Random conversation with MSU Coach
Sorry if this is a bit long. Hope it's worth the read.
Somewhere nearing the end of my 27 hour trip home from Korea Thursday I emerged from semi-consciousness to hear the man seated behind me (waiting for the same flight to DTW from Newark) cursing tOSU and railing on how much they suck. I turned to notice that this man was garbed entirely in MSU gear. Cap one shirt. Cap One Bowl Ring. MSU bag. Leather Belt with little gold metal S's going all the way around. Together it all looked ridiculous. So, there's no way he could be anything other than a football coach. The pilot/tOSU fan he was cursing noted that he should probably turn his attention to me (I was in a Michigan hoodie) which he did. After he talked some trash we actually settled into something resembling conversation. Things of note:
-Rich Rodriguez is an idiot
-No way we can win with a true freshman QB (Henne's success was apparently due to the running game in 04)
-Our system puts too much pressure on a freshman for him to be successful
-We lacked a vertical passing game last year, and it killed our offense
-Recruiting is going really well for them, and they're looking forward to getting all the freshman in soon
Those are specific talking points, but the in the broader sense I got the feeling that he really expects us to be just as bad this year. Maybe it's part of the coaches persona to be proud, outspoken, and infinitely confident in his own guys, I don't know. But we were talking specifically about Michigan, and the complete lack of respect struck me as odd. While State fans aren't above low digs, I think most of them admit that it won't be long until we're back in the chase. And I feel like most coaches are even more safe about how they speak of opponents. I wish I had been less travel delirious and able to ask more in-depth questions, but that's all I was able to really get.
So, do you think this is specific to this coach, or might we have the opportunity to surprise several coaching staffs this year? And will the oft referenced "pride before the fall" now be on the other foot? How might the psychology of playing as an underdog (even in the minds of other coaches) affect us this year?
To be sure he seemed like a nice enough guy, intense and confident (bordering on arrogant), but nice:
http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/narduzzi_pat00.html
I wouldn't expect any team's coaches no matter where they are on the staff to be soft, or even reasonable, towards a competitor no matter the team.
Especially after the season probable to be the high point of Dantonio's career there.
Henne was successful in part because of AA WR Braylon Edwards. Watch the MSU game for proof.
Why does he think RR is an idiot?
Because he didn't go to Michigan.
A+++++
since the haters had the opportunity to rip on UM for a losing season. Don't expect it to stop until the W's are in the book.
I hate these Spartans fans/coaches who think that they're so much better than Michigan because they beat us last year.
Double post.
...was the guy that tried to throw down with our marching band. So I'm not sure his feelings should be used as much of a barometer on anything other than "how close is he to strangling a hooker."
Which band member is a hooker?
It's the one person who looks like both a guy and a girl.
Seems to me you would have to be fairly close to strangle a hooker or anyone else, unless you are a stud tackle with the requisite long arms.
On a related note, I see the term "douche bag" often on this blog so you all must know alot about them. In terms of pad level who has to be more diligent a lineman or a douche bag?
was horrible.
Thank you very much. I love you all.
Pat Narduzzi thinks Rich Rodriguez is an idiot. I should have stopped reading after that.
A quick glance at Narduzzi's bio makes it look like he transferred from Youngstown State to Rhode Island when Jim Tressel took the YSU job. I wonder if there is a good story there?
Wasn't Pat White a frosh when the WVU offense kicked the crap outta Georgia in the Sugar Bowl?
Yes. Narduzzi is a douche.
This guy sounds so ridiculous looking (gold metal S's on his leather belt?!!?) that it's more likely that you were talking to some rich, know-it-all booster and not a coach, but hey, who knows?
Ike, no offense, but I really doubt this guy was a coach. First, every time I've seen a photo of assistant or head coaches away from the field—from any program—they're dressed pretty normally. They may be wearing a team polo shirt or a tie with the school colors, but other than than they're not wearing the jackass getup this guy was.
I also think it's unlikely an assistant at a major conference program like MSU is going to so openly and thoroughly trash talk their major instate rival—especially the head coach—to anybody outside their own staff. They know the last thing they need to be doing is providing bulletin-board motivation for the team they hate the most.
I also wonder what an assistant would be doing on a long trip to Korea, given that staffs all over the country are busy recruiting and getting ready for the upcoming season. Maybe there's a stud QB in Seoul the Sparties are going after....
But, like Barwis said, who knows?
Cosign
The alleged coach wasn't coming from Korea, he was on the the leg from Newark to DTW.
I'm guessing it is who he says it is - otherwise it's a pretty big coincidence that the guy decked out in MSU gear just happens to look a lot like the MSU defensive coordinator.
I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the guy didn't actually call Rodriguez "an idiot" or say that we'll be worse this year with a true freshman QB.
I'm guessing some of the conversation has been spiced up/simplified to make it shorter and more fun.
if the coach were from any other school, or worked for any douche other than Mark Dantonio.
Michigan's arrow is pointing straight up - they finally have a dual threat QB to run this offense. They have a line that is starting to get the blocking schemes. They have two (maybe three if Grady gets to play) Senior running backs, and a good fullback. They have an improving defense that should be more sound at the back end. MSU has lost a good senior QB, lost about 75% of their offense (Ringer) and their defense is depleted as well. I don't see how MSU will be better this year. The sun even shines on a dog's ass every once in a while, and last year it was bright for a moment. This year is payback. Go Blue!!
When you've hit rock bottom, you don't get to use the (technically correct) argument that your arrow is pointing "straight up". There's nowhere else to go. A 4-8 season would be a moderate improvement.
for us. Its good we have you here to draw upon all of your experience as an MSU fan.
Thanks.
anybody, I bet we will have at least one victory over a much more highly-regarded opponent this year. Most of the rest of the country doesn't think much of the program and team right now. Maybe that's for good reason, but I think the opinions of those outside the program might be lagging indicators. I hope that victory is over Ohio State.
I also think we'll probably have a loss to a lesser-regarded opponent too. Hope to God it's not Delaware St. or Eastern.
As to whether the guy is a coach or not, if he matches Narduzzi's photos, then it's Narduzzi. Anybody who wears a belt with gold crap all over it is a doofus. I would expect nothing less from a Sparty.
season there was very little variability. This went for Moeller and Carr's tenure as well. With the exception of 1984 (6-6) and 2005 (7-5), and 1973 (10-0-1) and 1997 (12-0), the final record for each season ranged from 8-4 (7 times, 0.667 winning percentage) to 10-1-1 and 9-0-3 (1985 and 1992, both 0.875). This is an incredibly small variance for 30 seasons.
Most every season seemed like I had seen it before, only the names had changed. Every preseason, we knew we would win most of our games, get upset once, win against a very good opponent, and maybe lose a road game against a good opponent (at a Pac-10 team or at Wisconsin, Illinois or MSU).
After last season, and considering the issues on defense and QB, and throw in the random nature of injuries, this season is virtually impossible to foresee. For me, the easiest prediction is 6-6; you really can't be too far off either way.
Fair enough. I'll give you more advice.
Believing you'll go from 3-9 to national champions in a few years is absurd. You're deluding yourselves. Content yourselves with mediocrity, just like we had to do.
Meanwhile, I'll try to become as arrogant as you folks used to be. I could get used to this. Couldn't you, Big Brother?
Doctor Worm,
From what position of authority are you speaking? Are you going to be arrogant based on your 1-game winning streak in this series? Are you going to be arrogant based on your 20-33-2 record against UM? Are you going to be arrogant based on your coach being better than Rich Rodriguez? What, exactly, could you possibly be arrogant about?
Michigan is better than MSU at football. Maybe not last year, maybe not this year. But you lose more often than you win. Coming here to gloat is asinine if you're an MSU fan.
"Michigan is better than MSU at football," you say, followed by "maybe not last year, maybe not this year". Why do you say "is", then? That suggests that Michigan is currently better. Are you referring to history? Accomplishments made in the leather helmet days? The next sentence confirms you're referring to the past. "You lose more often than you win". So? If MSU wins the next ten games in the series, wins four Big Ten championships, and wins the national championship, all while Michigan is a perennial 3-9, 4-8 team, Michigan would still be a better football team, by your definition.
The line you're looking for there is "Michigan was better than MSU at football", and when you put it that way, it sounds stupid, doesn't it? Hell, you could go all out and say "Michigan will be better than MSU at football", even though you don't have any proof. Even with that, who cares? I'll die one day, too. Does that mean I'm dead now? Shouldn't I enjoy life while I have it, then? And shouldn't I enjoy MSU's superiority while we have it?
i tell all state fans that. However, I don't think either team wore leather helmets during this past decade, in which State has 2 wins in the series.
You've derived a lot of confidence from a one-game winning streak. Suddenly MSU is a better football program than Michigan's...
It's like saying "Buster Douglas is a better fighter than Mike Tyson" back in 1988 (or '89 or whenever that was). Douglas wasn't a better boxer; he just happened to beat Tyson that day.
You lost in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. You won in 2008 when we had a coaching change and our players didn't fit the new system. That's a hell of an accomplishment. You must be very proud.
How "absurd" to think we could go from 3-9 to national champs in a few years:
OK - 2000 National Champs, preceded by 3-8 (1996), 4-8 (1997), 5-6 (1998), 7-5 (1999)
USC - 2004 National Champs, preceded by 6-6 (1999), 5-7 (2000), 6-6 (2001)
Or, if you'd prefer:
WVU - 2001 (RichRod's first season) - 3-8
2005 - 11-1, #5 in end-of-season poll following win in BCS bowl (Sugar)
Remind me about MSU's last win (or appearance) in a BCS bowl? Or why you use the past tense to refer to your mediocrity?
Good points. Yes, there are precedents for that sort of thing. But is it the norm? The thing I marvel at is that Michigan fans expect this to happen. They don't just hope for it, they believe it's inevitable because it has precedent.
You think it's absurd for me to expect to win the lottery? History says there are indeed lottery winners.
http://www.lotteryuniverse.com/biggest_lottery_winners.aspx
I can't wait to brag about my millions.
You personally have never been a lottery winner. Both Michigan and Rich Rodriguez have had much much success. There is a huge difference and you seem to be failing to grasp that concept.
Yes, to an MSU fan, I can see why winning the national championship and winning the lottery would seem comparable. Strangely enough, there IS a connection between sustained excellence in a program and the fans' expectation of further excellence. Funny how that works.
Well, I'll be darned. I forgot about the slew of Michigan national championships in the past decade. "Sustained excellence", indeed. "Fans' expectation of further excellence". Haha. If you expected to get back to perpetual second place in the Big Ten, sure, that's legitimate. But national champions? Give me a break.You guys are just unreal sometimes.
Until last year, Michigan had over 40 consecutive seasons without a losing record, and finished in first place in the Big Ten 21 times during that period. Oh and had held the NCAA active record for most consecutive seasons playing in a bowl game. Add a National Championship in there, and a couple of Heismans over the past two decades, and I'd say that fits the definition of "sustained excellence." Not that I'd expect a Spartan to recognize it when he sees it.
"Sustained excellence" only applies if you have "a slew" of national championships over the course of a decade??? I guess if you can't achieve excellence yourself, at least you can define it in such a way that pretty much nobody else can claim it either. I'd say it's a clever move, but I think it'd be giving you too much credit to think that your post was that well thought out.
Hell, if you're going to bring up the past like it's somehow relevant to today, Michigan State was a phenomenal program in the 50s and 60s. See, we can achieve excellence too. Based on that, I predict that we will be national championship contenders in the next few years.
By the way, you "had held" the NCAA record for the bowl games. All these past tense words in describing this "sustained excellence" of yours really takes some of the credibility out of your point. Besides, going to the Emerald Bowl or the Motor City Bowl isn't exactly a mark of excellence. Bowl streaks are cake to uphold if a team is at least mediocre. But yeah, the qualifier "until last year" at the very beginning of your post says it all. You were good. You aren't any more.
DoctorWorm,
What, exactly, is your point? You keep calling us lame because we're "living in the past"...but YOU'RE the one who spends a significant amount of time on our message board.
On top of that, once again, you're on a ONE GAME winning streak against us. What do you have to be cocky about?
Hey, consider that Michigan had a period of sustained excellence without hardly any change prior to last year. It affects recruiting and it affects the feel of the program, not the distant past (50's - 60's) but the recent past. Recruits grew up watching Michigan succeed. JT Turner siad he wanted to be like Charles Woodson. Players know that Michigan was good and if good players come to Michigan, Michigan will be good.
MSU's "phenomenal program" in the 50s and 60s:
129-55-4, winning percentage of 70.1%
2 conference championships, 1 co-champs
(incidentally, this period of "excellence" included seasons of 3-6 (1954), 3-5-1 (1958), 4-5 (1964 -- year before MSU's last national championship -- but, oh, I forgot, you can't expect that kind of turnaround that quickly), 3-7 (1967), and 4-6 (1969))
Michigan football from 1990-present (including last year):
169-62-3, winning percentage of 73.2%
4 conference championships, 4 co-champs
By my calculation, Michigan could go 2-10 this year and still exceed MSU's winning percentage during its "phenomenal" phase -- how foolish of us to think of that as "excellence."
Perhaps you need to go talk to your grandpa to get an idea what it would be like to be a Michigan fan in 2009. Or, at least study up on your own program.
Of course I used the past tense, and considered time up "until last year." That's the period of "sustained excellence" that you were questioning. I'm not sure how I can demonstrate that Michigan had demonstrated sustained excellence without looking at the past. If you can tell me how to demonstrate sustained excellence only looking at the present, I'd be more than happy to hear it, because it seems like it would have to ignore the word "sustained." It looks like that MSU degree is serving you well.
Regardless, if Narduzzi so much as attempted to make RR seem like an idiot then he is a joke. Narduzzi is a no name in the coaching ranks and hasn't accomplished a thing.
Pride comes before the fall. (no pun intended)