People amaze me with their tunnel vision and inability to see the "inter-contectedness" of the many parts of a system. Here is the post...
The offense is an eco-system. When one part goes bad, it contaminates the rest. The nightmare started with the receivers dropping passes and running bad routes which affected the flow for play calling (consistent negative down and distance situations and available options to deal with it - coaching did not adapt well). The drops and negative down distance and poor flow to play calling complicated Maxwell's development and reduced confidence. When he did make a bad throw or bone head mistake (some, that every QB makes), the stakes were higher - the receivers had already used up the margin for error, making each throw more and more critical (causing fans to further increase the pressure with each sailing pass) as the "3 and outs" kept rolling in. Then the injuries started coming in waves along with the pressure of mounting losses and the emotional drain of close, "woulda-shoulds-coulda" games. Mix it all in and I'm guessing that only a few very special QBs would have impressed in their first year starting - especially as compared to the expectations surrounding the program (and even some trash talking/tweeting from inside the program). Don't get me wrong - Maxwell still played poorly. The coaching had oversights and flat out misses. There is no avoiding those facts. I just think it snowballed on Maxwell as the "eco-system" (of which he was a part) deteriorated around him.
Here is why Dantonio will not make a change:
