I’m calling it like I see it. He was the best coach we’ve had in my lifetime, and if he ever went 100% here he would have won some serious hardware. But, he didn’t. His arrogance wouldn’t let him.
Curious as to what part you disagree with. The 2014 Playoffs? The fallacy of The Dopester winning 11 games in 2018? Or why we wouldn’t want Loafers or Dopey Dan Mullen back?
Do we? I'm convinced we squeezed the last bit of HC capability out of Mullen when he was here. What we failed to do is hire an appropriate successor. Instead, we hired a coach who was simply wrong for us in just about every aspect, which was on display at the very first presser.
Lots of what ifs, but I feel like we beat Kentucky and LSU with Mullen. Georgia and Bama made the playoff that year too. Even at 9-3 we probably go to the sugar bowl.
Your vision is bad.
We lost because we played terrified in the first half. Period.
Yes us losing had nothing to do with Bama being the most talented team in the country and playing them in Tuscaloosa.
Take the day off, Megan. You’ve not made a single valid point, and you’d be doing yourself a favor.
Problem was that, starting with 2014, he was job shopping pretty much on a continual basis because in his mind he felt he was bigger than us after Dak took us to #1. Still amazes me that he was too blind to see what he would have had in 2018 to be willing to stick it out one more year. He seriously could have had another team to contend for a playoff spot but his ego had been bruised by Keenum when we didn't give him the contract extension over the constant job shopping so he was bound and determined to leave at the first decent opportunity. Only reason he didn't leave at the end of the 2016 season was that nobody wanted to hire a coach whose team just finished 5-7.
No. We were out of the playoffs when we lost at Bama. Even if we'd won out, the committee wasn't putting us in over Ohio State, who won their conference and got the 4 seed.
Would have been similar. He would have broken down the established offense just like Moorhead. Passing offenses take much longer to install than running offenses, and he didn't have the immediate eligibility portal to help. Probably wouldn't have looked quite as dysfunctional though, and players would have been in better shape.
Mullen doesn't regret leaving State. He didn't want to be here and tried leaving many times for just about anywhere, like 17n Maryland. Eventually he found a sucker and he parlayed that into generational wealth for his family.
I default to we would've beaten UF (almost assuredly) and UK (Mullen owned them). Either way, 9-3 is a NY6 berth in 2018 as we take UF's spot. I don't know if we could've gotten the Sugar Bowl without being 11-1, though...UGA got that after losing the SECCG. Would depend on rankings.
So he did what 99% of coaches would have done in his position.
Totally disagree that 99% of coaches would have left a P5 job they were sitting on that would be returning a likely Top 10 team the next season. I think 99% of coaches in his position would have left after 2018 when all those 1st round defensive guys plus Fitz were going to be gone.
I never said Croom was a great recruiter but he did understand that we had to recruit raw talent and develop that talent. I wasn't saying Croom was a good hire either but he did understand our limitations. He redshirted more players than we had in the past waiting on them to develop. He did help stabilize our program which is what I was pointing out.
"Stabilize our program" was a low bar, and the players he ran off cost us wins for 3 years.
Jackie threw away everything Jackie did in the late 90's. His last season was worse than any of Crooms. The two previous were just as bad. When you've got players making drug deals from the sidelines you know things have come off the rails. Croom needed to run some off and it helped our program. Maybe you are misrembering.
Maybe maybe not. My 99% comment was about leaving msu for a better job.
If that had been Croom's Criteria for kicking off some players, fine. But he kicked off some for being late to a meeting.
Fully agree that Mullen was going to leave MSU for a 'blue blood' type job at some point. Mullen's ego was never going to be satisfied staying at MSU for the long term. Arnett at least comes across as a guy who very much appreciates the job he has and, if treated well, would be willing to stay quite a while without actively pursuing other opportunities (doesn't mean others won't pursue him).
Never liked the way he "flirted" every time we had a good season, but I also understood. I hope one day our fanbase appreciates him and realizes he had to do what he did. As fans we get so emotionally tied to coaches and fail to realize / fully understand, at the end of the day its their job, their life and they have to do what's best for them and their family.
What he should regret is jumping like a starving catfish as loaferz contingency instead of staying one more year at State and possibly challenging Bama for the West title.
When I think of player development it can be two things players that got drafted or players that would never get drafted but became good college football players. Like Chris Relf.
Actually it was only his last year 2008 that he didn't have a player drafted. He was gone in 2009. Jamar Chaney and Dixon were drafted later. I'm not trying to change history. I didn't like Croom as a head coach. His offensive game plan was a disaster and why anyone on God's green earth would put Henig in at QB in the SEC is beyond me. The only thing he did right in my opinion was his redshirt program. Jackie had lost control of the players his last 3 years. Our program was a mess when Croom came in.
I wish he would have stayed one more year. He would have set the record for wins by a State coach and his last year would have been a good one. However, I doubt he regrets rolling in the dough Florida paid him.
