Joe Moore
  Mules Radio Color Man



I’m going to steal a line from my old buddy Jeff Haldiman: Thank God for Missouri college football! If not for the Mules and Tigers, this football season would be AWFUL. Okay, not awful; my beloved Dallas Cowboys are rolling, but they aren’t in Missouri, so we’re not counting them here.

I honestly believe, given what they have to work with right now, if Eric Czernewski went to Herm Edwards and Carl Peterson and said, “Watch this,” they would have to take a look.

Yes, I am biased, but the Mules are balanced, they are aggressive, they play with emotion. And don’t even get me started on the Mizzou Tigers. They make the St. Louis Rams old “Greatest Show on Turf” look like a penny carnival in Backwoods, U.S.A.

The Mules and Tigers just prove it is easier to rebuild in college than in the pros. I know many would disagree with me. They’ll say free agency makes it easy to develop a quick fix. True, but those free agents may stick around for the season, and if the team doesn’t win it all, it’s back to the drawing boards. Or you can go the Chiefs route (which at last count has taken about 157 years). You bring in some in-their-prime players to have a great offense and pitiful defense. Then you bring in some other quality veterans to shore up the D and let the offense turn to dust. Finally you decide, well, that isn’t working, so let’s get rid of all of them, stock up on youngsters and see how that works. News flash: It ain’t! There has to be a mix. You need more than Tony Gonzalez on offense and Donnie Edwards on defense to serve as your veterans and then surround them with pups. All the Chiefs are learning right now is how to lose.

Meanwhile, in college, you can bring in a solid freshman class, supplement where necessary with some quality junior college transfers (stick it in your ear JuCo haters; they deserve a shot, too) and you can develop some consistency and a winning attitude. By the time the JuCo players have used their eligibility, the freshman class is ready to go. OR, you can do what I’ve advocated for some time: Give athletes five years of eligibility and make freshmen ineligible for varsity competition. Hear me out.

It takes the average college student 4 ½ to 5 years to graduate anyway, and if they do graduate early, hello grad school! So, develop a 4-5 game junior varsity schedule and use your freshmen and sophomores. The freshmen still can act as tackling fodder and occasionally get to make a play on scout team, but now they have some reward in sight. Many freshmen and sophomores think they’ll never play (especially when they are red-shirting), so they dog it through practice, run the scout team plays at half speed and consider the year a waste. By offering a JV schedule, you would give younger players some incentive, help them develop their skills in real situations and give the coaching staff an earlier opportunity to evaluate talent. It also would be good coaching practice for graduate assistant coaches. Junior varsity teams could always play against junior college teams (which, incidentally, would give four-year coaches another chance to scout potential talent).

I know, I know it would cost money for travel and such. I’m not saying you travel to the farthest reaches of the U.S. Play the teams within a 100-mile radius; there are plenty for most schools to choose from. It has been done in the past, it can happen again. How do you think major league baseball teams develop much of their talent? In the minor leagues! Mull it over, give it some thought, and then get back to me. I’d be happy to lead the charge!