verdict- Country Club but I'm OK with him.

WR- Billy Gonzales. He's kind of like Knox but I think he's considered a better overall coach. He has certainly had his misses on the recruiting trail lately- AJ Brown, Stephen Guidry, etc. but he has also brought in Jamal Couch and he landed four star Reggie Todd late in the process. He also has a commitment from one of the best in the state in Malik Heath. He did a great job with Fred Ross who set some school records and will be in the NFL, Gray has been solid even though feel he is out of position most of the time and I think Malik Dear has met expectations so far and will likely get better. He gets the same verdict as Knox- CC but I'm OK with it.

TE (cough assistant o-line cough)- DJ Looney. I like this move a lot. He has been in the SEC before at Georgia as a coach and he played at and loves MSU. I think that's one reason why Matt Luke has recruiting success at Ole Miss- he absolutely loves it there and it comes through in recruiting. That and massive bags of cash of course. My point is, I don't think we've had an assistant like Looney in a few years that was very loyal and tied into MSU and I think we've missed that on the recruiting trail. He also has connections to EMCC which will help balance the Ole Miss presence there after all of their guys go there after not making the NFL. I think he will be an outstanding recruiter and will really help us out on o-line recruiting which is where we've had a lot of trouble. I think he also could be a good coach to boot and despite the title, I think he will help out with the o-line some as well as the TE's of course.

OL- John Hevesy. He has his faults. But I also think he has some value as well. I think he knows a lot about o-line from a technique standpoint. And I think the fact that Dan trusts him a lot and is a good friend of Dan's probably benefits Dan a lot on and off the sideline. Obviously I would have re-assigned him because the fact of the matter in college football is you have to be able to recruit at least at a minimal level. And in the SEC weaknesses are magnified exponentially. But as I said, I am fine with Looney helping him out and by hiring Looney Dan killed two birds with one stone on the recruiting front and also probably landed our o-line coach of the future in Looney. Country Club but it is what it is.

DL- Brian Baker. I thought he did a solid job in recruiting this year- especially with the Aaron Odom saga. Let's be honest- more often than not we would have come out empty handed in the past with that situation. He has NFL experience and while DL was a huge weakness last year, we at the very least appear to have attempted to address it. I think he's pretty solid as a coach. I would give him a B only because his unit was a big weak link last year but I don't think it will last nor do I think it was his fault.

DC/LB- Todd Grantham. He's by far the most qualified DC hire we have had under Dan. I like this move a lot and I hope he becomes Dan's Joe Lee Dunn. He has had success in the SEC and ACC as well as in the NFL. He's a big reason why we got Odom back as well and he helped seal the deal with Willie Gay. I'm excited to see what he brings to the table and I'm excited to see MSU bring in a coach of his caliber. He's also very intense and he gets big time bonus points for going after James Franklin and Heaven help Peter Sirmon if we play Louisville in a bowl. Home run hire by Dan.

CB- Terrell Buckley. Probably the best recruiter on the staff and to be honest I thought he did a very solid job with our corners. Jamal Peters was pretty good for never having played the position before I thought. Graham looked better and Durr was pretty solid and didn't seem to have to make as huge a jump from JUCO to MSU. He also has NFL experience and has gotten us some good players from Florida. My verdict is I think he is a home run hire as a recruiter and an underrated coach on the field.

S- Ron English. This move surprised me. But I think it's a solid move- other SEC teams were looking at him to be a DC and he has been a DC in the Big Ten and a head coach in the MAC. I love his intensity and I fear for Brandon Bryant if he loafs. The only bad thing I see about him so far is he may have a bit of a potty mouth. I can't wait to watch him call Hugh Freeze a shitbird for not hiring him.

K/P (Off the field)- Chris Boniol. At one time I admit that I thought it would be good to have Boniol on the field and after consideration, that would have been a mistake. The fact of the matter is we don't need a coach to make a lot of personal in home visits to kickers. I love the fact that we have a coach that is a former NFL kicking coach on staff because that in and of itself is what we need to attract quality kickers. Kudos to Boniol for landing an Army AA K/P/KO guy. I think we are going to see our kicking fortunes turn around over the next couple of years.

The Mystery 10th assistant coach- Brad Peterson/Tony Grantham/????????? I think this will be interesting to see how Dan plays this. Peterson has been rumored to have been promised an on the field job. But maybe not. Grantham has been rumored to also be the extra coach- but if that was the case, wouldn't Dan have put him on the staff as an analyst or something? And maybe Dan will and it hasn't been announced yet. Or maybe Dan goes a totally different direction. It will be interesting to see.

At any rate I'm very excited to see this staff and what happens going forward.

Solid work.

Questions I have from things I've read on here:

1. Why is Buckley considered our best recruiter? I have read on here multiple times that he has never recruited a 4* or higher to Louisville or MSU.
2. Why is Gonzalez knocked for missing Guidry? The kid was from Louisiana and didn't even qualify this cycle. Gonzalez was also the recruiter for Kylin Hill and that worked out pretty well.

[Cary Hudson's little bro]

DJ is here to recruit tackles. He will never be the OL coach. Hev is not going anywhere. Get over it.

Hev can recruit guards as he has shown. If DJ can land any top tackles this is a homerun hire.

[lamont]

Buckley is our best recruiter and it isn't close. Regardless of position- he is helping set up a lot of our top guys. It's not a coincidence that recruiting got better this cycle.

Looney was hired to recruit. Hev is the coach.

[justwin]

Generally, the two criteria for "winning" the offseason is based on recruiting class & staff changes/upgrades. MSU came in 2nd in the SECW this year. Grantham > any other SEC W asst coach hired including Canada, Lindsey. Bama is 1st due to another #1 class & probably another top flight OC. As for crootin, you can typically add 6-7 spots to state's ranking and deduct 6-7 spots to OM rankings based on the manipulation of the figures so State finished with a top 20 class. Comparing MSU's class to LSU/Aub/ATM who finished above MSU in crootin basically by signing more top flight OL than MSU, but MSU signed a better QB, RB, and LB. So, yeah, gotta be happy as a MSU fball fan last several months.

[justwin]

Buckley is our best recruiter and it isn't close. Regardless of position- he is helping set up a lot of our top guys. It's not a coincidence that recruiting got better this cycle.

Looney was hired to recruit. Hev is the coach.

How much more grooming does TBuck need to be a legit DC? Does working behind Grantham accelerate his growth? 3 years, 5 years? Would love to lock him up forever in maroon & white for many reasons.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Haven't said this publicly yet, but I do love the English hire if for no other reason than he spawned "shitbirds" and the irony that he was considered for the DC position at Ole Miss yet came here to be the Safeties coach.

Grantham/TBuck/English/Baker is a pretty solid defensive coaching unit, even after taking off my maroon colored glasses.

[1bigdawg]

DJ is here to recruit tackles. He will never be the OL coach. Hev is not going anywhere. Get over it.

Hev can recruit guards as he has shown. If DJ can land any top tackles this is a homerun hire.

I generally agree with you, at least as it applies to the current situation. However, never say never. If DJ does recruit top flight tackles, as you say, Hev might start to be perceived as a star coach. If that happens, he might finally get the opportunity to be a head coach at a G5 which he has attempted to do in the past.

[NCDawg]

Mullen should have fired Hevesy, hired a new OL coach, and then brought Looney in to coach TE's. I thought we were over the ineptness of coaching buddies when Croom was let go. It is apparent that Hevesy is detrimental to our team, and only stays employed because he is Mullen's yankee buddy. . Now, we have another "great friendship" which will never get us to Atlanta in my opinion.

[smootness]

Mullen should have fired Hevesy, hired a new OL coach, and then brought Looney in to coach TE's. I thought we were over the ineptness of coaching buddies when Croom was let go. It is apparent that Hevesy is detrimental to our team, and only stays employed because he is Mullen's yankee buddy. . Now, we have another "great friendship" which will never get us to Atlanta in my opinion.

If you think the thing holding us back from winning the West is John Hevesy, you're insane.

[BulldogBacker]

I recognize Mullen's talent for QB development, but I would pump the brakes on national QB recruiting. Dak was a superstar at State, but was as overlooked talent in Louisiana. Fitzgerald played QB in high school only as a senior in high school on a running team in Georgia. Overlooked and under developed talent. Keytaon Thompson is the first high school superstar QB Dan has signed at State, and tge kid was from nearby Louisiana. I don't think this qualifies as elite QB recruiting on a national level. It certainly qualifies for amazing player evaluation and player development. Dan is the man.

Does anyone else still find it odd and disappointing that Nick Tiano transferred out? I'm still SMH at that decision.

Oh, and something odd is going on in Louisiana. Several high school coaches and several top prospects have an ax to grind with LSU. Opportunity knocks...

I'm not surprised Tiano left. With Key Thompson's arrival, Tiano looked like a career backup.

[NCDawg]

If you think the thing holding us back from winning the West is John Hevesy, you're insane.

May not be the only thing, but is a humongous part of it in my opinion.

[MetEdDawg]

Ok so here's the question then. If I missed this my bad. But if Looney was hired to recruit, is he taking someone's spot on the recruiting trail? You can only have a certain number that takes in home visits and things of that nature. By my count, we have Mullen, Knox, Hevesy, Gonzales, Elliot, T Buck, Grantham, English, Looney, Baker. I thought we could only have 9 that actually went out and recruited. If I'm mistaken please correct me, but who is the odd man out of that picture?

[smootness]

May not be the only thing, but is a humongous part of it in my opinion.

Yeah, you're insane.