MGoPodcast 5.18: Weird Guys Overcome

podcasts
2013-14 michigan state #2
 

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Take a bow, JMo. [Bryan Fuller]

MICHIGAN STATE

I repeat "PLAYIN' A  LOT OF WEIRD GUYS" about 60 times in a three minute span. Stauskas goes off, LeVert goes off, no respect for Jordan Morgan. Foot blisters.

FOOTBALL NEWS

Man, I don't feel good about this. Moving around all the assistants, trying Jake Ryan at MLB… smacks of desperation. Which I guess, yeah, they might want to be desperate now but these moves do not inspire confidence.

MUSIC

"Across 110th Street."
"People Got A Lot Of Nerve," Neko Case

The usual links:

Comments

FreddieMercuryHayes

February 24th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^

But Brian also has a point.  The SAM position Ryan has been playing, and is very good at, is very different from the MIKE position in terms of responsibility and how he must play.  And replacing Morgan is weird because he may have been the best LB on the team last year, and a lot of the 'poor' LB play last year can be put on the DL for not keeping them clean.  The decision to add another DB coach can be a good one considering UM is in nickel a ton these days, but the massive switches to positions coaches don't have nearly as much experience coaching seems...well desperate.  Not that this is always a bad thing.  Belein broomed his whole staff after year three in a desperate attempt to improve performance.  And that worked quite well.  Honestly, if Hoke/Mattison wasn't pleased with the position coaches, I would have prefered they just replaced them.

Joined: 12/29/2010

MGoPoints: 40856

blue in dc

February 24th, 2014 at 9:37 PM ^

It seems like they are trying to do a number of things: 1. dL has been a weak link. Part of this may have been having two, part time coaches rather than one full time coach. The DL was part of Mark Smith's responsibility for 14 years at Indiana State doesn't seem to be switching to an unqualified or inexperienced D-line coach 2. It seems that part of the adjustments that Mattison would like to make to address the teams spread problems involves using the linebackers differently. Mattison did coach linebackers in the NFL for a year so he appears to have some qualifications. It may make sense therefore for him to focus on linebackers since he is both qualified and has a vision for some changes there. 3. Mallory is still coaching safeties, so this isn't a big move. If there seems to be a suggestion that anyone isn't doing a good enough job, this seems it, snce Mallory is the only person taking what appears to be a reduction in responsibilities. I wonder if he' is either taking on other, or retaing some responsibilities that ate not clear from his title? For instance, maybe he'll be doing some mentoring of Manning at the cornerback coaching spot or he'll be taking on a bigger role coaching coverage teams? 4. Manning to cornerbaks. This is the one that seems the most out of the blue. However, if they really want Mattison to coach linebackers, and they think Manning is a very strong recruiter, maybe it's worth taking a chance, especially if Mallory will be looking over his shoulder? As for Ryan and Morgan, they are both in their fourth year with Mattison. If he has a different vision for how he wants to utilize his linebackers, he is working with alot of info about these particular players. I don't think Given his resume that Mattison is likely to be feeling desparate and that this is probably a plan he's given alot of thought too. It''s funny, I have almost the exact opposite reaction that Brian did. Given the amount of experience the team has coming back, it would have been easy to stand pat and say, we're going to get better just with more experience. Instead, I think Mattison sat down and said, What can I do to maximize tge potential of this defense. I think that these changes are not a sign of desperation but are instead a sign that next year's D is going to be alot more aggressive.

Joined: 01/22/2011

MGoPoints: 20401

Njia

February 24th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^

I'm not feeling great about it either, but it's not like last year's defense was tearing it up. If Hoke/Mattison think this was needed in order to improve, then let's all hope it's better than the status quo. 

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 35773

west2

February 24th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^

If they made no changes then everybody would be whoofing that they aren't doing anything.  Have we forgotten the Borges we didn't execute-do the same thing a million times approach.  Things were out of sync last year but they still managed to stumble to 7 wins.   I don't think Hoke is on the hot seat at all for this next season and if they manage 9-10 wins and beat one rival then there won't be any reason to even think he won't be around.  Obviously a repeat of this year, well lets not even talk about that....

Joined: 01/23/2011

MGoPoints: -998175

aiglick

February 24th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^

Let me try to reverse jinx this. This is the same Illinois team that just won at Minnesota so they have ability to upset people. Yeah Minnesota is not amazing this year but this was on their home court. Our team should take @Illinois but no road game is easy especially to a team that considers themselves your rival or something like that.

Joined: 11/27/2010

MGoPoints: 21418

uminks

February 25th, 2014 at 12:09 AM ^

If I went 7-6 after promising B1G championships, I would be changing shit up as well. It is desperation time, since he doesn't want to be on the hot seat in 2015. Though, I think he will be. I will be surprised if this team wins more than 8 games. But  you never know with Nuss in charge of the offense!

 

Joined: 11/10/2009

MGoPoints: 31973

Don

February 25th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

"Man, I don't feel good about this. Not moving around some assistants, not trying some position switches after a mediocre defensive season… smacks of naive cluelessness. Which I guess, yeah, that's what clueless people do, but the lack of changes do not inspire confidence."

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148237

BradP

February 25th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^

This would be somewhat applicable if the team was some indistinguishable blob of incompetence, but it isn't.  SAM and MIKE were two spots where the team wasn't broken, but that is what they are addressing with the personnel moves.

IMO, they are taking their strongest personnel away from the position where his skill is most productive, and putting him where he makes the defense possibly more sound, even though it takes away a good bit of the schematic advantage his superior talent provided.

Sounds to me like the defensive equivalent of the tackle-over formation.

Joined: 10/17/2010

MGoPoints: 770

B1G_Fan

February 25th, 2014 at 6:21 PM ^

 2 years ago Everybody thought Michigan had the best coaching staff in the Big ten and now they are clueless. I start each season with the same blind devotion as the last. I assume the coaching staff and the players will make the adjustments they need to. I've been wrong every year since 08 besides 2011 but, i'm still going to do it because this is Michigan...

Joined: 10/11/2012

MGoPoints: 3411