OT: MSU FB Loses Two More Commits

Submitted by FauxMo on

After losing Naquan Jones (4* DT) yesterday, MSU has lost two other players today: Jonah Morris (3* OLB), and Abdul Adams (3* RB). They have dropped down to #15 in 247's composite rankings for the 2016 recruiting class. UM's class is now ranked higher by Scout, Rivals, and 247.

Can this all be blowback from the Nebraska game? That seems unlikely. But that's a lot to lose in 24 hours for apparently unrelated reasons.

P.S. I know, we/I should absolutely not care about MSU's recruiting, I sound like they do with Little Brother Complex, etc. I, personally, find this information interesting and think others might too...

Tater

November 11th, 2015 at 5:55 PM ^

Like it or not, "we" share a state with Sparty.  What affects Sparty in recruiting affects Michigan in recruiting.  When you take into consideration that Michigan is Sparty's only true "rivalry game" and that they play it like it had life and death ramifications, Sparty's ability to put elite players on the field is always relevant to Michigan.  

Considering how much trash Sparty coaches, players and fans have talked for the past eight years, we have every right to be happy whenever a Sparty NOOOO moment happens, on or off the field.

 

M-Dog

November 11th, 2015 at 5:35 PM ^

This seems more like it.  Recruits are not going to walk away from an undefeated team just because it loses one close game on the road (even a close game that was so AWESOME in it's 3-way shared incompetence of MSU, NEB, and the REFs . . . but I digress).

There is something else going on up there beyond just the Nebraska game..

Dawkins

November 11th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^

This was posted about in the Naquan Jones thread. Not sure why all these guys would be bailing suddenly. I've seen speculation that it has to do with the S. Carolina job opening but Dantonio wouldn't leave MSU. Michigan State is literally going to build a statue of the guy for almost getting them to the college football playoff that one time. 

ghost

November 11th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^

Please don't start suggesting USC would go after Dantonio.  He does not fit the culture there at all and USC will be going after guys with bigger upsides.  Also you can't play the disrespect  at SC.

MI Expat NY

November 11th, 2015 at 5:27 PM ^

You can play the disrespect card just about anywhere, and you certainly could at South Carolina.  "Everyone loves Clemson."  "Clemson didn't want you guys."  "Georgia or Florida is crowned SEC East champ every season before the games are played."  "Nobody picks us to win."  

I'm not sure what part of the culture he doesn't fit.  He did play there.  The only thing I can say is that he has coached his entire career north of the mason dixon line.

ijohnb

November 12th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^

but I don't think he would go down there.  SC is a tough job and is really a second, bordering on third tier SEC job.  I think it is possible that Narduzzi is in line to get a look from USC(that other USC), Miami, Virginia Tech, etc., and other open jobs that could be long term stays and that D'Antonio may be asked to step aside earlier than expected to get him back before he does.  In this scenario, D'Antoinette would be sacrificing a couple of guys that literally committed because he was the coach to ensure the program continues his footprint with Narduzzi.  I think that could be real.

lilpenny1316

November 11th, 2015 at 5:02 PM ^

...but I mean it would still be a huge surprise.  His likely best shot at a national title is graduating this year.  Combine that with OSU and Michigan going nowhere, I can see him leaving for an easier division in the SEC East.  Plus the $$$ that can be thrown his way will probably beat anything MSU could offer.

Rabbit21

November 11th, 2015 at 5:12 PM ^

Tennessee, Florida, and Gerogia all say Hi!

The SEC East isn't great right now, true, but it won't always be down and has three teams that are pretty even with Michigan, Ohio St. and Penn. St,. in terms of tradition and resources available.  Leaving his situation at MSU for a rebuilding job at S. Car. where the overall competitive environment is arguably worse doesn't seem like a great move.  I'd love for Dantonio to go his merry way, but I think we're stuck with him until he retires or the OSU job miraculously opens up.

MI Expat NY

November 11th, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^

Is it really easier?  Or better question, is it really easier for South Carolina than it is for Michigan State?  I'd call Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State vs. Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee a wash even though Ohio State has clearly been the best team of that bunch over the last four seasons.  Kentucky and Vanderbilt is no worse than Indiana and Rutgers.  And Missouri is better than Maryland.  Then top it off by having to beat the SEC west champion which is more difficult than the Big Ten west champion.  

You can argue on some of the indivisual rankings, but the reason why the Big Ten west is strong recently is because MSU has been good.  Pull them and South Carolina out of their respectie divisions and you're left with two traditional powers that should be competitive nationally year in and year out, one former power that may or may not be rising back towards their heights, and not much else to speak of.  At that point, the difference is that Missouri has actually done some things in the last 10 years, compared to Maryland, Rutgers, or Indiana.  

And none of that factors in that the in-state power isn't even in his own conference.  At MSU, at least he gets to combine one of the division powers with the in-state power.  

If he leaves for South Carolina, it won't be for an easier path.  It will be for love for his alma mater and/or money.  

MI Expat NY

November 11th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^

There's still only so high both programs can be every year.  And that's not going to be consistently much higher than two of Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.  I agree that both coaches are individually better than anything in the SEC East, but they're still contrained by roster flux, injuries, etc.  

Nick Saban is far and away the best coach in the SEC West, but he's only won his division half the time.  

ghost

November 11th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^

The Vols have not been good in a long time.  Georgia and Tenn are in very talent laden states. Tenn is not that.  Florida and Georgia do not have coaches with the star power of Harbaugh and Meyer.  They just don't.  The Gators are also the clear #2 in Florida to FSU.

TrueBlue2003

November 11th, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

because Florida has to compete with Miami and FSU when those programs have good coaches. OSU will always get their pick of highly talented Ohio players regardless of coach.  They both have nearly equal (and limitless) ceilings when they have a good coach. So for an in-division rival, long-term, OSU > Florida.

Georgia for similar reasons probably has a higher floor than Michigan, but it seems like Michigan has a higher ceiling than Georgia for it's abiliy to attract the best of best nationally, when Mich has a great coach.  Will be interesting to see what happens with GA post-Richt.  He's been one of those steady Fulmer, Carr type guys that goes 9-3, 10-2 every year. So let's conservatively say M = GA.

Tenn hasn't been good in a long time, they've whiffed on a lot of coaches recently.  Yes, they had looked nearly identical to M for the 20 years before this season, but I'm not sure where they're getting the national guy that MI and (similarly) ND got to return them to the upper echelon.  PSU has better in-state talent and better national history, and probably an easier time getting a top level coach when sanctions aren't hanging around.  PSU > Tenn.

So for a fourth team in the Big Ten East or SEC East, you're gonna have a harder time competing with the the top three teams in the Big Ten East, year-in, year-out, IMO.

Of course, if you win the div, you'll tend to have a MUCH easier title game coming from the Big Ten East than SEC East. So I'd say MSU = SC in terms of div and conf competitiveness.

doggdetroit

November 11th, 2015 at 5:32 PM ^

Moving to South Carolina would be a lateral move. The B1G East is basically the same as the SEC East. And I don't think South Carolina is going to shell out Nick Saban type money for Dantonio or anyone. Spurrier was making around $4M. Dantanio makes around $3.7M. would they go over $5M to get him? Maybe. Would MSU match it? I think so. He's the best coach MSU has had in the modern era.



In the SEC East you have Georgia and Florida as the two big dogs. In the B1G East you have Michigan and Ohio State as the two big dogs. When these four are operating at full capacity, they will be hard to beat.



In the next tier of the SEC East you have Tennessee and South Carolina. In the next tier of the B1G East you have Penn State and Michigan State. Tennessee and Penn State both have tradition and resources but have fallen from grace in recent times. South Carolina and Michigan State have had a lot of recent succes, in some cases more than their in state rival. However, in football they are both second to that in state rival.



In the third tier of the SEC East, you have Missouri. In the third tier of the B1G East, you have Maryland and Rutgers. Missouri has some potential as do Maryland and Rutgers. But most of the time you are going to be fighting a losing battle if the teams in the first and second tiers are operating at full capacity.  



In the fourth tier of the SEC East, you have Kentucky and Vanderbilt. In the fourth tier of the B1G East, you have Indiana. UK and IU are basketball schools and Vanderbilt is just bad.



In the end, the B1G East may be slightly superior since it only has one hopeless program whereas the SEC East has two, but the SEC East has the better recruiting. Overall, it's a wash. 

snarling wolverine

November 11th, 2015 at 5:46 PM ^

I think people are looking at this from too analytical of a perspective. South Carolina is his alma mater. If he feels a strong pull to coach at the school he played at, he'll make the move. If not he'll stay at MSU. I don't think it will come down to a nitty-gritty analysis of scheduling and whatnot.

doggdetroit

November 11th, 2015 at 7:59 PM ^

Well it is his alma mater but I don't think the connection is very strong. He grew up in Ohio and has spend his entire coaching career, 30+ years, in the Midwest. This is not a situation like Harbaugh who grew up in Ann Arbor and whose dad was an assistant coach at UM. That's why it's important to look at other factors.

Brodie

November 13th, 2015 at 11:20 PM ^

People feel strong connections to their alma maters regardless of where they grew up or where they lived after graduation. That being said, the South Carolina teams of the early 70's and the South Carolina teams of today have little in common... after all, he was playing in a Williams-Brice Stadium that is half of it's current size against a schedule of mostly ACC also rans.