Mel Tucker should study Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu, of course, is the legendary Chinese General and military strategist.

He was born in 544 BC and his treatise “The Art of War” is still considered to be a masterpiece of strategic planning. In fact, his principles of war are studied by modern day military strategists; it is studied at the National War College; and it has been studied by virtually every championship football coach, both college and pro.

At the core of Sun Tzu’s military treatise, he proclaims, “every war is decided before the first battle is fought” and victory is achieved through organizational efficiency and meticulous planning.

And so, with a nod toward Sun Tzu and his principles of war, the prognosticators who track college football commonly agree that Mel Tucker has lost the 2021 Big Ten war before a single game has been played.

In fact, the leading football pundits, including but not limited to Athlon Sports, Lindy Sports, Phil Steele, 24/7 Sports, and Cleveland.com all agree that Spartan Football is destined to finish #7 amongst 7 teams in the Big Ten East, while in the bigger picture the pundits believe the Spartans will finish no better than #13 amongst 14 Big Ten teams overall.

Think about that?

From 2007 to 2015, Michigan State Football was assaulting the National Championship mountain, poised to become consistently “Elite” on a level with Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State, but somehow that plan turned to custard. Instead, the Spartans are now engaged in a race to the bottom of the Big Ten and projected to finish below perennial cellar dweller Rutgers.

How in the world did that happen?

Well, that spotlight shines upon Michigan State Board of Trustees, the President, the AD and of course, the Head Football Coach!

 

One of Sun Tzu primary principles is building an army with soldiers who know the terrain:

In college football parlance, that’s code for “recruiting the backyard”, yet Mel Tucker has chosen a different path.

Of course, Biggie Munn, Duffy Daugherty and Mark Dantonio each ensured their players knew the terrain by recruiting the majority of their players from a 250 mile radius of Michigan State campus. Very rarely did Michigan State’s most successful football coaches venture beyond 500 miles to recruit a football player.

Let’s take a look at a small yet representative sample of “homegrown” players recruited within a 250 mile radius by Michigan State’s most successful head football coaches:

Biggie Munn:

Biggie recruited Al Dorow, from “tiny” Imlay City; Don Coleman and Lynn Chadnois were recruited from Flint Central; Leroy Bolden was recruited from Flint Northern; Sonny Grandelius was recruited from Muskegon Hts; and Bob Carey was recruited from Charlevoix.

Biggie also recruited 3 time captain, Bob McCurry from Lewiston, PA; Hank Bullough from Scranton, PA; and Frank Kush from Windber, PA: and while those players were recruited beyond the 250 mile radius, they were still within the secondary radius of 500 miles.

Biggie also recruited Earl Morrall from Muskegon and in turn, Duffy inherited Earl Morrall from Biggie Munn.

Duffy Daugherty:

Duffy’s recruiting strategy was a veritable replica of Biggie’s.

In Duffy’s early years, he acquired players like Blanche Martin from River Rouge; Ed Lothamer from Detroit; Ed Budde from Highland Park via Denby HS; Fred Arbanas from Detroit via Redford St. Mary’s; Jim Kanicki from Bay City; and Dave Behrman from Dowagiac.

Of course, Duffy benefitted greatly from conducting coaching clinics throughout the country, and in the 1960’s that facilitated an opportunity to recruit great black players from the south, such as Jimmy Raye, Bubba Smith, Gene Washington, George Webster, Jim Summers and Charlie Thornhill. He also recruited a bounty of great players from the Pacific Islands including but not limited to Bob Apisa, Dick Kenny, and Jim Nicholson, and of course, the aforementioned players distinguished themselves at Michigan State and beyond.

 

Yet the fabric of Duffy’s teams in the 1960’s were recruited from a 250 mile radius of campus, so I thought I would run down players from the 1965 National Championship team to illustrate building a championship team from a 250 mile recruiting radius.

 

Let’s start with Offensive starters:

  • TE, Jim Proebstle (Canton, O/Central Catholic).
  • OL, Jerry West (Durand, MI); John Karpinski (Buchanan, MI); Boris Dimitroff (Livonia, MI/Bentley); Joe Pryzbycki (Harper Woods, MI/Notre Dame Catholic).
  • QB, Steve Juday (Northville, MI).
  • RB, Clinton Jones (Cleveland, O/Cathedral Latin); Dwight Lee (New Haven, MI).

 

More Offensive players from 250 mile radius included:

  • TE, Tony Angel (Utica, MI).
  • OL, Dave Techlin (Essexville, MI/Bay City Central).
  • RB, Mitchell Pruiett (Benton Harbor, MI);

 

Defensive starters recruited within 250 mile radius included:

  • MG, Harold Lucas (Detroit, MI/Southwestern);
  • DL, Don Bierowicz (Chicago, Ill/St Rita); Pat Gallinagh (Detroit, MI/Servite); Don Weatherspoon, a “walk-on” from tiny Vandalia, MI.
  • LB, Ron Goovert (Ferndale, MI/Hazel Park);
  • DB, Don Japinga (Wayland, MI);

 

More Defensive players from 250 mile radius included:

  • DL, Phil Hoag (Toledo, Central Catholic);
  • DB, Jerry Jones (Grand Ledge, MI); Sterling Armstrong (Detroit/Central).
  • LB, Bob Brawley was recruited from Sault Ste Marie just a tick past the 250 mile marker.

 

Mark Dantonio:

Of course, Mark Dantonio not only believed in “recruiting the backyard”, but he publicly articulated his strategy as “recruiting inside/out”.

Mark Dantonio didn’t see a need to cross two time zones to recruit a Running Back, Offensive Lineman or Linebacker when those players could be recruited within close proximity to Michigan State campus.

Hence, Dantonio recruited heavily within a 250 mile radius of campus as well, including but not limited to: Kirk Cousins (Holland, MI); Edwin Baker (Highland Park & Oak Park HS); Max & Riley Bullough (Traverse City); Jack Conklin (Plainwell, MI); and Jeremy Langford (Wayne, MI).

Meanwhile, Dantonio also went out of state, but still stayed within the 250 mile recruiting radius by dipping into talent rich Ohio to acquire Le’Veon Bell (Reynoldsburg, O); and Joe Bachie (Berea, O); and he stayed within the 250 mile radius to acquire the Allen Brothers: Jack, Brian and Matt (Hinsdale, Ill).

There were a few exceptions of course, such as Darqueze Dennard from Dry Branch, Georgia, and Brian Lewerke from Phoenix, Arizona, but by and large, the 250 mile radius was Dantonio’s recruiting “sweet spot”!

 

Not so with Mel Tucker…

Whether you agree with the 250 mile recruiting radius or not, Sun Tzu would say, don’t go into battle unless your army is thoroughly and properly trained, yet problematically, Mel Tucker will go into battle in about 30 days with an “eye glazing” 40 players who have never put on a Spartan uniform before.

Those players include 20 transfers (5 of which are “walk-on’s”), and 20 freshmen (including 2 “walk-on’s).

Let’s recall how the Spartans got to this point: since last November, the Spartans lost an unprecedented 27 players via the Transfer Portal, because those players either “weren’t buying” the new coaching philosophy, or the new coaching regime pushed those players “out the door”. In either case, 27 players, most of whom were recruited from 250 mile radius have been replaced with 20 inexperienced transfers who are generally unfamiliar with Michigan State or the Big Ten.

The new transfers were recruited from programs mostly beyond a 500 mile radius, and some beyond 1500 miles. They include D-III players, D-II players, 5 walk-on’s and many have never competed at the Power 5 level.

Said another way, the “inbound transfers” can best be described as “Journeyman” players without All Conference, or All American credentials, yet they will be called upon to work magic against championship caliber teams like Miami, Penn State and Ohio State.

And now even lowly Rutgers is marked as a favorite to beat the Spartans!

By every measure, there is an enormous amount for the new transfers to digest before they even put on a Spartan uniform, in fact, most won’t participate in their first formal Michigan State practice until August 4, just 30 days before the first game.

So, in addition to the challenge of acclimating to campus life, and getting acquainted with other players and coaches, the “inbound” players will get a crash course learning the Spartan Playbook (sorry coach, where was I supposed to be on that play, again?).

Would Sun Tzu think Michigan State’s “inbound transfers” will be thoroughly and properly trained by the time the season kicks off in a little more than 30 days?

 

There is no magic in the 250 mile recruiting radius, just simple logic:

The 250 mile radius isn’t an arbitrary measurement pulled “out of a hat”.

Rather, 250 miles is a “recruiting sweet spot”, whereby prospective recruits are familiar with the school, the campus, the conference, the culture, the weather and the geography. They know the elements and they know what they are competing for.

Recruiting players from within the 250 mile radius ensures that players have optimum familiarity with the school and its football program, meanwhile proximity to campus enables family and friends to make a 1 to 5 hour road trip on gameday to offer emotional support.

While it takes a bit longer to navigate 500 miles by car, nevertheless friends and family can still make a gameday road trip.

It may sound romantic and a bit heroic for a football program to recruit across time zones but cross country recruiting has unanticipated consequences, and recruiting pragmatism speaks louder than romance.

It’s a documented fact, the further a player is from family and friends, the greater the likelihood the player will defect and return closer to home. Remember Nick Foles, the gifted QB from Austin, Tx?  He initially chose Michigan State, but when things didn’t go exactly according to plan, he defected from Michigan State and returned to the southwest to attend University of Arizona.

How big of a loss was Nick Foles? He went on to beat Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII (52).

 

At the bottom line: Can Mel Tucker make “bad” stats, better?

Last season, on the way to posting a 2-5 record, Michigan State Football compiled some of the worst stats in its history.

When measured against 127 D-1 schools, the Spartans ranked #103 Passing; #116 Scoring and #122 Rushing, and all of that occurred on Mel Tucker’s watch.

It’s also worth noting, the Spartan Offense was a “Turnover” machine, losing eight fumbles and 12 interceptions (20 Turnovers) in just 7 games: that’s 20 turnovers incurred on just 102 drives which was a stunning 20% turnover ratio — and that ranked next to last in the country.

Do you think those stats will get better with 40 new players who have never put on the Spartan uniform before?

Spartan fans and stakeholders won’t like this message, but don’t shoot the messenger, and don’t shoot the pundits or prognosticators who made the predictions because the prognosticators intuitively understand the principles of Sun Tzu, which is to say, Mel Tucker has chosen an unorthodox recruiting strategy and he will be leading an inexperienced team into battle with players who are unfamiliar with the Big Ten terrain!

For that reason, most analysts believe Mel Tucker’s unorthodox recruiting strategy and inexperienced roster has put Michigan State Football in an untenable position, so it’s no surprise the pundits predict Michigan State to finish “dead last” in Big Ten East.

Nevertheless, Mel Tucker has orchestrated the plan, so he is 100% accountable for the results.

Will his plan succeed? We’ll see.

Mel Tucker says he has a “chip on his shoulder” (fair enough) but can he prove the doubters wrong, and can he prove Sun Tzu wrong?

 

Thank you for reading.

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