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The big news of the morning almost goes without saying. In a complete and utter head scratcher, former Ohio State defensive coordinator turned Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio is set to name former much scrutinized OSU offensive coordinator Jim Bollman to be the Spartans' new offensive coordinator. Bollman had been previously named Purdue's offensive line coach under fellow former Buckeye assistant, Darrell Hazell, after a year in exile at the line coach at Boston College (who's o-line was a venerable turnstile, FYI).
Given that Bollman often under recruited the offensive line while at Ohio State and even worse, failed to develop the four/five star types he did get into viable professionals with but a few exceptions, he as a position coach hire was suspect enough. But now that Bollman is expected to step back into the role of play calling, something any Ohio State fan would tell you more often than not left you tearing at your own flesh just to feel something, anything. Well, it's certainly not a tremendous day to be a Michigan State football fan.
While the revelation is bringing plenty of "WHY GOD WHY" from both Spartan and Buckeye backers alike, it's hard not to hear the chortling originating from Ann Arbor. Potshots at the likes of John Shoop, Bollman, and Greg Davis have been heard a plenty, and deservedly so, but Auburn fans would likely be quick to point out that Al Borges isn't far removed from that class. Anyone who watched Michigan's offense in the second half of the 2012 version of The Game probably wouldn't have a hard time seeing Borges as an analog in that sense as well.
But because Michigan fans are ever the skeptics and in the interest of SCIENCE!, we decided it would only be fair to go back and take a look at the offenses Al Borges has coordinated over the years, from both a total offense ranking perspective as well as scoring offense sense.
It gets dicey making a comparison to Bollman, because there's been plenty of bizarro revisionist history about just who was calling plays for Ohio State and when (allegedly Hazell took the honors briefly when things got stale in 2008/2009 but since he's claimed that was never the case and that Bollman was the guy all along?). None the less, here's a look at how the careers of Jim Bollman and Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges stack up, side by side:
We'll leave you to draw conclusions for yourself, but at least in terms of a head-to-head comparison in many of the same years as well as from a more aggregate sense, I'm not sure the bodies are work aren't that comparable. Borges definitely did his best work in the mid-to-late 90's, and who knows, maybe Shane Morris is the next Cade McNown and Michigan can recreate the magic all over again. Either way, I think it's safe to deduce that when Michigan heads to Spartans Stadium the first Saturday in November, we're all in for a treat.