2017-2018 NCAA Football Season Thread [Archived] Football • Page 51

I think MSU with its recent success under Dantonio began going for bigger apples in recruiting, which was absolutely the right move to propel the program forward. It just happens that they picked the wrong high star guys. It's pretty insane the attrition they had this offseason. It's really a double whammy because you lose talented players and take a shot in the depth department. Depth in college football is so important given the tempos of most offenses. There are very few programs that can withstand the type of players that left that locker room. I think you will see Dantonio get back to what initially made him successful and the program will be fine. Dantonio has quite a bit of bandwidth to operate with at MSU.

 

I like Dantonio a lot, I just don't see how he's going to do it. How do you convince elite talent to come lose with Michigan State instead of win with Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State?

 

Maybe by beating those teams like we have the past few years

 

Well, that's why I think Dantonio and his staff will go back to coaching up under-recruited players and build things up again. The most important thing for MSU is getting its depth back and fulfilling as many quality scholarship spots as possible. You really want as close to a quality 87 as you can so that practices and scheming for opponents can be productive. I think you still throw your hat in the ring on certain high end players, but I think you want to go back to what made your program tick rather than be something you're not at this time. There are still positives for Dantonio and company to fall back on and they have a really promising QB.

 

MSU has done very well with coaching QBs, so I'm not worried there. They definitely will go back to more of the lower star guys and coaching them up to a higher level. Dantonio's done a great job striking gold with a lot of those players, and I have faith in them to keep that going.

 

And when we say lower star guys, it's not really a knock. You're talking low 4 star and mid to high 3 star players. In a lot of cases, those are just players not doing the 7-7 circuits or the camps that matter to the services, and therefore see it reflected in their ranking. In some cases it's also guys playing in smaller school against weaker competition. Dantonio and his staff have been good at picking out those guys that have certain traits you can coach up because they don't have the ideal measurables or the circuit to back them.

 

Penn State and Michigan weren't elite and the Spartans didn't finish 3-9.

 

Bell was a 2 star recruit, never forget haha

 

Michigan was still getting elite talent, their coaching was just horrendous. And even Harbaugh's first year, they were a good team and we still won. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself but I honestly like our chances this year. I'll give you Penn State. But we also had Ohio State's number for the past few years and they were definitely on an elite level

 

Oh no, I get it, believe me. That is Mike Riley's bread and butter. Riley is going into top recruiting states and grabbing the guys left behind by the big schools. But that works for him because at the end of the day Nebraska has to compete with Iowa and Wisconsin, whose flaws have been the same for a decade. If Nebraska was looking up to Meyer, Harbaugh, and Penn State? I would be very, very worried. I have the third best coach with the fourth best roster, it's not looking good.

 

Oh yeah, you guys always play Ohio State tough, that's why I have a soft spot for your team in that division. You're like Stanford. You're going down but no way you don't take someone down with you haha.

 

From my outsiders view, I think getting past the initial depth issue, MSU's downfall will be in some pass rush and the lack of press corners. MSU at their best has always been able to play mostly press man on the outside and then create pressure and confusion with the extra bodies. I expect that aspect to take a hit this year.

 

Since you are a Huskers fan, let me ask you the obvious/most canned question I can. Thoughts on Tanner Lee?

 

He's much better suited for Riley's offense than Armstrong was. He's still adjusting though. I'd like to see him play with more confidence. I'm basically just hoping O'Brien develops well enough to take Lee's job next year haha

 

One of MSU's coaches ran the Sound Body Sound Mind camp in Detroit which is one of the biggest high school football showcase camps and his connection in Detroit is second to none. and as pointed out, the recruiting stuff is overblown. When it comes to a site like rivals, the difference between the average four star kid and average three star kid is exposure. There's a TON of fluidity. I know that covering WMU recruiting guys would go from unranked to two stars just for committing to WMU. Recruiting services outside of five Stars aren't too reliable. And Michigan hasn't ever suffered in recruiting while they were losing to MSU.

 

Sorry to break up the serious coach stuff

 

That fan would be from Chattanooga.

 

From what I read, Chattanooga is one of the less ignorant parts of Tennessee? Maybe not

 

Wow

 

Yeah, I thought so too haha

 

Chatty's downtown is amazing, easily one of the best in the south. Everything else is a dumpster fire in my experience/opinion.

 

Can't believe DooDooBird is posting on websites outside of this one.

 

I watched a decent chunk of the MSU-WMU game and WMU did not play well at all, which sucked. But, Darius Phillips is the best player under-the-radar player in the country. Dude can be a legit kick returner in the NFL.

 

Glad you're thinking about me.

 

Looks like OBJ is going to play this weekend.