is that all their legions talk about how stupid Orgeron was as a coach, when in reality, the talent was what won them some games last year. They think it's ALL on Nutt, but fact of the matter is, those young players were a year older + Jevan Snead (Orgeron recruit), and that put them over the top. Remember they almost beat Florida the year before too when Florida was asleep. And let's don't play around, Florida was asleep last year too. But one big win can parlay into others. The extra year of maturity and talent got them over the hump. Orgeron might not have pulled off 8 wins and a Cotton Bowl win, especially in convincing fashion, but he'd have gotten them to a bowl. Bruiser was right about that part, and I was wrong. It's easy to misjudge things after a glaring coaching blunder like Orgeron made in the '07 Egg Bowl. It's easy to call him stupid and not look at the big picture.
The old saying is correct: A good coach with good players will win championships, a bad coach with good players will win games, but a good coach and bad players will get your *** beat. That's why good coaches have to give up a few years to get good players in there. Ole Miss didn't give Orgeron time to reap the benefits of what he built, but it just happened to work out for them because a proven winner fell in their lap. I know they will not admit this, but it's so obviously true.
Croom was much worse for MSU than Orgeron was for Ole Miss simply because one was a lazy recruiter and the other was a relentless recruiter.