Stringer Bell

January 6th, 2016 at 9:52 PM ^

Urban Meyer teaches you how to break the law without getting caught (featuring guest speaker Cris Carter talking about having "fall guys")

MSU just parades a bunch of former coaches turned national pundits to intentionally mispronounce Mike Deanthony's name.

Joined: 11/06/2014

MGoPoints: 52886

phork

January 7th, 2016 at 8:33 AM ^

2 years ago ND had Belichek, Marvin Lewis, Trestman, Sam Wyche and Chris Ault.  I haven't been back since but that was awesome. Going back this year.

And looking at this year its Mack Brown, Ron Rivera, Rod Marinelli and Bill O'Brien.

Joined: 11/01/2009

MGoPoints: 4486

Indonacious

January 6th, 2016 at 10:05 PM ^

Hey Guys...having Coach Harbaugh is pretty sweet. Love the casual "and the entire baltimore ravens staff" mention. This is a ridiculous group in attendance for a local high school coaches clinic. I'm curious what other schools like OSU or Bama put on for their clinics.

Joined: 01/03/2012

MGoPoints: 16597

MotownGoBlue

January 6th, 2016 at 10:33 PM ^

Actually I think it was Faulk, Bruce, Holt, Hakim, Proehl and Warner that brought the goods. That talent, working together (pretty damn good LT protecting Warner's blindside as well) could make any good coach look great. For the record, Martz has a great offensive mind and orchestrated that show, but he had some serious talent to work with.

Joined: 08/09/2014

MGoPoints: 25343

stephenrjking

January 6th, 2016 at 10:24 PM ^

Martz had an uneven late NFL career. Things certainly weren't great in Detroit, although I think we can all agree that he was far from the only problem there.

But the Greatest Show on Turf era in St. Louis was one of the most exciting football teams I've ever watched. You had the incredible QB story in Kurt Warner (SI cover five games into the stunning '99 season: "Who Is This Guy?"). You had astonishing receiver speed and talent in Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, and Az Hakim. The first game of the 2000 season, against Denver, two guys racing each other to the end zone after absolutely burning the Broncos D. You had the magnificent two-way Marshall Faulk. You had the aggressive, somewhat revolutionary downfield passing game (principles of which have become commonplace now but were unheard of then). You had the mad genius play designs, the installs of dozens or over a hundred new plays weekly. The track meet shootout games when the D was bad, and the two epic Super Bowls when the whole team was great.

And the moments... unforgettable. The Az-Zahir Hakeem end-around option play that pitched to Trung Canidate for a TD. The cheese late onside kick in a blowout against the Jets. That game where the placekicker got hurt, so they just went for two after every TD and made most of them. The deliberate use of irony in a play design, having Kurt Warner throw off his chin strap in mock frustration and walk toward the sideline (as he had so many other times due to playcall issues) while snapping it to Faulk and running for a first down.

They were must-watch football every week. I have never seen an NFL team, before or since, with such an amazing combination of talent, attitude, and revolutionary brilliance in one package. Nothing was as fun. Only a few college teams, like the Chip Kelly era Ducks, have exceeded them in compelling neutral watchability.

The NFL caught up to him, and he could never repeat that success elsewhere, but for three-plus glorious years there was nothing like them anywhere.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143524

NittanyFan

January 7th, 2016 at 12:20 AM ^

The most dominant team in that era, the out-of-nowhere 1999 Rams, won zero (!!!) games in the regular season against teams with winning records.  Barely beat the Bucs in the NFC Title game --- much forgotten is that Tampa had a Bert Emanuel catch overruled (the catch would be a catch via today's rules) that would have given them a 1st-and-10 inside the Rams 15 with less than a minute left.

2000 Rams only made the playoffs because of the infamous Christmas Eve Paul Edinger FG for the Bears against the Lions.  Then lost right away to New Orleans anyway.  That was the Saints' first ever playoff win.  In fairness, Warner did get hurt for part of the 2000 season, though Trent Green played pretty well himself as the sub.

2001 Rams had the shocking loss to New England in the Super Bowl.  Warner had some very costly INTs in that game.

I don't know --- I enjoyed the 1999-2001 Rams like you did, but I do think they are slightly over-rated.  The 1998 Minnesota Vikings were MORE offensively explosive, IMO, but sort of get forgotten historically because they couldn't get it done in that NFC title game against the Falcons.

Joined: 12/04/2012

MGoPoints: 43048

stephenrjking

January 7th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

Not sure what your point is here, other than perhaps some vague sour grapes. You call the 1999 team the "most dominant," but the 01 team had a better record (14-2). You mention that the 2000 team barely made the playoffs, but they were a hardly-lousy 10-6 and struggled because they had (for that one season) a wretched defense that pressured the offense to produce in every game. As for the 1999 team, I don't know of anyone who watched the TB game that doesn't remember the Emanuel "catch," particularly since that was the primary driver for changing the catch rule involved. And you mention the 1998 Vikings, who were indeed spectacular but were much more of a one-off than the Greatest Show, as proven by the Rams high-scoring trouncing of that team the very next season (you know, 1999) in the playoffs. The Vikings were great, but their greatness was based mostly on generational talent rather than a remarkable scheme or mentality. And yes, they are hurt by their failure to make a Super Bowl; the Greatest Show made two, won one, and lost the other under circumstances later found to be controversial. But the central thesis you seem to be backing is that they were "overrated." I'm not sure what you mean--nobody that I know considers them to occupy the same space as the Belichek-Brady Patriots, or the 90s Cowboys, or the Montana-Young 49ers, or the Steel Curtain Steelers, and so on. But they most certainly were spectacular and memorable, in ways that few teams have ever equaled, and they did win a (classic) Super Bowl. And nothing about that is overrated.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143524

OdeToBo

January 6th, 2016 at 10:23 PM ^

Actually been to an MSU football clinic. Much smaller scale than UM but I've sat in position meetings, watched film with individual coaches, and had Narduzzi X and O based on questions asked. He actually showed some pretty cool schemes that I don't think are shared at a big clinic. As much as I dislike Sparty, I came away impressed with what they were willing to share. But...still can't beat the mystique of UM or sitting in the Big House suites asking Greg Mattison questions and having him telling you how he teaches DL technique.

Joined: 03/27/2013

MGoPoints: 159