OT: MSU Promotes both Barnett and Tressel to DC

Submitted by alum96 on

From the smoke it sounded like Narduzzi wanted both Barrnett and Tressel to come to Pitt, and most of the MSU faithful thought 1 would go to Pitt to be Narduzzi's DC and then the other would remain at MSU to be DC.  Barnett was their DB coach and Tressel their LB coach.  Unfortunately Dantonio cut Narduzzi off at the balls and promoted both to DC.  So that makes both our conference rivals as teams with co-DCs.  In practice it sounds like Barnett will be the real DC as he was given Narduzzi's "assistant head coach" role.  Tressel sounds like he was (ahem) promoted simply to keep him away from Pitt.  New title, same job.

Have to give Dantonio credit for giving Narduzzi a big F-U and putting his program ahead of friendship.  I was hoping for more staff disruption with the Narduzzi move - both these guys have been with Dantonio for 11 years, as had Narduzzi.  Prretty unheard of at  a P5 conference nowadays.

CoachBP6

December 27th, 2014 at 6:46 PM ^

Michigan fans are all excited about him leaving, but Dantonio is the real DC, and they will be just as good as they have always been with him at the helm. I wouldn't have it any other way bc to be the best you must beat the best.

FauxMo

December 27th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^

So you think that Narduzzi was just a puppet? What about the 2013 coordinator of the year award (the Broyles, or whatever it is called) he won? I doubt the folks passing that out pick a lot of "puppet coordinators" to give the award.

I think MSU will feel the loss of Narduzzi a lot. The team won't fall apart, but I expect a drop-off in defensive play in years ahead.

michfanisbacka…

December 27th, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^

RR is one of CFB's best coaches too. I think we will have a great competitive rivalry with them and I think Harbaugh will bring us great success, but thumping our chest about how it will be the Big 12 and little 2 just makes us look like arrogant assholes. We haven't won a big ten title in over a decade. We have a serious need at QB and at the receiver position. Dantonio has built a heluva program we aren't just going to start dominating overnight.

 

Sorry I'll step out and let you all return to delusions of grandeur.

 

 

 

 

ThadMattasagoblin

December 27th, 2014 at 7:10 PM ^

What does not winning the big ten in a decade have to do with anything. Was Harbaugh our coach in that time frame? He took Stanford from 1-11 to 12-1 in four years. We are now at 5-7 which going by Harbaugh career trajectory, we should be back to 12-1 in two years and 9 wins this year. If other fanbases think we're arrogant assholes then good.

michfanisbacka…

December 27th, 2014 at 7:17 PM ^

because the point is during many of those years we were all predicting championships. Let's calm down and let it play out on the field. RR and Hoke had success at their other stops. JH hasn't even coached a game here yet. Right now we are like the old guy at the bar who challenges everyone to a fight and talks about how he will whoop your ass.

ThadMattasagoblin

December 27th, 2014 at 7:22 PM ^

Let's not kid ourselves RR and Hoke had about 10 percent of the success that Harbaugh had at other stops. Another example is Urban Meyer coming in to the school dwn south. Were they not allowed to think he'd take it to Hoke because Hoke had beaten Fickell the previous game?

alum96

December 27th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^

Well lets not let this devolve into the 198,128th RR thread but I think the perception of RR vs Hoke was very different before they got hired here.  Hoke would not have been hired here period if not for Michigan ties.  RR was a commodity that Bama was even sniffing.  In retrospect RR took advantage of a Big East that was "current Big 10 like" back then but they were different animals pre UM. 

Hoke basically had 2 very good years in 8 as a HC - neither in a "BCS conference".  RR was taking teams to BCS games.  One was considered an innovator on offense - the other was a cool Midwest DL coach.

alum96

December 27th, 2014 at 7:54 PM ^

I wasnt comparing RR to Harbaugh.

I was disputing RR and Hoke in the same basket.  They weren't.

And it was more than 1 yearr - RR went 11-1, 11-2, 10-2 his last 3 years at WVA.  All top 10 finishes nationally.  The 3 prior years were 9-4, 8-5, 8-5. 

Meanwhile, an 8-5 year for Hoke would be one of his top 3.

They are apples and oranges.  Let's be blunt - Brady Hoke had no good reason to be the HC at Michigan based on resume.  RR did.   Both didn't work out.

snarling wolverine

December 27th, 2014 at 7:37 PM ^

RichRod's a tricky guy to evaluate because he apparently is extremely dependent on Jeff Casteel as his DC.  All the success he's had as a head coach has come with Casteel.  Take Casteel out of the equation and RichRod's huge blind spot on the defensive side of the ball becomes glaring.

It doesn't seem that this is an issue for Harbaugh.  Yeah, he's had Roman for a long time as his OC, but he's also an offensive guy anyway, so that shouldn't matter.  When you think about  our recent coaches...

Carr - hired a lot of so-so assistants and was schematically inflexible

RichRod - awful on defense without Casteel

Hoke - awful on offense 

...I think Harbaugh will be the most "complete" coach we've had in a long time.  

 

 

alum96

December 27th, 2014 at 7:58 PM ^

Harbaugh's first 3 defenses at Stanford were bad.  He needs a good DC paired with him.  He had Fangio his last year at Stanford and his entire run at SF.  Fangio is very good.  Stanford's defense in year 4 was a massive upgrade.  So he has a blind spot just the same on defense.   You can say the same for Urban Meyer in fact - identifying good defensive talent is important for both, Urban has had guys like Whittingham and Strong over the years, some of the better defensive minds in the game.   Trick for those type of coaches is finding those type of guys - OSU D was not very good his first 2 years at OSU but the BIg 10 sucks so his offense was enough.  Now they got Ash to offset the mediocre Fickell and their D improved significantly this year.

HAIL-YEA

December 27th, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^

that he needs a good DC paired with him, but I think he will have that. Durkin and Mattison will be a good combo. The thing is, of course you want elite coordinators on the defensive side if you are an offensive coach, but can you identify and attract them. I think Harbaugh can, if it doesnt work out he will make changes. Schaffer was a good not great hire, he got poached and then Harbaugh made a bad hire. He moved on and hit a home run after that, he may not be able to duplicate that but he will get it right, the guy's a winner.

ThadMattasagoblin

December 27th, 2014 at 7:41 PM ^

Yes, he hasn't coached here yet but why do we need to take it back a notch? What does it matter what we think? Let's say I'm wrong and Harbaugh sucks here and goes 4-8 every year. Does it really matter that I as a fan thought that he would be a gamechanger as head coach? 

Bodogblog

December 27th, 2014 at 8:26 PM ^

My point is that Michigan had bad coaches for the last 7 years, and that's changing. Your point is that Dant is a good coach, that's why Sparty is good now. I agree. If we have a better coach, we can expect to be better. I think Harbaugh is better. And with the built in advantages Michigan has over MSU, we should expect to eclipse them again soon. I think that's what the general gist of the board is.

RedGreene

December 27th, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^

Michigan might be getting a coach who played for UM, turned around Stanford in 4 years and currently has the highest winning percentage of all active NFL coaches.  In addition, he's probably the most sought after coach in all of football.  

So please STFU and let people enjoy the process.  

Also, if y

ou don't think Harbaugh will own Dantonio, you don't know squat about football.

Tagg

December 27th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^

No where does the poster say RR was great at Michigan. Actually your post somewhat backs up his point that until a coach gets here we really have no clue how they will do. I understand the excitement but folks need to dial it back a little and not expect playoff berths in 1-2 years. If they happen great if not and it ends up being 9-10 wins after three years no one should panic.

snarling wolverine

December 27th, 2014 at 7:50 PM ^

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see anyone predicting a playoff berth next year.  You and the other guy are beating up a straw man.

Seriously, let people be excited.  We are about to make one of the most unprecedented hires in college football history - hiring a coveted NFL coach at the top of his game.  It's awesome and fully worthy of excitement.

 

snarling wolverine

December 27th, 2014 at 9:20 PM ^

Pull it together man.

If people want to be happy, let them be happy.  Again, it cannot be stressed what a coup a Harbaugh hire is.  This is nothing like RichRod coming here.  That kind of hire happens in CFB  every offseason.  This is the NFL's hottest coach coming to college.  It's awesome.  People absolutely should be ecstatic.  If some people are getting carried away, hey, it's December - they have nine months to sober up.

 

 

alum96

December 27th, 2014 at 7:24 PM ^

MSU is not going to suck until Dantonio retires.  Dude is a quality coach.

But I want to see them dropped a peg down from a 10-11 win team to a 8-9 win team and fighting PSU and Franklin for the coveted 3rd spot in the East rather than fighting OSU for the first spot.  We need to do our part on making that happen, and it begins Tuesday.

Then when Dantonio retires I look forward to MSU returning to its rightful spot.  As Illinois.

Double-D

December 27th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^

evolved from Narduzzi. Dantonio is a good delegator. There is no way losing Narduzzi does not present some challenges. I think Harbaugh is much more innovative than Dantonio can ever and he will have more talent to play with.

Smart move promoting both. I was hoping to lose one of them.

ThadMattasagoblin

December 27th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^

Narduzzi was the brains for the cover 2 not Dantonio. Also, the defense did struggle this year and couldn't adjust against Oregon and Ohio State. Losing his top assistant will hurt more than keeping him would. Also, Dantonio did promote Rouchar internally after Treadwell left so it's not a given that they'll just plug away as if nothing happened.

alum96

December 27th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^

Very fair statements.  One coach is not just plug n play with another.

Narduzzi wanted more emphasis on speed which Dantonio at first didnt want at MSU - he was ironically more of a Hoke style type defensive coach in what he wanted on the field.  So MSU's recruiting changed to recruiting faster athletes and then they "built them up" with size/strength over the years.  Also why so few FR SO play at MSU.  And they redshirt almost everyone. 

Narduzzi also was the press quarters guy.  That said that system is now ingrained so its not like they don't all know it by now.

MSSchnepp

December 27th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^

Dantonio, a branch off the Saban and J. Tressel coaching tree, has a national championship ring from his time as a DC. His defensive chops are for reals. Additionally,  Mike Tressel (just promoted to DC at MSU) was his GA during that 2002 championship. You're likely pretty off-base if you think MSU's D is likely to go anywhere as long as Dantonio is head coach. You sound nearly as unreasonable and sophmoric here as the OSU and MSU fans downplaying the Harbaugh hire. It's perfectly ok to give credit where credit is due and still be a Michigan fan.

The Harbaugh, Meyer, Dantonio B1G East trifecta, will represent some of the best coaching and rivalry storylines in all of college football. Gamefaces.

ThadMattasagoblin

December 27th, 2014 at 7:36 PM ^

I said that there's a chance that they will struggle without Narduzzi which is not an unreasonable position when any team loses a successful assistant. At the end of the day it doesn't matter whether you think Harbaugh would change the tide of the rivalry or that it would be status quo and Dantonio would still beat Harbaugh. The team's performance is what matters not fanbase opinions.

coldnjl

December 27th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^

If that was the case, then why did MSU with a tight assistant coach salary structure break the bank (~900K a year making him one of the highest paid assistants in the B1G) to keep a coordinator who was essentially a figure head?

 

Franz Schubert

December 27th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^

Narduzzi was the architect of that defense which is different from the one Dantonio ran at Cinn, and OSU. Now of course Dantanio is a very good defensive coordinator so they will be good but not the same aggressive style. Narduzzi is beyond intense and his mentality which was displayed by the MSU team will not be anywhere near the same without him. Huge loss to that program.

Wool Vereen

December 28th, 2014 at 1:15 AM ^

Dont know if I'd say dantonio was the real DC.  Both seem to be knowledgable coaches.  But as far ae tempering excitement goes, yes, msu will be fine.  And I would prefer to beat teams at full strength too, it makes victories that much sweeter.

 

The long play I dont think people are considering is that Narduzzi was always being groomed as the msu successor unless he found a good HC job.  But, think, if dantonio retires within the next few years, who you think is gonna want to come back and continue what theyve built

msu is gonna be msu for a long time, and i'm quite fine with that

 

snarling wolverine

December 27th, 2014 at 6:49 PM ^

Actually I think this is a pretty uninspired move by Dantonio.  Presented with the chance to hire an ace DC from another program, he's promoting a couple of position coaches, neither of whom has DC experience.  Failing to bring in fresh blood is what can cause programs to stagnate.