I don't think we're that far off from being a pretty good team. People talk about us wandering in the wilderness, but I think if a couple of things happen, we're going to be in good shape the next two years.
1. We need a QB. Mullen knows offense, and while the Tyson Lee/Chris Relf combo has been serviceable, and we're probably maxing out their abilities. Tyson Lee is a good, cerebral QB, and if he was even 6'0" tall, he would be pretty good. Unfortunately, he is 5'8" and he is what he is- a walk-on QB. A really good walk-on QB, mind you, but still a walk-on QB. The we have Relf, who has a lot of talent, but has been the victim of poor QB coaching from HS and his first two seasons at MSU. Because of this, he is raw, has no clue where the ball is going , and he takes too many gambles. He is an excellent runner, however.
The solution: Get Cameron Newton and buy the guy whose laptop he stole a new computer and free chat. This offense as it is has been serviceable- despite a lack of SEC talent. Despite this, we have been able to move the ball, and more importantly, have been able to put some points on the board. BUT this offense needs a guy like Newton who can stretch the field with his arm, can run a la Tebow, and his size will help an o-line that while it is improving, will likely never be anything more than average. A guy that's 6'6" 240 is going to be hard to take down. Stretching the field is going to help our WR's, and it's going to help guys like Bumphis because it's going to move the DB's back a little bit, which should give him more space on screens. Stretching the field will help guys like Robert Elliott to, because it will give them more room to run. Hopefully this happens.
2. Fire Carl Torbush. I hope he proves me wrong, and Mullen is saying the right things, BUT I just can't see Carl Torbush becoming a blitz machine over night. The guy is way too conservative, and I think he has maybe four defensive play calls. Even worse, he has no clue how to adjust. The sad thing here is this is a unit that should be solid, at worse. And it may be the impetus for Boom and 11.
Solution: Hire a good AGGRESSIVE DC. There are many reasons for this that are obvious. A lot of people will say "But you don't have SEC talent". Let me be the first to say that I'm pretty sure that most of our players will be nothing more than NFL FA's and CFL guys at best. But let me also say that under Croom, scratch that, Ellis Johnson, we had a lot of guys with very similar talent as the defense we have now. Where are Titus Brown, Avery Hannibal, Jessie Bowman, Derek Pegues, and etc. now? Good solid players, but not exactly All-pros. My point is this- much like our offense, you don't need a Pro Bowl team to be serviceable on defense. There is absolutely no reason to not be competitive in the SEC right now. Except for the fact that we hired a has been for a DC. And I'm not advocating blitz every time no matter what like JLD, but I do advocate mixing up coverages, and I advocate getting getting pressure on the QB. Defensive players need to be aggressive and have swagger. Torbush's system does not allow for that. We need a guy that is high energy that is going to turn these players loose and allow them to try to rip the other teams heads off. And I would think that an aggressive defense would help with recruiting because most HS defensive players would want to play in a system like that. I can't remember reading an article about a player where the guy says "I really like to sit back in a zone and then wait and see what happens and then try to tackle the guy". If it were me, I would try to get someone like Dick Bumpas at TCU or a Dave Wommack at GT or try to find a young up and coming DC with a lot of energy. I would like to see an "organized chaos" type defense, if I had my drouthers, but I will take a good ol' 4-3 with a lot of blitzing any day.
1. We need a QB. Mullen knows offense, and while the Tyson Lee/Chris Relf combo has been serviceable, and we're probably maxing out their abilities. Tyson Lee is a good, cerebral QB, and if he was even 6'0" tall, he would be pretty good. Unfortunately, he is 5'8" and he is what he is- a walk-on QB. A really good walk-on QB, mind you, but still a walk-on QB. The we have Relf, who has a lot of talent, but has been the victim of poor QB coaching from HS and his first two seasons at MSU. Because of this, he is raw, has no clue where the ball is going , and he takes too many gambles. He is an excellent runner, however.
The solution: Get Cameron Newton and buy the guy whose laptop he stole a new computer and free chat. This offense as it is has been serviceable- despite a lack of SEC talent. Despite this, we have been able to move the ball, and more importantly, have been able to put some points on the board. BUT this offense needs a guy like Newton who can stretch the field with his arm, can run a la Tebow, and his size will help an o-line that while it is improving, will likely never be anything more than average. A guy that's 6'6" 240 is going to be hard to take down. Stretching the field is going to help our WR's, and it's going to help guys like Bumphis because it's going to move the DB's back a little bit, which should give him more space on screens. Stretching the field will help guys like Robert Elliott to, because it will give them more room to run. Hopefully this happens.
2. Fire Carl Torbush. I hope he proves me wrong, and Mullen is saying the right things, BUT I just can't see Carl Torbush becoming a blitz machine over night. The guy is way too conservative, and I think he has maybe four defensive play calls. Even worse, he has no clue how to adjust. The sad thing here is this is a unit that should be solid, at worse. And it may be the impetus for Boom and 11.
Solution: Hire a good AGGRESSIVE DC. There are many reasons for this that are obvious. A lot of people will say "But you don't have SEC talent". Let me be the first to say that I'm pretty sure that most of our players will be nothing more than NFL FA's and CFL guys at best. But let me also say that under Croom, scratch that, Ellis Johnson, we had a lot of guys with very similar talent as the defense we have now. Where are Titus Brown, Avery Hannibal, Jessie Bowman, Derek Pegues, and etc. now? Good solid players, but not exactly All-pros. My point is this- much like our offense, you don't need a Pro Bowl team to be serviceable on defense. There is absolutely no reason to not be competitive in the SEC right now. Except for the fact that we hired a has been for a DC. And I'm not advocating blitz every time no matter what like JLD, but I do advocate mixing up coverages, and I advocate getting getting pressure on the QB. Defensive players need to be aggressive and have swagger. Torbush's system does not allow for that. We need a guy that is high energy that is going to turn these players loose and allow them to try to rip the other teams heads off. And I would think that an aggressive defense would help with recruiting because most HS defensive players would want to play in a system like that. I can't remember reading an article about a player where the guy says "I really like to sit back in a zone and then wait and see what happens and then try to tackle the guy". If it were me, I would try to get someone like Dick Bumpas at TCU or a Dave Wommack at GT or try to find a young up and coming DC with a lot of energy. I would like to see an "organized chaos" type defense, if I had my drouthers, but I will take a good ol' 4-3 with a lot of blitzing any day.
