Seems like we’d be able to do in the opposite order though given we’ve had great defenses in the past and the O was the missing piece.
If anything, our history backs up my argument. How many times have we said, “Why can’t we get an elite WR to MSU?” They want to play for a system that shows them off. If you’re winning with defense they just look elsewhere, even if your win total is higher than other schools. Just look at how many elite WR Ole Miss has put in the league while we were beating them on the field and in the win column.
The key here is which one wins the most games, for the longest time? Let's look at our history:
- To me, Jackie was more of a CEO/recruiter type coach who delegated most things. Great talker/speaker, dude ran all types of offenses/defenses. He was good about handling the program and some of the problem guys we took in order to get the talent level up.
- Danny was more of what I call fundamental, which consists of guys who come up with an offensive or defensive coordinator background, with some type of expertise. Obviously he produced our best QB ever, as that was his niche.
- Leach was what I call a system coach, who obviously just completely envelopes themselves around a (almost exclusively offensive) scheme. It worked with average players and was getting better.
We've tried all the above, and had success, except a fundamental defensive coach. I'm intrigued by this since defense has always been MSU's calling card. We are DLU. Most all of our best players, best wins, and best seasons have revolved around ferocious defense. The state of MS tends to produce a lot of good defensive athletes.
Of course, if you look at the theme between Jackie, Danny and Leach - it's one key thing - control of the program. Discipline, whatever you want to call it. When all of those guys lose that, things start to splinter. That's what Croom and Moorhead couldn't do. And I've heard that Lebby is a player's coach, more like the latter two, and butted heads with Venables at OU. That does concern me.
But speaking specifically about WRs, yes, that is a concern. But to me, if you lean on your strength, stay consistent, you eventually get to the point where you start landing players all over.
