MSU outgains them on offense and the coaches go for 2. That is all you need to know about the state of the program.
That call was bad enough to make me question the viability of this coaching staff. I hope they surprise me next year, but I think this program has lost its edge. I will now spend my days thinking about who should be the next head coach.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Thoughts on Illinois Game
Tough to evaluate this game because at this point the coaches have chosen to play for next year. They're giving the young guys the opportunity to get experience and that's a good thing for next year, but it probably means they'll lose the rest of their games this year.
The most dangerous thing about this youth strategy is that if the Spartans struggle again next year, it will make it much easier to make coaching changes. This team will have the worst record in the B1G this year. Even 7 wins next year won't compensate for that kind of debacle.
One more key lesson that emerged during this game is that it can definitely hurt you to lose key guys at key positions. The loss of Evans and Sweat on the DL may have been the biggest losses from last year. Those guys did come in with reputations for behavioral problems. I think the lesson here is to favor guys who are likely to grow into decent senior contributors rather than favor guys who could be stars but that might get into trouble and leave you shorthanded at key positions.
This team went from almost having too much talent at offensive tackle, to suddenly having no talent at tackle. The loss of Finley has turned out to be much more devastating than anticipated. Hopefully he'll be back for his senior year, hopefully Chewins adds the 30 pounds he needs to gain, hopefully Lukusa makes a big leap next year. Hopefully they have too much talent at tackle next year...
I'll say it again, the seniors have been devastating this year. Price is a shadow of what I anticipated he would be this year. Just incomprehensible. Machado has also been a big disappointment. The physical tools seem to be there, but the mental part of the game seems to elude him.
The year has been so bad that this program needs to be on a short leash. This coaching staff should only get one more year to turn things around. I greatly appreciate what this staff has done to make MSU relevant, but if they've lost their mojo, then I hope they recognize that and hand the program off to someone else with more energy (perhaps Narduzzi - more on that some other time). I hate to see a staff find ways to stick around as the program falls into long term decline. Perhaps that's the greatest coaching move this staff has left to make: it should recognize that they've lost their mojo and hand the reigns over to another staff that can continue to build this program.
The most dangerous thing about this youth strategy is that if the Spartans struggle again next year, it will make it much easier to make coaching changes. This team will have the worst record in the B1G this year. Even 7 wins next year won't compensate for that kind of debacle.
One more key lesson that emerged during this game is that it can definitely hurt you to lose key guys at key positions. The loss of Evans and Sweat on the DL may have been the biggest losses from last year. Those guys did come in with reputations for behavioral problems. I think the lesson here is to favor guys who are likely to grow into decent senior contributors rather than favor guys who could be stars but that might get into trouble and leave you shorthanded at key positions.
This team went from almost having too much talent at offensive tackle, to suddenly having no talent at tackle. The loss of Finley has turned out to be much more devastating than anticipated. Hopefully he'll be back for his senior year, hopefully Chewins adds the 30 pounds he needs to gain, hopefully Lukusa makes a big leap next year. Hopefully they have too much talent at tackle next year...
I'll say it again, the seniors have been devastating this year. Price is a shadow of what I anticipated he would be this year. Just incomprehensible. Machado has also been a big disappointment. The physical tools seem to be there, but the mental part of the game seems to elude him.
The year has been so bad that this program needs to be on a short leash. This coaching staff should only get one more year to turn things around. I greatly appreciate what this staff has done to make MSU relevant, but if they've lost their mojo, then I hope they recognize that and hand the program off to someone else with more energy (perhaps Narduzzi - more on that some other time). I hate to see a staff find ways to stick around as the program falls into long term decline. Perhaps that's the greatest coaching move this staff has left to make: it should recognize that they've lost their mojo and hand the reigns over to another staff that can continue to build this program.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)