I was nodding my head with you until the last line then I scoffed at you.  Fickell would not see MSU as an upgrade.  He is moving to the Big 12 where, if he stays, he can recruit Texas more and really only have Oklahoma who is suspect against quality teams.  

I think Tucker is a decent coach but this year absolutely feels like a charmed one.  Like, you usually don't pick up the nation's #1 rusher in the transfer portal who completely covers up for your issues on the offensive line.  And defensively they feel like they've taken a step back from the Dantonio era; I know the advanced metrics still have them in the top 20 defensively but it's still a defense giving up over 400 yards a game (they're giving up 5 more yards a game than LSU, for perspective) but only 4.85 yards per play and 18 points a game, which means they are out there a lot and may just be getting lucky with the "bend but don't break" mantra.  That can turn on a dime for a team, and even against IU you saw them repeatedly give up long drives and IU settling for FGs in the redzone.  Some of that is skill but they've allowed 26 redzone attempts (UM has allowed 12), so you do wonder if that's sustainable as the opponent improves.  And offensively they aren't particularly efficient but are explosive, yet against teams like IU, Nebraska, and even Rutgers for a while they really struggled to put together drives.  

I do think Tucker is going to leave if a better job comes up. He's almost 50 years old and he's likely aware that coaching opportunities at top spots rarely become available and even less so are you considered a top option.  He might not go to LSU but I could absolutely see him being wooed by major job openings this offseason.

The guy has run four flea flickers and a reverse-pass in 7 games.  I think teams will figure out his shtick quickly if they haven’t already.  On that fourth flea flicker, Indiana should have had a pick.

Maybe it's our maize and blue glasses, but I agree. We've yet to see how he recruits and develops talent over time, which historically he's been fine but not great at, and he's been blessed with some solid guys left to him from Dantonio and hit on transfers at a couple key positions

Eh. Smith's shooting will be missed, and Smith might be the better passer, but I think you're downplaying the importance of driving ability way too much. That was something we really lacked last year, a player who could go get a basket when the shot clock is expiring. You don't want to build your offense around that, but it's really valuable to have at least one guy with that ability, especially on nights when your jumpers aren't falling. That would have been huge in last year's UCLA game, for example...

I'll just say this: If I need to guard a perimeter player who's going "unconscious" against us (like Washington of OSU last year), I'll take a guy who looks like a football safety with decent height (Jones) over a 5'9" guy with average athleticism (Smith).

I would be less surprised if Jones was an All-American than if your assessment is correct. Devante is a very, very high IQ basketball player...and significantly more athletically talented than the last two Michigan PGs...and is a "lights-out" shooter relative to one of those "two". Michigan may have the best guard tandem in the nation this year. 

He's just more oriented toward and focused on the analytical evaluations of players.  Objectively, they are bad players and it probably plays out in the film and stats that Seth has watched.  It's probably easy to get lost in the weeds when you're doing UFRs.  It's probably not necessary to go into details how bad a particular player is by name, but since we are now trending toward treating players like professionals who can make money off their image/likeness or easily transfer to another team, etc.  I think it's a little more fair game then before. I would still prefer if we treated them like the college kids they are who often are just trying to do their best and have fun playing a sport they enjoy.  I presume most are in that boat and do not have aspirations to play in the NFL.