The News Leader Article on Mo. St. vs. Kennesaw State...got me thinking...again..
Don't know how many of you read this article, but I have 3 opinions.
First...Dave Steckel, Recruiting, and his Offensive Coordinator..
Mo. St. wanted to make a big splash when they hired him in 2014. Why not? right?
Hard nosed, defensive specialist from a successful Mizzou program..The shiny object...
Problem is...nothing really changed..the continued downward spiral of the MSU program.
We all know Steckel is known for his no-nonsense approach to the game, and was extremely
successful at Mizzou with a run of extremely talented D-I talent.
Reality is, Mo. St. doesn't have any blue chippers, and the program struggles to develop
a scheme that benefits the slightly above average high school talent he's recruited...
At this point..any incredibly decent, totally above average I-AA talent being simultaneously
recruited by Mo. St. and any other MVC schools or upper tier MIAA school like Northwest Mo.,
Central Missouri, or Pitt St..should ask themselves one question....Do I Want To Win?
If the obvious answer is..Yes!, and you don't really care about Bass Pro Shop,
Buckingham's BBQ, and/or your hometown isn't within an hour of Springfield....
Chances are...You're not coming to Missouri State...
Which means...Dave, the talent you do get..must be transformed into a productive product.
It's bad enough that the team is losing. What's worse, is that the style of football,
play calling, and overall blah offensive attitude is difficult to watch while loosing...
Lets take last weeks game against Tulane..for example...
The Bears were obvious one million point underdogs..but show some progress..
Ultimately..I've never seen a more underwhelming performance by 11 people at any
one point, at any one time, at any one place on planet earth...
Second...Triple Option...vs. what ever the hell you call what Mo. St. is doing..
As a long time, frussssssssstrated fan...The Briggs Curse didn't stop Jesse Branch
from winning the Gateway Conference twice..However, I've always believed that the
day John Keiser fired Jesse Branch, the football gods cast Mo.St. football to the darkest
regions of hell...
The university president got tired of winning, and wanted a change in direction...
Something exciting and flashy...so..Mo. St. went to the air...
Del Miller tried to do just that with a loaded roster when he arrived in 1995.
Even going 7-4 in 1996 with a talented group...90% of them recruited by Branch to operate
a rather successful, well oiled triple option attack. Then...Miller decided to air it out 3 out of
every four downs..and well..we know the rest.
It's of my opinion, Mo. St. needs to scrap this nightmare offense they attempt, and
invest in something totally foreign to the MVC....Option Football.
First, Unless you're a service academy fan, or you loved Georgia Tech under
Paul Johnson, I'd argue that probably most college coaches don't have a lot of experience
running or defending against the option, being that spread style offensives have proliferated
high school & every level of football now for more than 20 years..
The fact that EVERY team in the MVC would have to stop everything they're doing
and scout, understand, and TRY to simulate the scheme with a practice squad one time a
year would be a major inconvenience for them...and an advantage for MSU.
Secondly, since no one currently in the MVC runs this style of offense, you'd be surprised
by the interest, and attention it would bring. And...if you actually ran the scheme successfully,
you know..like how Kennesaw State does..you'd be giving your punter and fans a break...
Really...the question Steckel and his staff at Mo. St. needs to ask themselves is, are you trying
to send kids to the NFL next year?... or are you trying to win college football games, and keep
your jobs....Now..
Third...Big South v. Missouri Valley Conference
History Lesson...Kennesaw State is primarily part of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
However, the Atlantic Sun Conference is a non-football conference, thus KSU plays
football in the The Big South Conference...
As far as a football conference, The Big South...really isn't anything to write home about...
Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina were probably the only two schools in that conference
that anyone in this area may have hear about; and they're not in the conference anymore...
Thus, Kennesaw State has become the perennial powerhouse in The Big South..
On the flip-side...Missouri State, has been the exact opposite in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In my own humble opinion..WILL NEVER be competitive in the Missouri Valley Conference
if things stay as is...unless they do the unthinkable and find a new conference...
Problem is, of the other regional conferences, I don't even think they'd be competitive
in the Ohio Valley or The Southland Conference either...
If Missouri State wants to make a serious attempt to start building a foundation for success...
Kyle Moats needs to..in a perfect world...
1. Fire Everyone. Find a motivated, inspiring coach at the start of a career instead
of the twilight...Who's motivated to change everything on both sides of the ball...
2. Change offensive schemes. Flush the spread...
3. Focus on recruiting AND securing all the in-Springfield and in-state talent
they loose to virtually every other MVC school that beats them with that talent.
4. Ultimately...start over. MSU has absolutely nothing to loose...
As I end my yearly rant about Mo. St. Football, please understand, that I desperately want that program to win...To be a Bears fan is to have abundant patience, and hope that things will improve.
However, it also means to know the constant feeling of being let down year in and year out...
Hopefully, this year, I'm overreacting too early in the season...but if the past is any indication...
It's gonna be another rough season for Bears.
Don't know how many of you read this article, but I have 3 opinions.
First...Dave Steckel, Recruiting, and his Offensive Coordinator..
Mo. St. wanted to make a big splash when they hired him in 2014. Why not? right?
Hard nosed, defensive specialist from a successful Mizzou program..The shiny object...
Problem is...nothing really changed..the continued downward spiral of the MSU program.
We all know Steckel is known for his no-nonsense approach to the game, and was extremely
successful at Mizzou with a run of extremely talented D-I talent.
Reality is, Mo. St. doesn't have any blue chippers, and the program struggles to develop
a scheme that benefits the slightly above average high school talent he's recruited...
At this point..any incredibly decent, totally above average I-AA talent being simultaneously
recruited by Mo. St. and any other MVC schools or upper tier MIAA school like Northwest Mo.,
Central Missouri, or Pitt St..should ask themselves one question....Do I Want To Win?
If the obvious answer is..Yes!, and you don't really care about Bass Pro Shop,
Buckingham's BBQ, and/or your hometown isn't within an hour of Springfield....
Chances are...You're not coming to Missouri State...
Which means...Dave, the talent you do get..must be transformed into a productive product.
It's bad enough that the team is losing. What's worse, is that the style of football,
play calling, and overall blah offensive attitude is difficult to watch while loosing...
Lets take last weeks game against Tulane..for example...
The Bears were obvious one million point underdogs..but show some progress..
Ultimately..I've never seen a more underwhelming performance by 11 people at any
one point, at any one time, at any one place on planet earth...
Second...Triple Option...vs. what ever the hell you call what Mo. St. is doing..
As a long time, frussssssssstrated fan...The Briggs Curse didn't stop Jesse Branch
from winning the Gateway Conference twice..However, I've always believed that the
day John Keiser fired Jesse Branch, the football gods cast Mo.St. football to the darkest
regions of hell...
The university president got tired of winning, and wanted a change in direction...
Something exciting and flashy...so..Mo. St. went to the air...
Del Miller tried to do just that with a loaded roster when he arrived in 1995.
Even going 7-4 in 1996 with a talented group...90% of them recruited by Branch to operate
a rather successful, well oiled triple option attack. Then...Miller decided to air it out 3 out of
every four downs..and well..we know the rest.
It's of my opinion, Mo. St. needs to scrap this nightmare offense they attempt, and
invest in something totally foreign to the MVC....Option Football.
First, Unless you're a service academy fan, or you loved Georgia Tech under
Paul Johnson, I'd argue that probably most college coaches don't have a lot of experience
running or defending against the option, being that spread style offensives have proliferated
high school & every level of football now for more than 20 years..
The fact that EVERY team in the MVC would have to stop everything they're doing
and scout, understand, and TRY to simulate the scheme with a practice squad one time a
year would be a major inconvenience for them...and an advantage for MSU.
Secondly, since no one currently in the MVC runs this style of offense, you'd be surprised
by the interest, and attention it would bring. And...if you actually ran the scheme successfully,
you know..like how Kennesaw State does..you'd be giving your punter and fans a break...
Really...the question Steckel and his staff at Mo. St. needs to ask themselves is, are you trying
to send kids to the NFL next year?... or are you trying to win college football games, and keep
your jobs....Now..
Third...Big South v. Missouri Valley Conference
History Lesson...Kennesaw State is primarily part of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
However, the Atlantic Sun Conference is a non-football conference, thus KSU plays
football in the The Big South Conference...
As far as a football conference, The Big South...really isn't anything to write home about...
Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina were probably the only two schools in that conference
that anyone in this area may have hear about; and they're not in the conference anymore...
Thus, Kennesaw State has become the perennial powerhouse in The Big South..
On the flip-side...Missouri State, has been the exact opposite in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In my own humble opinion..WILL NEVER be competitive in the Missouri Valley Conference
if things stay as is...unless they do the unthinkable and find a new conference...
Problem is, of the other regional conferences, I don't even think they'd be competitive
in the Ohio Valley or The Southland Conference either...
If Missouri State wants to make a serious attempt to start building a foundation for success...
Kyle Moats needs to..in a perfect world...
1. Fire Everyone. Find a motivated, inspiring coach at the start of a career instead
of the twilight...Who's motivated to change everything on both sides of the ball...
2. Change offensive schemes. Flush the spread...
3. Focus on recruiting AND securing all the in-Springfield and in-state talent
they loose to virtually every other MVC school that beats them with that talent.
4. Ultimately...start over. MSU has absolutely nothing to loose...
As I end my yearly rant about Mo. St. Football, please understand, that I desperately want that program to win...To be a Bears fan is to have abundant patience, and hope that things will improve.
However, it also means to know the constant feeling of being let down year in and year out...
Hopefully, this year, I'm overreacting too early in the season...but if the past is any indication...
It's gonna be another rough season for Bears.
