Bounds just told caller Mullen is best recruiter MSU has ever had

[J-Dawg]

Mullen inherited 12 nfl players from Croom. Mullen has signed 1 nfl player on his own, Vick Ballard.

False. Starting with the 2009 class, those players may have "committed" to Croom, but they signed on the dotted line, and were thusly coached their entire careers, by Mullen and Co.

Johnthan Banks
Fletcher Cox
Chris White (scout)
Pernell McPhee
Cam Lawrence (scout)
Darius Slay (twice
Gabe Jackson (will be)

They had every opportunity to jump ship after our coaching change, yet Mullen must have convinced them to stick around. Not only that, McPhee, Bump and Slay committed after the coaching change. These guys didn't as much step on a practice field with Croom, so please quit attributing their successes to him. It's not a good argument in your favor.

Future NFL players recruited by Mullen

Dillon Day (possibly)
Malcolm Johnson (possibly)
Jameon Lewis (possibly)
Bernardrick McKinney (High pick possibly)
Preston Smith (possibly)

Thats not even looking at the 2012 and 2013 classes that have barely had time to produce, yet were more talented than 2010 and 2011 for us.


Look, I'm firmly off the Mullen train unless he completely "wow's" us and turns it around. However, I'm also a realist. As a positive, he has recruited over-looked guys extremely well. He is undoubtedly a good eye for talent. As with our on the field play, his biggest positive that he has provided us is this: He has raised our floor. Our "base" or "foundation" of role players is much better than it was before. We've gotten a few five starts and several four stars thrown in, especially last year. Now, this seasons class is more akin to the 2010 class as it stands today. Also, a negative is that outside maybe Shumpert or Fred Ross, he hasn't recruited a single player that I'd consider "elite offensive talent" which is not good for an offensive coach. If you look at our recruiting, most of our stars have been on the defensive side.

Plain and simple fact is that our rival's successes on the recruiting trail have complicated the matter.

Mullen is not a terrible recruiter if you look at his classes from an unbiased perspective. However, he isn't what I'd consider "good" either. He's decent, at best. The big negative is that decent is good for bottom 3 in our conference, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters. We've got to find someone, whether it be new HC or an awesome assistant, or both, that can help us climb the ladder and land elite offensive talent to match the rest of our peers in the SEC. It's just the sad truth of playing in such a powerhouse conference. If we were to average a class in the 20s or 30s in a lesser conference we'd be looking at this from the other side.

[Jack Lambert]

No, he said, "Mullen is the best recruiter MSU has had, at least in the recruiting rankings era."

So that really only compares Mullen to Croom.

I will say our overall talent level is at decent level and getting better though. Mullen hasn't recruited near as bad as some of the recruiting rankings want you to believe. He evaluates well and finds value in overlooked players.

The ranking era goes back to JWS. JWS had number 17 in both rivals and scouts in 2002. Side note: Alambam had the 37th class that year.

I think JWS brought in more talent but JWS was getting some help with money to bring in these guys. I don't think Mullen is too that point yet.

[J-Dawg]

One obvious area where Jackie was much superior to Mullen re: recruiting.... hitting the JUCOs. We have to have JUCO help. Ballard and Chris White were great. Slay came on there late. Autry has never fully "clicked" and we've yet to see what we thought out of Cox or Chappelle.

[Goat Holder]

I agree, BUT....you must remember that King Jackie exploited a loophole in the JUCO system that the SEC has now closed. There is an article about it out there somewhere. MSU and K-State were always the biggest beneficiaries of this hole because somehow we could offer a way to graduate the JUCOs that other schools couldn't, and the fact that there were so many JUCOs in Kansas and Mississippi. SEC closed it, Big 12 did not. That's why you see a number of MS JUCOs going out to play in the Big 12 here lately when they wanted to stay in the SEC.

I'm fairly certain that Mullen is well aware of the talent in the MS JUCO ranks.

[Coach34]

Mullen inherited 12 nfl players from Croom. Mullen has signed 1 nfl player on his own, Vick Ballard.

Darius Slay also

[Jack Lambert]

I agree, BUT....you must remember that King Jackie exploited a loophole in the JUCO system that the SEC has now closed. There is an article about it out there somewhere. MSU and K-State were always the biggest beneficiaries of this hole because somehow we could offer a way to graduate the JUCOs that other schools couldn't, and the fact that there were so many JUCOs in Kansas and Mississippi. SEC closed it, Big 12 did not. That's why you see a number of MS JUCOs going out to play in the Big 12 here lately when they wanted to stay in the SEC.

I'm fairly certain that Mullen is well aware of the talent in the MS JUCO ranks.

I don't think it was a loop hole. The rule use to be anyone could transfer after three semesters. They changed that rule to, if you were not qualified to get into a four year school when you go Juco, you have to complete four semesters of work before you can transfer and play football. JWS was able to recruit anyone out of the JUCO ranks and have them on campus in January to go through spring training. Now many of them can’t transfer until summer and miss spring training. So a lot of guys don’t get recruited if they can’t transfer.

[Coach34]

Where I see biggest difference is on the O Line... Watching Mizzou the other night I realized that we are not as good as most teams in the SEC across the front... If he can improve this area we can have success.

Our OL is ok- we can run the football. We don't have top level WR's- and that plays a big part in us not getting enough big plays. Our drives are always 8-10-12 plays to get points

[Jack Lambert]

Our OL is ok- we can run the football. We don't have top level WR's- and that plays a big part in us not getting enough big plays. Our drives are always 8-10-12 plays to get points

That's what give me a positive attitude about next season. We got talent in the WR corp, they just don't know how to get off coverage and get open. Next year with the WR corps and our QB being exsperience and with all the young running backs we have, our offense is going to be hard to stop.

[Goat Holder]

I think you're mis-guided there. There was some sort of advantage that MSU had over other SEC schools, something about the ability to graduate them, credits transferring, etc.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/foo...1/preview/mmq/

Don't expect the Bulldogs to drop off this season. Never mind that they have lost more of their defense. They have reloaded by recruiting a number of junior college standouts.

That's hardly a shocker. No other coach in the SEC has capitalized on junior college recruits like Sherrill. Junior college recruits don't just sign with Mississippi State; they graduate, which Sherrill obviously uses as a selling point in recruiting.

"There are two schools in the country with the ability to make [junior college recruiting] work," Sherrill said. "Mississippi State and Kansas State. The difference is the ability to graduate them."

[tcdog70]

Is He kidding--Bob Tyler and it ain't even close

[engie]

Mullen is the best evaluator we've had. No question. He's far from the best actual recruiter though. I think this likely comes into focus with the next coach -- as it becomes clear the advantages being able to say we're in the SEC provides today that it didn't provide for much of the rankings history prior to Mullen.

To win at the level you'd like to see at MSU, you need to be a little bit of both a recruiter and evaluator -- or smart/humble enough to realize shortcomings and hire to overcome them.

[maroonmania]

Our OL is ok- we can run the football. We don't have top level WR's- and that plays a big part in us not getting enough big plays. Our drives are always 8-10-12 plays to get points

Our OL is not all that OK. We are suppose to be a redshirting, developmental program yet due to one injury to a starting G we are now in year 5 starting and giving significant playing time to a former walk-on and a true freshman. That either means that we've misevaluated the talent and potential of a number of other OL in the program that aren't seeing the field OR our developmental program is not getting lineman developed to the level of playing in the SEC. I could run down the list of formerly redshirted, non-true freshmen OL on the roster not seeing any significant playing time but I think most of you know who they are. We don't lack numbers, we lack SEC ability apparently. We are at about 7 OL that we have trust in putting into an SEC game.

[Goat Holder]

or smart/humble enough to realize shortcomings and hire to overcome them.

Dude, does the name DESHEA TOWNSEND ring a bell??

I get it, you want Mullen gone. But you're off the mark on more things than usual here lately.

[HoopsDawg]

Darius Slay also

Slay was a sign and place that committed to Croom. Most sign and places re-sign with their original commitment. I give Mullen no credit for any of the players in the 2009 class. Bumphis is debatable but Bump didn't make the NFL.

[engie]

Why can I not debate a single topic without you retards coming in and derailing it? I gave a realistic viewpoint of Mullen and gave him credit where credit is due.

Dude, does the name DESHEA TOWNSEND ring a bell??

I get it, you want Mullen gone. But you're off the mark on more things than usual here lately.

Who has Deshea Townsend landed for us at this point that wasn't a lock to MSU regardless of who their coach was? You can call a guy a "great recruiter" all you want -- I think he probably can be in the right situation and given time -- but until he goes into Georgia and grabs a guy with 30+ offers like Ole Miss did yesterday, he hasn't proven jack shit "as a recruiter".



Deshea is credited with 4 recruits. Here are their offer lists.
Bryant - USM, MSU
Liggins - MSU, UAB
Rayford - MSU
Durr - MSU, La Tech, ULL, Oklahoma
He's the secondary recruiter on Durr with Koenning primary.

This is the guy you are calling an elite recruiter right now? The guy that hasn't picked up a SINGLE player with even an Ole Miss offer? The guy that's the SEVENTY FIFTH best recruiter in the SEC as of today?

Take your medicine goat.

[HoopsDawg]

[QUOTE=engie;80983]Mullen is the best evaluator we've had. No question. He's far from the best actual recruiter though.

I see a lot of people give Mullen credit for being an excellent "evaluator" or "developer". But just because some of these lightly recruited players see game action doesn't make him a great evaluator. If you sign 5 heavily recruited players and 20 lightly recruited players every year, yeah some of the 20 are going to have to play.

Look at our results since 2010 and ask what it has gotten us in terms of performance.

[engie]

I see a lot of people give Mullen credit for being an excellent "evaluator" or "developer". But just because some of these lightly recruited players see game action doesn't make him a great evaluator. If you sign 5 heavily recruited players and 20 lightly recruited players every year, yeah some of the 20 are going to have to play.

Look at our results since 2010 and ask what it has gotten us in terms of performance.

He put 2 3* cornerbacks with no offers in the second round that are opening day starters in the NFL.
He's going to put a 3* offensive guard with no offers in the first/second round in the NFL.
He put a 3* RB with no offers in the NFL -- where he was kicking ass as a starter prior to injury.
He's got a 2* mLB with no offers that is likely to eventually go EARLY in the draft.

There's plenty there at this point to say that he's evaluated diamond/low rated players very, very well. Fact of the matter is -- low-offer kids that we committed early in his first 4 classes have had a higher "hit" rate than the high-offer guys we committed early. I've shown this in conclusive detail before.

There is PLENTY to rightly be pissed at Mullen about. Player evaluations is not one of those things...

[Goat Holder]

Quit getting your panties twisted when someone calls you on your shit.

[engie]

Quit getting your panties twisted when someone calls you on your shit.

Quit "calling me" on stupid shit that I can destroy in 30 seconds...

He's he 7th best recruiter on MSU's staff as of today, 11 spots behind Hevesy. He's 75th in the SEC.

But, hey, you showed me**

[HoopsDawg]

He put 2 3* cornerbacks with no offers in the second round that are opening day starters in the NFL.
He's going to put a 3* offensive guard with no offers in the first/second round in the NFL.
He put a 3* RB with no offers in the NFL -- where he was kicking ass as a starter prior to injury.
He's got a 2* mLB with no offers that is likely to eventually go EARLY in the draft.

There's plenty there at this point to say that he's evaluated diamond/low rated players very, very well. Fact of the matter is -- low-offer kids that we committed early in his first 4 classes have had a higher "hit" rate than the high-offer guys we committed early. I've shown this in conclusive detail before.

There is PLENTY to rightly be pissed at Mullen about. Player evaluations is not one of those things...

He didn't evaluate Banks, Croom did. Mullen is quoted as saying he wondered why this Banks kid was on the commit list until he saw his video.

Mullen had Slay for 2 years. He didn't even start him his junior year opting to go with the veteran, Broomfield. Slay was an All American return guy in Juco that Mullen never let return a punt or kickoff. Slay ran the fastest 40 yard dash at the combine. He was going pro even if he signed with William and Mary.

The 3 star guard you mentioned, again, committed to Croom. Are you trying to tell me that Mullen is good at evaluating O-linemen? LOL to that one.

Ballard was a Juco All-American RB. But yes, fortunately no other major schools really offered him.

McKinney going really early in the draft is pure speculation at this point. I don't see it right now.