jsquigg

January 15th, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^

All narrative drivel to make commentators and journalists sound smarter than they actually are as they react to Clemson winning in unexpected fashion. Consistency is great until your staff stops adapting and then the narrative changes.  Might as well go with Dabo's impossible to disprove narrative of God willing Clemson's success.  The actual difficult journalism task would be to turn over the rock to see the under belly of Clemson's seedy recruiting and performance enhancing practices.  I have no doubt that Dabo is just a smarter version of Hugh Freeze, and smarter only in that he knows how to use sleight of hand better.  The NCAA doesn't give a shit as long as you don't blare your indiscretions publicly, and even if it is public, sometimes they still don't care (see: Alabama, Ohio State, MSU {LOL}, etc.).

Frank Chuck

January 16th, 2019 at 7:07 AM ^

Defense gave up 55.

However, the game was 27-19 in the 3rd quarter and the offense couldn't keep pace. Offense shares some blame too in not being capable of winning shootouts.

We saw the same thing against Florida. Score was 27-10 and offense couldn't keep up with Mullen's offense.

Twitch

January 15th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^

I'm thinking that's why the last four hires we have had are great recruiters (Moore, Washington, Gattis, and Campanile).  The simple answer on defense was we just weren't talented enough. We tried adjusting and were still burnt.  I'm also thinking bringing in Campanile possibly relates to him being able to coach zone coverage.  Just a thought is all.

You Only Live Twice

January 15th, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^

20-minute chewing out?  Is that why Enos packed up his office and slunk out before Saban knew anything?  At least Gattis showed some fortitude.

ijohnb

January 15th, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^

I could take about 20 seconds of verbal lashing from Nick Saban before I would lash out him violently and primitively, foaming mouth and such.

Honk if Ufer M…

January 15th, 2019 at 12:23 PM ^

What other ism's share the plate with your heightism, JPC? Racism, sexism, fascism? My money's on the trifecta. Maybe you were just born with your assholeism and can't do anything about it just like ones height or skin color, and I shouldn't hold it against you?

JPC

January 15th, 2019 at 11:14 AM ^

He definitely seems to have lost his magic, whatever that was - lucking into a series of NFL quality QBs, getting NFL ready OL as walk-ons, etc. 

Even so, he still manages to almost always put together a stout defense manned by middling recruits and coached by his church buddies. He would still be a great DC somewhere. 

Perkis-Size Me

January 15th, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^

I'll tell you right now what his magic was: bad Michigan teams. Most of his truly great teams at MSU came about when Michigan was still sludgefarting its way to the finish line. Our most truly awful years (2010, 2013, 2014), were some of his best, when he owned instate recruiting and really hit the jackpot on some of the recruiting gambles he took. Even in 2015, when Michigan was turning around, he still had a team stocked full of players he'd recruited and developed during Michigan's "dark times," and a defense full of players that had still been coached for at least a year or two by Pat Narduzzi. 

I still want to give him his due credit as he is a good coach. Turned a lot of 2-3 star players into playmakers at the college level, and in some cases the NFL level. The guy can develop players. But much of his success can be directly attributed to Michigan's struggles. Now that Michigan is back to being, at the bare minimum, respectable in any given year, you're going to see the pendulum start swinging the other way with MSU. 

He'll probably win another game or two against Michigan before he hangs it up, but he will not have the dominance he once had. 

saveferris

January 15th, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^

I think it's becoming clear that his "magic" had more to do with Michigan and Penn State turning into trainwrecks in the early 2010's.  Hell, we get a single punt snap off cleanly and the luster is even dingier than it currently is.  Dantonio is a good coach, but he's shown himself to be a lot closer to Ferentz than Saban in terms of ability.

Skidmark

January 15th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^

That's because Dantonio limits his coaching searches to men in his church congregation, or when he's really desperate, men who are willing to convert.  Hand over the playbook to the Creator and all will work out.  We gonna rapture ourselves into the end zone.  It is written, so shall it be.

ijohnb

January 15th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^

No they are just parroting Mike Valenti.  Valenti uses the line "he goes to church with them" because he tries to paint the picture that Dantonio favors the "quality of the person" over football acumen.  It is a way to criticize him while also painting MSU as somehow morally superior.  I doubt Dantonio goes to church unless he has to for a wedding.

Tunneler

January 15th, 2019 at 1:58 PM ^

When he found out that he was recorded smiling as the shenanigans went down during the spartan walk, & he got tired of answering questions about it, he said "I will let GOD (with emphasis) fight my battles."

He's such a smug bastard.  I love the tire fire that is MSU football right now.

JPC

January 15th, 2019 at 2:05 PM ^

MSU is in a really nice spot from our perspective. Mork is clearly on the downside of his coaching career, but he's both a legend in East Shithole, and probably better than anyone else they could get. 

Unless he gets some humility, which is unlikely and retires, MSU is going to be stuck with Mork for far longer than he deserves based on current results. Holding on to him for five years too long could crater their program. 

Also, they're budget constrained so it's not like they're going to throw $5M a year to replace him with some hot young coach (even if they would come to MSU). 

MGlobules

January 15th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^

Things are looking up; Gattis is a solid citizen. There may be some hiccups--nothing in this world is guaranteed, but these are clearly promising developments.