This is not my opinion…it’s from someone I respect and has had level-headed ‘takes’ (considering the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ of MSU football) in the past.
What's weird is that people are ignoring the 11-2 season last year because they have it ingrained that MSU will always be SOS, so they look for any evidence that things will be bad.
Dantonio was no more proven than Tucker. He had a .500 record at Cincy (18-17, 11-11 in conference). Tucker only had 1 year with an atrocious CO roster, then he was dealt the absolute worst hand you could have been dealt as a new HC with Dantonio’s retirement and then Covid.
If this was a normal transition, where Tuck took over in Dec 2019, had a hand in the 2020 class and was bombing year 3, I'd be concerned.
It was absolutely none of those things.
We all agreed that talent was dwindling fast under Dantonio. It was. We just saw 55 kids leave in 3 years and only 5 ended up at p5 schools, none of which were elite or even good. We have low grade P5 starters left from those classes, plus what Tuck could mine from the portal.
You cannot say last year was just lucky with Walker - the team had 3 other draft picks and was way more coherent.
What we said this offseason is that the depth sucked, so we would need to be healthy. Guess what, we have 8-10 guys in the playing group, including 5 defensive starters (Bogle, Slade, Mangham, Henderson, Snow), who are out, including our best DT, LB and S.
Not only are our best physical players on D out, but they are also our smartest guys. Slade can make line calls and X gets the back 7 set. They're both out.
You cannot accept that depth is poor, and then when that depth proves to be poor, complain about the depth being poor.
On offense, same issue. We don't have quality depth. Barker is a good receiver who is running the wrong routes. Hunt runs the right routes but is not a great athlete. Carr is allergic to blocking. We have 2 transfer RBs who are getting play calls wrong (think Broussard on the first 3rd down carry vs Washington). Thorne and Reed are both playing hurt and we don't have high 4* backing up any of these guys.
4/5 of the roster is made up of bad recruiting or transfers. The transfers are probably better players, but it is hard to learn new systems in 1 offseason and even harder when you don't join the team until the fall.
There are 15 4* on the roster and 7 are true FR. Next year, we should have 17 4* who are true FR or sophs. I think you HAVE to allow at least the '22 class to hit their 3rd year before panicking.
Finally, we do need to move on from Hazelton and I am confident in getting a good DC. This season sucks to watch, but this is a long term investment. You don't pull your money out of the market at rhe first dip, otherwise you lock in your losses.
What's weird is that people are ignoring the 11-2 season last year because they have it ingrained that MSU will always be SOS, so they look for any evidence that things will be bad.
Dantonio was no more proven than Tucker. He had a .500 record at Cincy (18-17, 11-11 in conference). Tucker only had 1 year with an atrocious CO roster, then he was dealt the absolute worst hand you could have been dealt as a new HC with Dantonio’s retirement and then Covid.
If this was a normal transition, where Tuck took over in Dec 2019, had a hand in the 2020 class and was bombing year 3, I'd be concerned.
It was absolutely none of those things.
We all agreed that talent was dwindling fast under Dantonio. It was. We just saw 55 kids leave in 3 years and only 5 ended up at p5 schools, none of which were elite or even good. We have low grade P5 starters left from those classes, plus what Tuck could mine from the portal.
You cannot say last year was just lucky with Walker - the team had 3 other draft picks and was way more coherent.
What we said this offseason is that the depth sucked, so we would need to be healthy. Guess what, we have 8-10 guys in the playing group, including 5 defensive starters (Bogle, Slade, Mangham, Henderson, Snow), who are out, including our best DT, LB and S.
Not only are our best physical players on D out, but they are also our smartest guys. Slade can make line calls and X gets the back 7 set. They're both out.
You cannot accept that depth is poor, and then when that depth proves to be poor, complain about the depth being poor.
On offense, same issue. We don't have quality depth. Barker is a good receiver who is running the wrong routes. Hunt runs the right routes but is not a great athlete. Carr is allergic to blocking. We have 2 transfer RBs who are getting play calls wrong (think Broussard on the first 3rd down carry vs Washington). Thorne and Reed are both playing hurt and we don't have high 4* backing up any of these guys.
4/5 of the roster is made up of bad recruiting or transfers. The transfers are probably better players, but it is hard to learn new systems in 1 offseason and even harder when you don't join the team until the fall.
There are 15 4* on the roster and 7 are true FR. Next year, we should have 17 4* who are true FR or sophs. I think you HAVE to allow at least the '22 class to hit their 3rd year before panicking.
Finally, we do need to move on from Hazelton and I am confident in getting a good DC. This season sucks to watch, but this is a long term investment. You don't pull your money out of the market at rhe first dip, otherwise you lock in your losses.
