I like being a faceless person (except to John Cohen) behind a computer screen. I'm not one to meddle because even though I am a big fan, I do not know the entire situation, and odds are if I did, I would probably make the same decision as the coaching staff.
But that said, I did not want him even when we were rumored to possibly get him. I don't think that he would have made much of a difference for us- not that he won't for Ole Miss. My reasoning behind that is because of the timing of when he would get to MSU vs the other QB's that we have. I do know that Oregon runs the same offense, or one very similar to ours. I get that. But there are going to be some adjustments- new terminology, getting used to new players, and a league that is much more defense oriented. We have Chris Relf, who also fits our offense very well, and while he is no Heisman contender, he does know our terminology, and he also has a rapport with our players. It makes no sense to me to use a QB that is maybe more talented, but has to have 3-4 games to get used to everything when we have someone that can be effective in Chris Relf. Especially when we have people like Auburn, LSU, and Georgia three out of our first four games.
I was very much for getting Cam Newton, but the difference here is he would have had an entire spring and the fall to learn the new offense, and Newton also would have been here two years in all likelihood. That's huge. If Masoli had been kicked out of school sooner, I would probably be OK with getting him.
And the thing is, assuming I'm right, if Relf beats him out, there is a much greater chance that Masoli would be a trouble maker and cause problems. Why bring that upon ourselves?
And then let's say I'm wrong and we start Masoli anyway, what kind of a message does that send to Chris Relf? To his credit, Relf has really stepped up and become a leader per player interviews, and based on what I saw in the spring game has improved his overall game. Chris has done nothing to lose the job. I think that would definately send him the wrong message, and it may take away the motivation and confidence that he has gained. So, someone explain to me what the benefit is again?
I honestly don't care what the media would think about us. If they base our entire University, and my degree over us getting a QB with a questionable past, then they are an idiot. And I went to the same school that bailed Derrick Taite out no less than four times during his career at MSU. We were called "thugs" and "outlaws" when we had Jackie in that late '90's, but that didn't really upset me- the Raiders had the same reputation. What actually upset me more was the fact that they would unjustly put down our schedule and insinuate that we weren't as good as we really were mainly because he had Sherrill as our coach. That was ********.