After Mullen's first year - a marked improvement with a tough schedule over Croom's last - he recruited the No. 38 class in the country according to scout. The group included 19 Mississippians, 8 of whom had no other offers from a BCS school - assumedly to hammer home the "this is our state" mantra. And while I'm at it, where the hell is Matthew Wells?
Freeze hit the 6-6 mark in year 1, and has put together a class ranked No. 23 with, it appears, several big commits coming down the pipe soon. Nkemdiche appears to be a lock. Top 10 wide receivers Stacy Coley and LaQuon Treadwell have been going back and forth on twitter tonight that they're coming. All predictions right now have it that Conner inks with us. It's going to come down to us and Michigan, it appears, for one of the top running backs in the country in Derrick Green. We definitely have a shot at DE Elijah Daniel.
That's six players in the top 8 at their positions. As a hypothetical, assuming we land all six, and of course they have to get in school and stick and evolve as players and really contribute, my first question is, did Mullen even attempt to get his foot in the door on this type talent initially?
Second question derives from some chatter I saw on here bitching about the last episode of "The Season" where Freeze referenced national titles. I know we're not even going to have a chance soon. I know we're probably not going to have a shot at the SEC west anytime soon.
But, if he's able to get a serious look and SOME commitments from these types of players after a 6-6 year, coupled with the completely unexpected improvement we demonstrated this year, are aspirations of making it to Atlanta, a BCS game and one day, the national championship game, really all that ridiculous?
Yeah, we're 6-6 right now. But the record does not indicate the turnaround in this team from 2-10 last year. We could easily be 7-5, 8-4 or 9-3 right now. Coach34 himself decided to switch his stance on us from untalented patsy to we've got more talent that meets the eye. As thin as we were, if we had this many talented guys playing and add some of the names I mentioned above, along with the guys at all the other positions who are already committed and will add great depth, really, is it that foolish to aspire to greater thing in the - potentially near - future?
All along, I've felt that, early on, Mullen was so locked in on his focus on Mississippi that he lost sight of one fact - the best way to quickly improve your program is to go after the best talent available, regardless of what state's borders they're within. Does Freeze have more momentum following his first year than Mullen did following his first, and is he doing a better job capitalizing on it?
I've also gained a little perspective on Freeze and his former boss. Orgeron could recruit the talent, and he had SEVERAL near misses who could've been program changers and hidden his ****** coaching abilities. The difference his 2006 class made was obvious on the field. But he was not a good coach.
Based on this year, Freeze and his staff know how to coach, and damn, this team was somehow up and motivated for every single game. It never got down. It never quit. And Freeze is in on the type of talent Orgeron tended to be in on, and it looks like he'll actually close the deal on a good number of them.
Final question. Think back folks. Which position would you prefer FOR YOUR TEAM, given the recruiting/coaching/success chances of both coaches in this scenario. Which position would you rather be in, and who would you rather have as your head coach? Mullen post-2009, heading into 2010, or Freeze post-2012, heading into 2013?
Freeze hit the 6-6 mark in year 1, and has put together a class ranked No. 23 with, it appears, several big commits coming down the pipe soon. Nkemdiche appears to be a lock. Top 10 wide receivers Stacy Coley and LaQuon Treadwell have been going back and forth on twitter tonight that they're coming. All predictions right now have it that Conner inks with us. It's going to come down to us and Michigan, it appears, for one of the top running backs in the country in Derrick Green. We definitely have a shot at DE Elijah Daniel.
That's six players in the top 8 at their positions. As a hypothetical, assuming we land all six, and of course they have to get in school and stick and evolve as players and really contribute, my first question is, did Mullen even attempt to get his foot in the door on this type talent initially?
Second question derives from some chatter I saw on here bitching about the last episode of "The Season" where Freeze referenced national titles. I know we're not even going to have a chance soon. I know we're probably not going to have a shot at the SEC west anytime soon.
But, if he's able to get a serious look and SOME commitments from these types of players after a 6-6 year, coupled with the completely unexpected improvement we demonstrated this year, are aspirations of making it to Atlanta, a BCS game and one day, the national championship game, really all that ridiculous?
Yeah, we're 6-6 right now. But the record does not indicate the turnaround in this team from 2-10 last year. We could easily be 7-5, 8-4 or 9-3 right now. Coach34 himself decided to switch his stance on us from untalented patsy to we've got more talent that meets the eye. As thin as we were, if we had this many talented guys playing and add some of the names I mentioned above, along with the guys at all the other positions who are already committed and will add great depth, really, is it that foolish to aspire to greater thing in the - potentially near - future?
All along, I've felt that, early on, Mullen was so locked in on his focus on Mississippi that he lost sight of one fact - the best way to quickly improve your program is to go after the best talent available, regardless of what state's borders they're within. Does Freeze have more momentum following his first year than Mullen did following his first, and is he doing a better job capitalizing on it?
I've also gained a little perspective on Freeze and his former boss. Orgeron could recruit the talent, and he had SEVERAL near misses who could've been program changers and hidden his ****** coaching abilities. The difference his 2006 class made was obvious on the field. But he was not a good coach.
Based on this year, Freeze and his staff know how to coach, and damn, this team was somehow up and motivated for every single game. It never got down. It never quit. And Freeze is in on the type of talent Orgeron tended to be in on, and it looks like he'll actually close the deal on a good number of them.
Final question. Think back folks. Which position would you prefer FOR YOUR TEAM, given the recruiting/coaching/success chances of both coaches in this scenario. Which position would you rather be in, and who would you rather have as your head coach? Mullen post-2009, heading into 2010, or Freeze post-2012, heading into 2013?
