Looks like 10 of our 11 starters

[HoopsDawg]

On offense will be transfers. Only Reese was a HS recruit. Crazy times.

[Pancho]

sounds like an improvement for sure.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It was needed, especially for the new scheme.

[Leroy Jenkins]

Yeah. These days "returning starters" may be the most meaningless stat next to time of possession.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yeah. These days "returning starters" may be the most meaningless stat next to time of possession.

That's why teams like Mizzou and OM are being looked at as playoff teams. They have a bunch of returning starters and IMPACT returning starter. The biggest thing and it's something Jans has figured out and Lemonis to an extent, so no reason to think Lebby won't, but multi year transfers is the key. Not just getting a one year rental. The most valuable commodity is a either a recruiting hit or multi year transfer at the QB position. That sets everything else up.

[Coach34]

yeah- need more returning starters. The portal is for plugging not a way of life.

Lebbo obviously had to do that for this season to offset the previous years of bad recruiting. But hopefully the future gets more stable.

[RockyDog]

Sure it would be nice to have continuity but that’s not happening in today’s game. We can’t be a “developmental” program and hope a 3 star turns into a stud and then gets bought out from under us. We aren’t the top tier replacing our depth chart with 4-5 stars. We gotta get talent in any way we can.

Would you rather have talent at a position or experience just to say they are experienced? Give me Pounders at LT who has years of college xp under his belt than hang on to a Percy Lewis who never developed. Give me Seydou at TE any day over “returning starter” Goede who made his first catch in game 12. Yes I know those guys left, but that’s just some examples. It’s not like we are replacing stud returning starters with garbage.

[confucius say]

Thank goodness for the portal. We'd be 1-11 without it.

[KOdawg1]

They're all upgrades though.

[DawgFromOxford]

To be expected coming off a 5-7 season and a new head coach

[HoopsDawg]

Thank goodness for the portal. We'd be 1-11 without it.

No doubt. Cupboard was bare.

[confucius say]

They're all upgrades though.

Correct. Which is why I don't understand all the angst and lack of excitement with the cited reason being the portal and new players. The portal has been a huge net positive for us.

[Cooterpoot]

Just replacing QB will be a massive upgrade

[HoopsDawg]

Correct. Which is why I don't understand all the angst and lack of excitement with the cited reason being the portal and new players. The portal has been a huge net positive for us.

I'm not sure about it being a net positive. It seems our roster compared to the rest of the conference is the worst it's been in 16 years. Hopefully that's not the case.

Mullen built our program successfully as a "developmental program". That's no longer possible it seems.

[Coach34]

Mullen built our program successfully as a "developmental program". That's no longer possible it seems.

Its now got to be a combo of developmental program and portal adds. Tough damn place to be as a coach these days. Coaches have to have a GM type guy now on staff that focuses solely on the roster

[HoopsDawg]

Its now got to be a combo of developmental program and portal adds. Tough damn place to be as a coach these days. Coaches have to have a GM type guy now on staff that focuses solely on the roster

Do we have that GM type now? NIL is the pseudo salary cap and has to be spent wisely. It seems we haven't gotten the job done on the Dline.

[Coach34]

Do we have that GM type now? NIL is the pseudo salary cap and has to be spent wisely. It seems we haven't gotten the job done on the Dline.

Every SEC school now has a "roster" guy. If we dont then we are behind

[maroonmania]

Its now got to be a combo of developmental program and portal adds. Tough damn place to be as a coach these days. Coaches have to have a GM type guy now on staff that focuses solely on the roster

Coaches also need a good number of boosters willing to throw their money at 'free agent' transfer portal players who are out for a payday. Our program had come a long way from the days when Jackie showed up and then eventually through the Mullen years with Dak but its yet to be seen if State can truly compete with the upper half teams in the SEC with NIL and the instant transfer as the new normal. I never had a doubt OM could and would do extremely well just buying players on the open market. Throwing doctor/lawyer money at things is what they've always done when allowed but I certainly have my doubts that we have enough boosters willing to just throw money at players to compete. Sad that this is what college football has become but here we are where college football is going to be just paid mercenaries. And something they could do to help the situation, like cutting back the total number of football scholarships, they instead are doing the exact opposite.

[SPMT]

Coaches also need a good number of boosters willing to throw their money at 'free agent' transfer portal players who are out for a payday. Our program had come a long way from the days when Jackie showed up and then eventually through the Mullen years with Dak but its yet to be seen if State can truly compete with the upper half teams in the SEC with NIL and the instant transfer as the new normal. I never had a doubt OM could and would do extremely well just buying players on the open market. Throwing doctor/lawyer money at things is what they've always done when allowed but I certainly have my doubts that we have enough boosters willing to just throw money at players to compete. Sad that this is what college football has become but here we are where college football is going to be just paid mercenaries. And something they could do to help the situation, like cutting back the total number of football scholarships, they instead are doing the exact opposite.

Adapt or get run over.

We can?t affect change that drives multi-year commitment from players, so we are along for the ride.

[HoopsDawg]

Adapt or get run over.

We can?t affect change that drives multi-year commitment from players, so we are along for the ride.

We have to be really smart. Maybe assign values to each position. X amount for a pass rusher. Less for a safety. X amount for a LT, Less for a LG, etc. Then hope the collective can raise the amount needed. Need excellent evaluators to form a draft board of players from lesser conferences. Ethan Minor is a great example. Excellent pickup by the staff.

It really has to be a mix of NFL and MLB roster management. Farm system of high school coupled with Free agents. No current coaches signed up for this and few are equipped to handle. It's up to Selmon to put the right plan and structure together

[Todd4State]

Coaches also need a good number of boosters willing to throw their money at 'free agent' transfer portal players who are out for a payday. Our program had come a long way from the days when Jackie showed up and then eventually through the Mullen years with Dak but its yet to be seen if State can truly compete with the upper half teams in the SEC with NIL and the instant transfer as the new normal. I never had a doubt OM could and would do extremely well just buying players on the open market. Throwing doctor/lawyer money at things is what they've always done when allowed but I certainly have my doubts that we have enough boosters willing to just throw money at players to compete. Sad that this is what college football has become but here we are where college football is going to be just paid mercenaries. And something they could do to help the situation, like cutting back the total number of football scholarships, they instead are doing the exact opposite.

Teams were going to be paying walk-ons anyway. I know that had happened in the past at Ole Miss under Tuberville when they were able to get some legacies like Matt Luke to "walk-on".

Conversely, I think going so portal heavy has hurt Ole Miss to an extent in high school recruiting. Which is where we can potentially take advantage of the current environment and build a strong core around players like Stonka, Kamario Taylor, Mario Nash, and etc.

Now no- we shouldn't disregard the portal but I believe that once Lebby gets his program established we'll gradually back away from the portal where we don't have 10 out of 11 starters from the portal. Eventually we'll use it to plug holes in the roster.

One thing I do like about the portal for us is we can get old recruits that we lost back like Stone Blanton and Makaylan Pounders. Both will start for us and both would have been stuck at their old schools if this is 2014.

We'll also continue to use our secret weapon in football- the JUCO system. Obviously we won't and shouldn't rely on it like we did under Jackie and later Dan at times. But there are good players still there and Mississippi will now and forever more have late bloomers and players that were overlooked that develop in JUCO. Branden Jennings and Braylen Lanier are two current examples on our team.

To sum it up- I agree that we have disadvantages but we also have some things in our favor too if we are wise and use them. The portal makes the 105 scholarship thing a little bit easier to stomach because even if a guy goes to Alabama because it's Alabama they still want to play- they don't want to just sit on the bench.

[Todd4State]

We have to be really smart. Maybe assign values to each position. X amount for a pass rusher. Less for a safety. X amount for a LT, Less for a LG, etc. Then hope the collective can raise the amount needed. Need excellent evaluators to form a draft board of players from lesser conferences. Ethan Minor is a great example. Excellent pickup by the staff.

It really has to be a mix of NFL and MLB roster management. Farm system of high school coupled with Free agents. No current coaches signed up for this and few are equipped to handle. It's up to Selmon to put the right plan and structure together

We can maybe assign values to a degree. I'm sure there is some fluidity there though. Or hopefully there would be. May have to build in an emergency fund where we can go over budget to get a special player potentially- a Cam Newton for example.

One thing Ole Miss is rumored to be doing is basically going "all in" for this season. In other words they're focusing on trying to have a special season this year. That may be prudent for us to do at times if we feel like we have an up cycle team- for example 2018. We could have potentially overspent on wide receivers to help the offense be better that year which would have made a huge difference.

[WinningIsRelentless]

We can maybe assign values to a degree. I'm sure there is some fluidity there though. Or hopefully there would be. May have to build in an emergency fund where we can go over budget to get a special player potentially- a Cam Newton for example.

One thing Ole Miss is rumored to be doing is basically going "all in" for this season. In other words they're focusing on trying to have a special season this year. That may be prudent for us to do at times if we feel like we have an up cycle team- for example 2018. We could have potentially overspent on wide receivers to help the offense be better that year which would have made a huge difference.

Ole Miss is 100% leveraged out there ass for this year. Borrowing money from banks and the like to fund this years team. Whether for cash or to put players in cars. I know this 100% for a fact.

It?s a shell game waiting to crumble.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Ole Miss is 100% leveraged out there ass for this year. Borrowing money from banks and the like to fund this years team. Whether for cash or to put players in cars. I know this 100% for a fact.

It?s a shell game waiting to crumble.

This is all correct. They are leveraged and have no cares or worries to how they are going to pay it. Part of their higher ups believe Kiffin is gone at years end and they can recoup the money that way.

[confucius say]

I'm not sure about it being a net positive. It seems our roster compared to the rest of the conference is the worst it's been in 16 years. Hopefully that's not the case.

Mullen built our program successfully as a "developmental program". That's no longer possible it seems.

Our roster problem is not due to the portal. We would be much worse off without our portal gains even if we kept our portal losses.
By net positive, I mean we have gained a lot more from the portal than we have lost. Way more.

[confucius say]

Every SEC school now has a "roster" guy. If we dont then we are behind

We have a GM. Mark Bottler.

[HoopsDawg]

Our roster problem is not due to the portal. We would be much worse off without our portal gains even if we kept our portal losses.
By net positive, I mean we have gained a lot more from the portal than we have lost. Way more.

I agree with you. But at the same time, this era of NIL/Portal has been a negative for us. At least so far.

[HoopsDawg]

This is all correct. They are leveraged and have no cares or worries to how they are going to pay it. Part of their higher ups believe Kiffin is gone at years end and they can recoup the money that way.

We would never do what Ole Miss has done. For example, We would never win a bidding war for a Walter Nolen. They have definitely gone all in. We will see if it pays off.

[Hot Rock]

On offense will be transfers. Only Reese was a HS recruit. Crazy times.

Where is this depth chart you speak. I have seen nothing... Last I saw, a WR, 2 OL, and TE were expected returning starters on offense but has something come out official?

[HoopsDawg]

Where is this depth chart you speak. I have seen nothing... Last I saw, a WR, 2 OL, and TE were expected returning starters on offense but has something come out official?

Nothing official. Yes, some guys like Mosley were on the roster last year but he's still a transfer.

[Hot Rock]

So, been here 2 - 3 years not a returning player? Does not compute.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We would never do what Ole Miss has done. For example, We would never win a bidding war for a Walter Nolen. They have definitely gone all in. We will see if it pays off.

I mean if the goal is playoff birth, then it probably is going to pay off. But if the goal is win the whole thing, it's not happening.

I do agree that their buy in is far greater than ours, and has been since Eddy O showed them the way.

[HoopsDawg]

So, been here 2 - 3 years not a returning player? Does not compute.

Not sure why this is hard for you. Not a high school signee. Mosely transferred from Northwestern. Carry on.

[maroonmania]

Teams were going to be paying walk-ons anyway. I know that had happened in the past at Ole Miss under Tuberville when they were able to get some legacies like Matt Luke to "walk-on".

Conversely, I think going so portal heavy has hurt Ole Miss to an extent in high school recruiting. Which is where we can potentially take advantage of the current environment and build a strong core around players like Stonka, Kamario Taylor, Mario Nash, and etc.

Now no- we shouldn't disregard the portal but I believe that once Lebby gets his program established we'll gradually back away from the portal where we don't have 10 out of 11 starters from the portal. Eventually we'll use it to plug holes in the roster.

One thing I do like about the portal for us is we can get old recruits that we lost back like Stone Blanton and Makaylan Pounders. Both will start for us and both would have been stuck at their old schools if this is 2014.

We'll also continue to use our secret weapon in football- the JUCO system. Obviously we won't and shouldn't rely on it like we did under Jackie and later Dan at times. But there are good players still there and Mississippi will now and forever more have late bloomers and players that were overlooked that develop in JUCO. Branden Jennings and Braylen Lanier are two current examples on our team.

To sum it up- I agree that we have disadvantages but we also have some things in our favor too if we are wise and use them. The portal makes the 105 scholarship thing a little bit easier to stomach because even if a guy goes to Alabama because it's Alabama they still want to play- they don't want to just sit on the bench.

I just don't see a lot of quality players going to a school as a walk-on over a school giving them a full scholarship even with some NIL. Just not many walk-ons that are going to be worth paying in NIL anywhere close to the value of a full scholarship. If Alabama can give 20 more 4 and 5 stars scholarships they will definitely get a good many of them that would have gone somewhere else if the scholarship hadn't been available.

[Todd4State]

I just don't see a lot of quality players going to a school as a walk-on over a school giving them a full scholarship even with some NIL. Just not many walk-ons that are going to be worth paying in NIL anywhere close to the value of a full scholarship. If Alabama can give 20 more 4 and 5 stars scholarships they will definitely get a good many of them that would have gone somewhere else if the scholarship hadn't been available.

I don't disagree. What I'm calling a "walk-on" is not what I would traditionally think of as a walk-on. It's going to be guys that are raw athletic talents that a team may hit on that takes up the last 25 spots on the roster. And I imagine most of those will hit the portal or get processed out.

The guys that we traditionally think of as walk-ons are going to mostly either be at Delta State, JUCO trying to take one last shot at getting on a roster, or they're going to just attend MSU as a traditional student.

[Todd4State]

I mean if the goal is playoff birth, then it probably is going to pay off. But if the goal is win the whole thing, it's not happening.

I do agree that their buy in is far greater than ours, and has been since Eddy O showed them the way.

Their buy in is definitely better in football. All around athletics- probably not.

[Hot Rock]

Not sure why this is hard for you. Not a high school signee. Mosely transferred from Northwestern. Carry on.

Probably cause I am tired of all the negativity. Sure things are different but the teams with more money always win more if they had a good coach. NIL And portal changes it sure but it is actually better for State. Separation from G5 is getting greater.

A kid spends one year and transfers once then spends 3-4 years elsewhere are still a transfer but it matters little after the first year. Once they been here a year, they are a part of the team and you don?t have the same sort of issues with figuring things out.

[Ezsoil]

yeah- need more returning starters. The portal is for plugging not a way of life.

Lebbo obviously had to do that for this season to offset the previous years of bad recruiting. But hopefully the future gets more stable.

It won't get better as long as he continues to recruit as many receivers as he has...at least 5hrow in a DL or linebacker every now and then

[Cooterpoot]

I'm not sure about it being a net positive. It seems our roster compared to the rest of the conference is the worst it's been in 16 years. Hopefully that's not the case.

Mullen built our program successfully as a "developmental program". That's no longer possible it seems.

Our roster is rated the 34th best in the country. It was in the 70s (might have worse) before we flipped it. That's a massive net!
Heck, Ole Miss is only at 20 after spending all that money.

[HancockCountyDog]

Our roster is rated the 34th best in the country. It was in the 70s (might have worse) before we flipped it. That's a massive net!
Heck, Ole Miss is only at 20 after spending all that money.

That sounds great, I hope whoever is rating our roster is right because our over-under is 4.5. There is no way we only win 5 games with the 34th-best roster in the country. Lebby is a really great offensive mind and we will get back to RTGDF and scoring points this year if our roster is indeed that talented.

I'm deeply concerned about our defense, but maybe I'm just scarred from last season.

[confucius say]

That sounds great, I hope whoever is rating our roster is right because our over-under is 4.5. There is no way we only win 5 games with the 34th-best roster in the country. Lebby is a really great offensive mind and we will get back to RTGDF and scoring points this year if our roster is indeed that talented.

I'm deeply concerned about our defense, but maybe I'm just scarred from last season.

Our schedule is brutal. We play, I think, 8 of the top 25 rosters. I know 7 for sure. Not sure about Arkansas.

[HancockCountyDog]

Our schedule is brutal. We play, I think, 8 of the top 25 rosters. I know 7 for sure. Not sure about Arkansas.

We beat Arkansas last year with one of the worst offenses in modern college football history, on the road.

[BrunswickDawg]

We beat Arkansas last year with one of the worst offenses in modern college football history, on the road.

Ah yes, the winner of the 3-2 Lookalike Contest.