Michigan State Football: 5 reasons to be optimistic about 2019 season
3. Shakeups on the offensive coaching staff
Hate it or tolerate it, Mark Dantonio made changes to the offensive side of the ball and whether people want to admit it, they make sense — for the most part.
Terrence Samuel’s move from receivers to assistant defensive backs and freshman coach is still a head-scratcher, but Dantonio made the switch for a reason. The receivers hadn’t been creating enough separation in recent years — evidenced in the Redbox Bowl — and Don Treadwell has plenty of experience as a receivers coach.
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Brad Salem is now calling the plays and Dantonio deemed him an “imaginative” offensive mind which makes fans believe that change is on the way. No more stale play-calling and, better yet, no more predictable first-down runs up the middle or jet-sweeps to the short side of the field.
Dave Warner has gone back to doing what he does best and that’s develop quarterbacks. No longer does he have to worry about running the offense, but rather he can work on getting Brian Lewerke back to his old self. In case you’re unfamiliar, Warner developed Brian Hoyer, Kirk Cousins and got Connor Cook started while he was quarterbacks coach from 2007-12.
Lastly, Jim Bollman is a guy many were expecting to retire, but he’s back coaching the offensive line like he should be and Mark Staten is on tight ends where he’s excelled before.
These shake-ups are exactly what this offense needed, on a smaller scale.