First, Lynn Henning, writing for the Detroit News. He thinks Michigan and Michigan State will now both be perennial Top 25 football teams. (I disagree, and not just because of my distaste for MSU athletics, but I'll get to that after I point out some of his horrifying logic.) "Each school got it right, as 2007 proved with Mark Dantonio at Michigan State..." Erm, no. John L. Smith's first year at MSU was better than Dantonio's, and was more of an improvement from the previous year's team. One can only hope that things turn out similarly.
"Miles, who is so much a clone of the late Schembechler that he even speaks in Bo's clipped sentences, would not have taken U-M football into the 21st century." I cannot tell you how much I hate the phrase "into the 21st century" in football. Teams will still run the I-form, the Wishbone, the Flexbone, the Power I, the Shotgun, the Pro Set, and Offset formations. They will run the triple option, the wing-T, West Coast, the Run 'n' Shoot, the spread, and pro-style offenses. Some will become preponderant, others will wait their turn; someone will invent new schemes, and everyone will incorporate some of its elements into their offenses. The idea that Miles is stuck in the 20th century is ludicrous. And in any case, I'll take that if it means national championships (Miles = very yes). (That said, I like Rodriguez and I'm glad we hired him. What I don't like is ridiculous statements.)
"Those near-miss losses were not coincidental. They were the product of a vastly strengthened Spartans team that was lacking, on one play or another, the experience or athleticism that might have tipped the game MSU's way." Again, see John L. Smith's first year. And Weis's first year. And Willingham's first year. And a lot of coaches' first years. Moreover...OH, they just lacked experience or athleticism. What else is there? Intelligence? If that was the Spartans' "strengthened" aspect, it wasn't apparent to me.
"They tabbed a head coach with presence, character and experience who knew Michigan State and, most important, its neglected recruiting potential." "Neglected recruiting potential" seems kinda funny for a team that climbed as irrationally high as 16th in the rankings at one point during the tenure of the last coach, whose superior recruiting was also praised by journalists. But....eh. (Also, what "presence"? The "presence" of a sullen 5-year-old after losing to Michigan last year?) Now, I know MSU's 2009 recruiting class is, so far, ranked in the top ten, but I'll get to that later.
"'First base was a bowl game for us (a loss to Boston College at last year's Citrus Bowl).'" Henning helpfully inserted this addendum into a quote from Dantonio. The only problem is that they lost to Boston College last year in the Champs Sports Inc. Dot Com Classic Presented By Florida Citrus Sports...not the "Citrus Bowl," which has now existed for several years as the "Capital One Bowl" and was won, 41-35, by the University of Michigan over the University of Florida. (Didn't he say something about coming into the 21st century?)
Finally...I guess it's true that the two could exist as Top 25 programs, but I don't think they will. Recruiting plays an enormous role in college football. Michigan is a national brand, State, for the most part, a local one. Michigan is ramping up its out-of-state recruiting, particularly in Florida (receiving, now, several commitments from NFL feeder Pahokee, for example). MSU is doing worse outside Michigan, but much better inside it--for now--largely because Michigan high schools run a system closer to Dantonio's than to Rodriguez's. That will, and has already begun, to change as high schools adopt the spread option in order to produce recruits for U-M (see Detroit Cass Tech). It is also a particularly good year for recruiting in the state. Even as Michigan has neglected in-state recruits, they have received the recruits that fit its system well--notably speedy scat back Teric Jones. I could be wrong, obviously, so I'm not saying this will definitely be the case, but...the available evidence suggests to me that things will go on in pretty much the same way they have in this state. And...if so...GOOD.
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