Buy/Sell We are getting WORSE each year of Mullen's tenure

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

Read carefully before you start talking about Croom. I know we sucked under him. But looking only at Mullen's seasons, are we getting worse?

We went 5-7 in 2009 against the toughest schedule in the nation. Midget at QB. Boobie doin' work. Probably better than our record indicated.

We went 9-4 with wins over UGA & UF in 2010. Mullen's best season by far. Really competitive against Auburn (National Champs) and Arkansas (BCS) in losses.

Since then, we've gone 15-10. Every one of those 15 wins is against awful to just-below mediocre competition. Our last six losses have been absolute skull17ings.

That last time we played a good game against a good team was October 2011 against South Carolina (and they lost Lattimore in that game) and we lost that one too.

Am I crazy or are we getting worse!?!?!

 

[FlabLoser]

Year 1: got better
Year 2: got a lot better
Year 3: got worse
Year 4: Got a lot worse. Maybe even worse than the year 1 team.

 

[Todd4State]

I think losing Hud and Manny hurt a lot

Hud was our best recruiter and I think losing him really hurt our 2011 recruiting class more than anything. Manny and Chris worked well together. Manny could make adjustments and come up with good blitz packages. I don't know how much Hud helped the offense, but it seems like we have gotten a lot less creative and we don't exploit weaknesses since he left. I think Brewster has replaced him as a recruiter though- especially nationally.

I can't explain why we aren't as tough as we used to be and why we don't play with relentless effort anymore.

 

[SkullCandy.sixpack]

Diaz was a freak! It was like we had 12 men on the field on defense and the extra guy was keyed on whoever had the ball--and I took that line from a bear fan. And the dude could recruit too. Damn I miss him.

 

[Palos verdes]

Ya..I agree, but the biggest reasons that Diaz looked so good in 2010 was because of,.. Chris White, K.J. Wright..and Pernell McPhee. Those three guys wreaked 17ning havoc on an offense. McPhee had to be double teamed on nearly every play. C. White was absolutely awesome with his speed and tackling ability, and KJ was the pass play break-up specialist. Those 3 guys would have started for Bama or LSU. We've seen nothing like them since and probably won't again. Without them, we wouldn't have won 9 games in 2010, I promise. Our biggest problem is lack of talent!!!

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Buy! Buy! Buy!

 

[InaccuratePredictionsDawg]

Does logic tell you we are getting worse?

..I realize your hurt feelings are telling you that, what are the facts? Here's a few facts:

1) Mullen has gone to a bowl every year but his first.

2) It only took Mullen one year to clean up Croom's mess & put MSU in the yearly bowl picture.

3) Mullen has won every bowl game he has coached in @MSU.

4) Mullen has beat Michigan in a bowl; beat Florida @ Florida.

5) Until yesterday, he has dominated the hell out of the segregation enthusiasts.

6)And last but not least...there would be no giant-*** Scott Field refurbishing project without Dan Mullen.

So consider all that then tell me we are getting "worse."

I've done my share of Mullen bashing, so it's like I'm a Dan Mullen propaganda minister. But to ask if we are getting worse under his tenure...WTF?

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Looking at your schedule next year, where a cupcake gets replaced by OSU and realizing how many seniors y'all lose this year and picking up South Carolina tells me it's gonna be a long, difficult year for y'all. 5-7 in 2009, Gator Bowl in 2010, Music City in 2011 when y'all had higher aspirations, and now whatever y'all get this year at 8-4 with several cupcake games and a lot of Croom's talent/commits, now seniors, leaving after it.

Let's discuss this topic further after next season. Hindsight will decide which of us is right.

 

[Dawg1976]

Year 1: got better
Year 2: got a lot better
Year 3: got worse
Year 4: Got a lot worse. Maybe even worse than the year 1 team.

Pretty much sums it up. And with our schedule next year, year 5 may look even worse.

 

[OleYeller]

WE're not getting worse, not yet. We're just not getting better. We have better players, but not producing on the field

 

[mcdawg22]

Yeah if we could only be 65th in the country in points against with a defense full of five star athletes.

 

[OleYeller]

And I guess you stupid son of bitches think you're gonna win the sec next year because you beat us and are going to the independence bowl this year? The only thing you ******** are good at is buying players and covering up your civil war history

 

[Homer J Simpson]

And I guess you stupid son of bitches think you're gonna win the sec next year because you beat us and are going to the independence bowl this year? The only thing you ******** are good at is buying players and covering up your civil war history

Sorry flapjack, I don't recall talking about us anywhere in that post. No, I don't think we're gonna win the SEC next year. I do think we'll have better results than we did this year. Went from 2-10 last year to 6-6 this year (and should've been 8-4 or 9-3). With the recruiting class we're looking at, yeah, pretty optimistic about our future.

Y'all improved exponentially under Mullen your first year, but looking at the last few and your schedule next year, sorry, y'all might have to ask the same question about Mullen that we asked about Nutt. Was it the coaching, or the talent his predecessor left him? Orgeron left the cupboard full. Mullen's focus has been on acquiring more players from Mississippi than us - many of them unknowns with few, if any BCS offers. Pure **** or diamonds in the rough? Only time will tell.

As for covering up our civil war history? First off, if you want to take a dig at us, bringing up something from 147 years ago ain't the way to do it. Yeah, the University Grays who were all killed in Gettysburg and the Lyceum being used as a Confederate hospital. Pretty familiar with it. Don't think we've even attempted to hide it. Nobody from Starkville or Oktibbeha County participated in the war by the way. My God man, Ghosts of Ole Miss and the Meredith enrollment, a mere 50 years ago, were just on national television recently.

Come back when you're ready to be a heavyweight, you 17ing amateur.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Sell. It's more perspective and changes in expectations than his coaching. You expected the team to do better each year. I don't think State is any worse, it's more of a plateau. Hopefully he doesn't fall off the cliff on the other side.

 

[PiedmontDawg]

Agree: sell

Sell. It's more perspective and changes in expectations than his coaching. You expected the team to do better each year. I don't think State is any worse, it's more of a plateau. Hopefully he doesn't fall off the cliff on the other side.

Although ill say we obviously haven't taken the step from good to great, we've gone from bad to good.

3 straight bowl games, three seasons of 7 + wins. Lest we forget, we're MState. I know the schedule set us up this year, and some things MUST change, but what has the expectation been realistically? Bowl games. Now, something is up w/ Mullen an the team chemistry, and my expectation is that aspect better 17n change.

 

[MetEdDawg]

That 2010 had a lot of NFL talent on it.

KJ Wright, Chris White, Pernell McPhee, Johnthan Banks, Fletcher Cox, Josh Boyd, Charles Mitchell, Corey Broomfield. All started at some point and all will get drafted with the possible exception of Broomfield. But 2010 was his really good year.

My problem with us this year is that I think our 2012 defense has NFL talent on it as well. I think there are 7-9 NFL caliber guys starting on this defense. Banks, Slay, Lawrence, Boyd, Skinner, McKinney, Autry, possibly Broomfield, and Whitley was a sure thing before the injury. These guys will all get drafted or be invited as a free agent. There is entirely too much talent on this defense for us to give up over 500 yards three different times and give up more yards on defense than we gained on offense in a year we set a ton of offensive records.

Wilson has to go and I don't think at this point that can be argued. We very easily could have gone 6-6 again with losses to Troy and Tennessee. Luckily our offense saved our defenses *** and scored enough points in those two games to offset the almost 1,000 yards of total offense our defense gave up. We can't allow ourselves to on defense what we did this year. We finally had the secondary talent to be aggressive with our front 7, but instead we decide to run a bunch of three man fronts and drop 8 in coverage instead of put pressure on the QB and make him make a mistake. Bend but don't break needs to go and we need to get someone in here that plays downhill, hard nosed aggressive football. If not we will look the same or worse next year. Ok St, South Carolina, TAMU, Troy, Arkansas, and Ole Miss doesn't look very favorable for a similar defense to the one we played this year.

 

[OleYeller]

I didn't say you did dumbass, but I know how you "legends in your own mind" think. You are still the only team in the West that hasn't gone to Atlanta. You may not say it, but you low life racist bastards are thinking it. Just what do you tell recruits about that statue in the groove anyway?

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

The team isn't getting worse, but Mullen is. He has gotten complacent and it showed in all of our losses and many of our wins too. The danger of starting 7-0 on a crap schedule is that somehow you think you've been doing things right and even a big loss or three doesn't convince you otherwise. He needs to go to Nick Saban's "How to be an A-hole and win" camp.

 

[Coach 57]

Sorry flapjack, I don't recall talking about us anywhere in that post. No, I don't think we're gonna win the SEC next year. I do think we'll have better results than we did this year. Went from 2-10 last year to 6-6 this year (and should've been 8-4 or 9-3). With the recruiting class we're looking at, yeah, pretty optimistic about our future.

Y'all improved exponentially under Mullen your first year, but looking at the last few and your schedule next year, sorry, y'all might have to ask the same question about Mullen that we asked about Nutt. Was it the coaching, or the talent his predecessor left him? Orgeron left the cupboard full. Mullen's focus has been on acquiring more players from Mississippi than us - many of them unknowns with few, if any BCS offers. Pure **** or diamonds in the rough? Only time will tell.

As for covering up our civil war history? First off, if you want to take a dig at us, bringing up something from 147 years ago ain't the way to do it. Yeah, the University Grays who were all killed in Gettysburg and the Lyceum being used as a Confederate hospital. Pretty familiar with it. Don't think we've even attempted to hide it. Nobody from Starkville or Oktibbeha County participated in the war by the way. My God man, Ghosts of Ole Miss and the Meredith enrollment, a mere 50 years ago, were just on national television recently.

Come back when you're ready to be a heavyweight, you 17ing amateur.

I've got no problem what so ever with that assessment. I think that for Mullen to reach his potential as a coach he needs comfortable personnel ( Dak like QB). If I can see Tyler needed to be pulled he should've seen it as well. We had terrible playcalling on offense the entire game. And before we get all out of sorts on blowing up our defensive staff. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the defense force 2 shanked punts, 2 INTs and a fumble? Mullen created a wedge at halftime on his team between the 2 units. I'm sure the defense had plenty of stink eyes for the offensive players at halftime. And after doing all that they did and to come away with just 3 pts is terrible. Look at it like this, the only offensive TD we got besides Dak's was a busted bang bang play to Bump. That's it. Tyler looked scared after getting sacked by CJ. So do I think we are getting worse with Mullen. No & yes. No IF he had a Dak like QB. Yes if Tyler continues to play. Let me surmise. You people fail to understand that when Relf was our QB were we not a "physical" football team on offense & defense? Let me answer it.....yes. Do you know why? Because of who the defense was facing in practice week in and week out. And the style of play and physical nature of our offense helped "galvanize" the defense. To the outside world it's a difficult thing to understand but what you & who you practice against helps make you what you are. That's why ole miss' defense is salty as well. So I'll hold my judgement until Mullen actually gets a QB that he recruited. I think he got Tyler because of the stars beside Tyler's name made him look better as a recruiter. When Dak plays and it's his turn....that's when we can look at Mullen's progression. I think he struggles coaching Tyler play& calling plays for Tyler.

 

[OleYeller]

It's true, Mullen doesn't know how to coach with a QB like Tyler. Tyler will play in the NFL as a QB. Not so sure about Dak

 

[InaccuratePredictionsDawg]

Right. We're headed for a downward spiral minus our great seniors next year...

Looking at your schedule next year, where a cupcake gets replaced by OSU and realizing how many seniors y'all lose this year and picking up South Carolina tells me it's gonna be a long, difficult year for y'all. 5-7 in 2009, Gator Bowl in 2010, Music City in 2011 when y'all had higher aspirations, and now whatever y'all get this year at 8-4 with several cupcake games and a lot of Croom's talent/commits, now seniors, leaving after it.

Let's discuss this topic further after next season. Hindsight will decide which of us is right.

Don't tell us about how much we'll miss all those irreplaceable seniors when not a single senior showed up in a big game this year. Bumphis, Banks etc. have run out of chances to made big plays in big games. We will not be playing a ranked team in the Gator Bowl.

 

[DerHntr]

The team isn't getting worse, but Mullen is. He has gotten complacent and it showed in all of our losses and many of our wins too. The danger of starting 7-0 on a crap schedule is that somehow you think you've been doing things right and even a big loss or three doesn't convince you otherwise. He needs to go to Nick Saban's "How to be an A-hole and win" camp.

This is my biggest concern about our scheduling. It is too damn easy to coast when things are going well. Don't fix what ain't broke mentality.

I think this also goes back to year one's mantra of Relentless Effort. Our team stopped giving when our staff stopped REQUIRING it.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I didn't say you did dumbass, but I know how you "legends in your own mind" think. You are still the only team in the West that hasn't gone to Atlanta. You may not say it, but you low life racist bastards are thinking it. Just what do you tell recruits about that statue in the groove anyway?

But you did say it, or did I misinterpret "And I guess you stupid son of bitches think you're gonna win the sec next year... "

And here we are again, right back to where we started. You making assumptions about me because of my school of choice, and making assumptions about the majority of our fanbase based on the actions of a few. I suppose I could reply with the assumption that you're a simple, rural person based on your ringing of cowbells, but from my experience with them, most MSU fans are good, intelligent, well-reasoned, successful people. Keep on living under that rock if you want to, you utterly useless waste of flesh and bone.

I do not think we'll win the SEC next year. I do not think we'll win the west next year. I do not think we'll even finish in the top 3 in our division. But I do have hope for the future. I do think we'll be better next year. I do think we'll contend within the next 3 years provided we continue to improve and have strong recruiting.

Football aside, I will not stand for being called a racist, and if you think that I am one based on my being a graduate and fan of Ole Miss, that's a bit hypocritical, and just as bigoted a perspective as your stereotypical view of me.

We're talking sports here. Why do you keep referring to racism and the civil war? Is that really the only leg you have to stand on? That's 17ing pitiful, and a prime example of why racism will never die in this country. I don't give a **** about color, gender, age, religion or any other label we all seem to love to place on each other. What's your stance?

 

[OleYeller]

Sad when the only chance you have at a winning season is to play a bunch of jackson states every year. And you people think we are making progress?

 

[Chickamauga]

I didn't say you did dumbass, but I know how you "legends in your own mind" think. You are still the only team in the West that hasn't gone to Atlanta. You may not say it, but you low life racist bastards are thinking it. Just what do you tell recruits about that statue in the groove anyway?

I believe State has a bust of a Confederate general in a fairly prominent place on its campus, no?

 

[DerHntr]

Hey Homer, do you realize you are arguing with Ole Yeller? Getting the last word is futile as well as having any type of intelligent discussion. Quit while you still have your sanity.

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

I bet you would like to bust on a confederate general.


That's all I got.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Fair enough. Didn't recognize the name from the old days of the Six Pack. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I definitely concur. I see a lot of similarities between Prescott and Relf, and think Prescott suits the system better. If he can get his arm strength and accuracy up to SEC snuff, he can really be a threat. If memory serves right, Relf got a lot better as a passer as his career progressed.

I tell y'all what, I really wish we had Josh Robinson. Surprised he didn't get more touches this year. Saw his high school film after he committed to y'all and said then we missed out on a good one. He's not a burner like Perkins, but he is a bowling ball and has some speed. Don't think I saw him lose yardage any time he touched the ball this year. Reminds me of BJGE. He wasn't a burner, but generally picked up 4-5 yards a carry.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Travis needs to come and put Ole Yeller out of his misery. You know, art imitating life n ****.

 

[lanceharbor7]

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Railin Jemmye]

we will not be worse next year. i'm not getting wrapped up in your **** talking, but our team will be better next year. anybody who knows football knows the pieces are in place for msu to be formidable for the foreseeable future. we're not going away, and we absolutely will at the very minimum go bowling next year. next year is the year we finally beat somebody who is among the highly ranked.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I can understand your frustration. Reminds me a lot of Jevan Snead in '09. But y'all are losing a lot of players (Banks, Boyd, Broomfield, Bumphis, Clark, Green, Lawrence, Slay and Smith come to mind) who made a lot of plays for y'all over the last four years. In time, I reckon we'll see how well Mullen has recruited.

We really thought Nutt was recruiting lights out when he was here, but there was a lot of attrition, players who didn't make and others who were simply overhyped and overrated. It caught up with him and us in the end.

Losing them and playing a more difficult schedule next year (replacing Jackson State with Oklahoma State and Tennessee with South Carolina, both essentially on the road; in addition to Auburn, Arkansas and A&M on the road, and LSU and Alabama on the schedule), I think next year's going to be a down year for y'all. Time will tell.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Agreed. Sell.

The schedule is made to get us to bowl games. Those of us wanting improvement should at least be pleased that we are opening 2013 with Oklahoma State in Houston. Despite what Mullen has said publicly about what our expectations should have been for 2012, privately I've been thinking a slight schedule upgrade was necessary to prepare ourselves better for conference play.

And I think we have that with Oklahoma State (I also thought we had that with the USM opening games in '14 & '15 but then the Eagles went 0-12 this season. We shall see if a game against an in-state non conference foe works similarly.)

 

[OleYeller]

Yeah you ignorant pile of **** I did say it and you were/are thinking it. And I know you don't care what color a player is as long as he plays for you and knows his place. Typical stupid elitist ******** from a trailer park trash ******* who thinks he's somebody

 

[OleYeller]

What do you know about intelligence ole blank stare. Got news for you, that's not a blank stare, just a dumbass look on your face.

 

[Villagedawg]

Maybe not getting worse, but not getting any better. Bowl games? Not really a big deal. With half of FBS teams going to bowl games each year, that is the bare minimum expectation. Compare this year to previous ones. This year Ole Miss bowling at 6-6, last year us bowling at 6-6. This year us bowling at 8-4 in what I really consider to be about a break even season. We won 4 non-conference games that any coach in the SEC better damn well have won. Then went 4-4 in conference. That's about the average I would expect from any coach. Compare that to the 1997 team who at 7-4, and probably better than this year's team, spent the holidays at home after an Egg Bowl loss. I have no problem scheduling to almost ensure a bowl game each year, collect the money and use it to improve the program, but being bowl eligible every year ain't exactly the pinnacle of improvement.

And as someone else said above, our losses have not just been losses. We have been dominated in each of our losses this year. It seems like one step forward, one step back to me.

 

[SkullCandy.sixpack]

Agree with Death--schedule upgrade gets you ready for SEC teams. Even if you lose a close one, you learn where you need to make adjustments. Got to drop the SWAC teams. Play a lower tier ACC team. Maryland or NC State. You'd actually have to have a game plan, and your weaknesses would be exposed, so you could make adjustments. Of course, it's not intentionally easy scheduling when your SEC wins come against teams that went 3-30 in the conference.

Say what you want about Dan, but he's our first coach since Daryl Royal in the 1950s that has an overall winning record. Dan just needs better assistants, but to get them, he's going to have to be willing to actually listen to them. Seems like he's surrounding himself with guys that aren't willing to tell him "No". At least that's what it looks like to me.

 

[Koldfire]

True...so many damn bowls. Doesn't mean you are worth a damn. Skull, you are right. Dan wants "yes-men" not coaches. Maybe losing to the Rebs will help him.

 

[OleYeller]

It is miserable being a bulldawg sometimes, especially with fans with loser mentalities.