Why do we always barely miss on the big "splash" transfer?

[Quaoarsking]

Just in the last couples years, we've convinced ourselves we were going to get these players, only to have them slip through our fingers at the last second:

Paul Skenes, Dillon Gabriel, Braden Montgomery, Hailey Van Lith, now Jackson Arnold. Am I missing any? This is just going back to 2022.

I get that the answers are "money" and "Starkville," but does anyone else in the country have this kind of record of almost grabbing the big name transfer and then missing? You'd think we would have won a couple of these battles over the years, just with how close we got to all of them, especially given that all of them but Skenes had a clear connection to us.

[parabrave]

It's called wanting to be the guy who wants to be the king of the internet and picking a big name and sticking with it, posting enough times that others will start to believe in it. INOW the next Steve Rosebowl. Hey with Arnold did anyone ever think why didn't lebby bring him here in the 1st place instead of some beat up Shapen.

[Msujd164]

Because they were probably never barely misses to begin with. One or two posters on a message board will act like insiders and get everyones hopes up. That particular player probably never had an ounce of interest.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Most of our Big Splash near misses we were a distant third.

[mparkerfd20]

JA is far from big splash. Y'all just played it up that way. He's not that great. MVB has a much higher ceiling. He just needs coaching and maturity.

[msstate7]

Arnold didn't even visit. It wasn't close

[parabrave]

JA is far from big splash. Y'all just played it up that way. He's not that great. MVB has a much higher ceiling. He just needs coaching and maturity.

Well Some of us have been saying this from the beginning. But I guess the insiders will now say the Ewhers will be the next bulldog GOAT,

[StarkVegasSteve]

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

[bulldawg28]

The only real miss was Cam Newton. The others don't move the needle above what we've already accomplished.

[msstate7]

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.
It could be lsu is a better program in baseball
Oregon and Auburn are better football programs.
Texas a&m isn't a better baseball program, but we were coming off a crap season

[Quaoarsking]

The only real miss was Cam Newton. The others don't move the needle above what we've already accomplished.

Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed.

Not sure what our record would have been with Gabriel since the rest of the team was so bad anyway, but I bet we would have won a few more games.

[Quaoarsking]

It could be lsu is a better program in baseball
Oregon and Auburn are better football programs.
Texas a&m isn't a better baseball program, but we were coming off a crap season

On the day Skenes committed, we were the better baseball program.

I think of these 5 examples, Gabriel is the only one who chose a clearly better program unless you're looking way back into history.

[bulldawg28]

Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed.

Not sure what our record would have been with Gabriel since the rest of the team was so bad anyway, but I bet we would have won a few more games.

Would we have achieved anything different from those 3?

[Quaoarsking]

Would we have achieved anything different from those 3?

Yes, I think so. "Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed."

[NCMSTFAN]

Because they were probably never barely misses to begin with. One or two posters on a message board will act like insiders and get everyones hopes up. That particular player probably never had an ounce of interest.

Exactly! And we have too many people who claim to be an insider but don't know a dang thing!

[bulldawg28]

Yes, I think so. "Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed."

We've been a champion in baseball and a final four in Women's basketball. I'm referring to Championships.

[msstate7]

On the day Skenes committed, we were the better baseball program.

I think of these 5 examples, Gabriel is the only one who chose a clearly better program unless you're looking way back into history.

Just like when we were terrible in 2022-3, I didn't consider our program outside the top 10-15, I don't consider lsu outside of the #1 program for what 20-30 years. Vandy was right there with them for part of that run

[Quaoarsking]

We've been a champion in baseball and a final four in Women's basketball. I'm referring to Championships.

You're asking if I can guarantee that these players would have brought us a national championship? No, I cannot. Skenes would have likely turned a bad team into a contender though.

Are you saying that if a transfer doesn't land us a national championship, he's not worth bringing in?

[Tripp McNeely]

...because we were 2-10 last year.

[Coursesuper]

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

We are in a small town in an ass backward state. Facts. Historically, Starkville and the university have been at odds with each other. The opposite of Oxford and the confederacy. They have embraced the myth of Faulkner, Morris, The Square, social superiority and ridden it. At the same time demeaning us with the cow college, dirt farmers tags that have stuck. Perceptions are reality sadly, and our fan media doesn?t do us any favors compared to the ones that follow almost all of the rest of the conference. It?s just what we have to deal with and continue to overcome.

[CaptainObvious]

We are in a small town in an ass backward state. Facts. Historically, Starkville and the university have been at odds with each other. The opposite of Oxford and the confederacy. They have embraced the myth of Faulkner, Morris, The Square, social superiority and ridden it. At the same time demeaning us with the cow college, dirt farmers tags that have stuck. Perceptions are reality sadly, and our fan media doesn?t do us any favors compared to the ones that follow almost all of the rest of the conference. It?s just what we have to deal with and continue to overcome.

Well, it doesn't help that Starkville/ Oktibbeha County are never considered for large financial operation like Toyota or fighting for new large projects looking to expand or move their operation!
The University needs to take the lead in getting those higher paying developments and expanding retail and manufacturing development since the County and the City doesn't have the leadership in place to lead the charge!

[BB30]

Well, it doesn't help that Starkville/ Oktibbeha County are never considered for large financial operation like Toyota or fighting for new large projects looking to expand or move their operation!
The University needs to take the lead in getting those higher paying developments and expanding retail and manufacturing development since the County and the City doesn't have the leadership in place to lead the charge!

The golden triangle is doing a pretty bang up job of bringing new industry here one of the better jobs in the state.

Got the new aluminum mill wrapping up in the next year. Between it, the steel mill and other industries by the airport they have brought in tons of jobs that pay better than a Toyota plant would.

[Mjoelner34]

Just in the last couples years, we've convinced ourselves we were going to get these players, only to have them slip through our fingers at the last second:

Paul Skenes, Dillon Gabriel, Braden Montgomery, Hailey Van Lith, now Jackson Arnold. Am I missing any? This is just going back to 2022.

I get that the answers are "money" and "Starkville," but does anyone else in the country have this kind of record of almost grabbing the big name transfer and then missing? You'd think we would have won a couple of these battles over the years, just with how close we got to all of them, especially given that all of them but Skenes had a clear connection to us.

Because we're never as close as people like to think on getting the 'splash' transfer in the first place. It's a manifestation due to a hopium overdose. In the latest case, as soon it was announced that Arnold was going to visit Auburn because Hugh was paying $25/visit, it was as good as over then yet the hopium kept building.

[Coach34]

We are in a small town in an ass backward state. Facts. Historically, Starkville and the university have been at odds with each other. The opposite of Oxford and the confederacy. They have embraced the myth of Faulkner, Morris, The Square, social superiority and ridden it.

This is it in a nutshell. Overwhelmingly the #1 reason

[BankerDog]

This is it in a nutshell. Overwhelmingly the #1 reason

And we continue to have fans embrace ?money ball? approach. Tells you everything you need to know. Want Champagne taste with a natty lite budget.

[EdwardDrayton]

We are in a small town in an ass backward state. Facts. Historically, Starkville and the university have been at odds with each other. The opposite of Oxford and the confederacy. They have embraced the myth of Faulkner, Morris, The Square, social superiority and ridden it. At the same time demeaning us with the cow college, dirt farmers tags that have stuck. Perceptions are reality sadly, and our fan media doesn?t do us any favors compared to the ones that follow almost all of the rest of the conference. It?s just what we have to deal with and continue to overcome.

^^^^^^^

[Todd4State]

To me, it's just that our coaches don't want the player bad enough. Auburn and Oxford are shitty college towns too. The college town thing factors in for immature guys that want to drink all the time and girls.

The bottom line is Lebby didn't bust his ass enough to get Arnold. We had the money. Freeze has plenty of issues that we could exploit. Could have paid him more to not even visit Auburn. Didn't do it.

Same thing with Cam Newton and Dan. We could have paid the money if Dan pulled the trigger to do so. He failed to do it.

And that's exactly why fans don't buy in to MSU football. Because the coach's don't want it bad enough. So why the hell should fans buy in?

I'm just ready for us to fire Lebby so we can hire Dan back and when our fans realize that is a dumb idea when it fails miserably because we just have to FAFO then we can move forward as a program in five years.

[Todd4State]

And we continue to have fans embrace ?money ball? approach. Tells you everything you need to know. Want Champagne taste with a natty lite budget.

It's not just the fans. That was literally Dan's, Leach's, and Arnett's strategy. In different forms.

Dan = Diamonds in the rough and player development

Leach= Can at places that don't recruit well.

Arnett= Lunch pail and blue collar

Those staffs came up with that themselves. The fans just went along with it.

[mo7888]

Just in the last couples years, we've convinced ourselves we were going to get these players, only to have them slip through our fingers at the last second:

Paul Skenes, Dillon Gabriel, Braden Montgomery, Hailey Van Lith, now Jackson Arnold. Am I missing any? This is just going back to 2022.

I get that the answers are "money" and "Starkville," but does anyone else in the country have this kind of record of almost grabbing the big name transfer and then missing? You'd think we would have won a couple of these battles over the years, just with how close we got to all of them, especially given that all of them but Skenes had a clear connection to us.

Looking back, I don't think we were ever close. JA didn't even visit and the only reason we thought he was is because of PN throwing something against the wall because Lebby used to be his coach. Then a few guys on MB's run with that and hoped to be vindicated on a hunch. Rosebowl's Auburn connections proved more accurate than what were were being fed.

We were never close.

[Coursesuper]

To me, it's just that our coaches don't want the player bad enough. Auburn and Oxford are shitty college towns too. The college town thing factors in for immature guys that want to drink all the time and girls.

The bottom line is Lebby didn't bust his ass enough to get Arnold. We had the money. Freeze has plenty of issues that we could exploit. Could have paid him more to not even visit Auburn. Didn't do it.

Same thing with Cam Newton and Dan. We could have paid the money if Dan pulled the trigger to do so. He failed to do it.

And that's exactly why fans don't buy in to MSU football. Because the coach's don't want it bad enough. So why the hell should fans buy in?

I'm just ready for us to fire Lebby so we can hire Dan back and when our fans realize that is a dumb idea when it fails miserably because we just have to FAFO then we can move forward as a program in five years.

You serious Clark?

[Todd4State]

You serious Clark?

Hell yes. Except for the last paragraph.

We could have paid Arnold to not visit. Could have paid him what Auburn is paying him. Lebby didn't do it. It's not the fans. It's not the money. It's the coaching staff that failed.

[R2Dawg]

The golden triangle is doing a pretty bang up job of bringing new industry here one of the better jobs in the state.

Got the new aluminum mill wrapping up in the next year. Between it, the steel mill and other industries by the airport they have brought in tons of jobs that pay better than a Toyota plant would.

This is true but it doesn't fit the narrative that some MSU fans love to do which is beat up on MSU, Starkville and the likes. Golden Triangle is growing and bringing in some really good jobs. I know most think we should have 100K bartender jobs all over town. Town just grows to redistribute the wealth that industry brings in and industry is growing in the Triangle.

[Coursesuper]

Hell yes. Except for the last paragraph.

We could have paid Arnold to not visit. Could have paid him what Auburn is paying him. Lebby didn't do it. It's not the fans. It's not the money. It's the coaching staff that failed.

You can sell the rest of the BS at the bar at Ticos. What is posted is the truth.

[Todd4State]

You can sell the rest of the BS at the bar at Ticos. What is posted is the truth.

So we're blaming the town of Starkville when our coaches have swung and missed? LOL. If the town was a big deal Vanderbilt and Tulane would be what Alabama is in football. And if I was a college kid into cool college towns Auburn or Opelika isn't exactly my first choice.

It also doesn't hold water because the one group of recruits that would probably care the most about that crap are baseball players and that's the one sport we consistently recruit the best in.

[viverlibre]

Just in the last couples years, we've convinced ourselves we were going to get these players, only to have them slip through our fingers at the last second:

Paul Skenes, Dillon Gabriel, Braden Montgomery, Hailey Van Lith, now Jackson Arnold. Am I missing any? This is just going back to 2022.

I get that the answers are "money" and "Starkville," but does anyone else in the country have this kind of record of almost grabbing the big name transfer and then missing? You'd think we would have won a couple of these battles over the years, just with how close we got to all of them, especially given that all of them but Skenes had a clear connection to us.

Only the dumbest of the dumb thought we had a realistic shot at Gabriel. Once it was evident the barn was after Arnold, Levee, our fans, etc., should have immediately realized we couldn't remotely monetarily compete with them.

[viverlibre]

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today?s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

Has a lot to do with money, we were never going to come close to matching what ever the barn was offering Arnold. We offer $1 mil they offer $1.2, we offer $1.5, they offer $1.75 and so on. The world is motivated my money. JA isn't a sure fire NFLer, he has to make his money now.

[MoreCowbell]

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

It has that perception because it is the reality. It is a stigma that will never be overcome.

[MoreCowbell]

To me, it's just that our coaches don't want the player bad enough. Auburn and Oxford are shitty college towns too. The college town thing factors in for immature guys that want to drink all the time and girls.

The bottom line is Lebby didn't bust his ass enough to get Arnold. We had the money. Freeze has plenty of issues that we could exploit. Could have paid him more to not even visit Auburn. Didn't do it.

Same thing with Cam Newton and Dan. We could have paid the money if Dan pulled the trigger to do so. He failed to do it.

And that's exactly why fans don't buy in to MSU football. Because the coach's don't want it bad enough. So why the hell should fans buy in?

I'm just ready for us to fire Lebby so we can hire Dan back and when our fans realize that is a dumb idea when it fails miserably because we just have to FAFO then we can move forward as a program in five years.

This post is not based in reality or the year 2024. Starkville sucks. Doubt Lebby did not really want him. Come on dude.

[BankerDog]

It's not just the fans. That was literally Dan's, Leach's, and Arnett's strategy. In different forms.

Dan = Diamonds in the rough and player development

Leach= Can at places that don't recruit well.

Arnett= Lunch pail and blue collar

Those staffs came up with that themselves. The fans just went along with it.

Dude it?s different times. Dan didn?t just recruit ?diamonds in rough? that?s what was deemed. He evaluated better than what some DA ranking said from a camp. Remember when people were pissed and said he couldn?t recruit? Or DA?s like you said Hevesy couldn?t coach?

Leach won off of Joe?s talent. Arnett..what a joke. We money balled that whole roster: RayDar, Rogers (both 4* players in HS), Chris Keys, etc. what me to keep going?

[BankerDog]

So we're blaming the town of Starkville when our coaches have swung and missed? LOL. If the town was a big deal Vanderbilt and Tulane would be what Alabama is in football. And if I was a college kid into cool college towns Auburn or Opelika isn't exactly my first choice.

It also doesn't hold water because the one group of recruits that would probably care the most about that crap are baseball players and that's the one sport we consistently recruit the best in.

Perception dumbass. Auburn had won natty?s. Oxford is looked upon better.

You?re a prime example of what is wrong. Always bitching yet never donating. How about you shell out your $50k donation next time Charlie ask to get Arnold to visit?

[BankerDog]

You serious Clark?

Yes he is serious. He is an idiot. ?Dan didn?t want Cam bad enough?. No our fans didn?t want it bad enough. The compliance guy literally had a guy on this page banned for helping Redmond out. Other schools would?ve fought it, we just turned ourselves in because ?ah shucks we?re good boys?

[Tater]

Yes he is serious. He is an idiot. ?Dan didn?t want Cam bad enough?. No our fans didn?t want it bad enough. The compliance guy literally had a guy on this page banned for helping Redmond out. Other schools would?ve fought it, we just turned ourselves in because ?ah shucks we?re good boys?

What about Bracky being a self-sabotaging idot and John Bond not saying "well get the 180k" at Captain D's has anything to do with fans on the message board?

Further, anyone whose argument on a message board tells another fan to spend more money is admitting they don't have a real argument and the other person is right.

But - for your sake - whenever the Lebby Buyout fund is asked for, let me know.

[Really Clark?]

Hell yes. Except for the last paragraph.

We could have paid Arnold to not visit. Could have paid him what Auburn is paying him. Lebby didn't do it. It's not the fans. It's not the money. It's the coaching staff that failed.

That is just not reality Todd. All we were at the end was a tool to leverage their negotiations with Auburn. At some point you have to draw the line, especially with all of our other needs. I mean what do you think would have been wise once it became apparent what this was? We could have paid him $250,000 to visit us and not go anywhere else. The minute he left with our money he could have still walked on over to Auburn and started working on the deal with them.

[Coach34]

So we're blaming the town of Starkville when our coaches have swung and missed? LOL. If the town was a big deal Vanderbilt and Tulane would be what Alabama is in football. And if I was a college kid into cool college towns Auburn or Opelika isn't exactly my first choice.

Vandy and Tulane have different academic standards that hamper them.

Starkville is not the only reason- but it is a big reason

[Coursesuper]

Vandy and Tulane have different academic standards that hamper them.

Starkville is not the only reason- but it is a big reason
Many rarely ever see the real issues, just point out other non issues, then add in a healthy dose of what aboutism and do both real loud.

[Turfdawg67]

Yes he is serious. He is an idiot. ?Dan didn?t want Cam bad enough?. No our fans didn?t want it bad enough. The compliance guy literally had a guy on this page banned for helping Redmond out. Other schools would?ve fought it, we just turned ourselves in because ?ah shucks we?re good boys?

At least he know how to type without dumb question marks throughout the post. Lol

[Todd4State]

Dude it?s different times. Dan didn?t just recruit ?diamonds in rough? that?s what was deemed. He evaluated better than what some DA ranking said from a camp. Remember when people were pissed and said he couldn?t recruit? Or DA?s like you said Hevesy couldn?t coach?

Leach won off of Joe?s talent. Arnett..what a joke. We money balled that whole roster: RayDar, Rogers (both 4* players in HS), Chris Keys, etc. what me to keep going?

Finding developmental players was absolutely the mantra for Dan while he was here. And yes, it worked some. But it also limited our ceiling and it hurt the perception of our program nationally when it comes to recruiting. Perception is reality.

Still taking up for the best football coach in Lowe's history I see? If he was half as good as you say he is he would be in the NFL right now or at the very least coaching somewhere in college. But I guess me and everyone that coaches football is a dumbass too? Maybe Dan will feel sorry for him and hire him at UNLV and he can go play at Target or the mall there.


Perception dumbass. Auburn had won natty?s. Oxford is looked upon better.

You?re a prime example of what is wrong. Always bitching yet never donating. How about you shell out your $50k donation next time Charlie ask to get Arnold to visit?

You're really going the money is the problem route when in the past three months MSU has gotten major donations for football totaling over 12 million dollars? That's BEFORE whatever millions we had in NIL before those donations happened. How about the issue is MSU actually spend the money that is being given to them to get good players? Or is pointing that out somehow making me "the problem"? The real problem is not holding the coaching staff accountable for their failures in an effort to somehow pretend that we're all pulling in the same direction. At some point Lebby has to get off the pot or start shitting.


That is just not reality Todd. All we were at the end was a tool to leverage their negotiations with Auburn. At some point you have to draw the line, especially with all of our other needs. I mean what do you think would have been wise once it became apparent what this was? We could have paid him $250,000 to visit us and not go anywhere else. The minute he left with our money he could have still walked on over to Auburn and started working on the deal with them.

If there is bidding war going on then use one of the fan boys to call them out on it. Steve tried to do that I guess. Would be a good way to put them to good use. I know for example the St Louis Cardinals have leaked things through the media to provide context to fans for moves that were unpopular.


Vandy and Tulane have different academic standards that hamper them.

Starkville is not the only reason- but it is a big reason

Their academic standards didn't prevent Vanderbilt from raiding that great American bastion of education New Mexico State. Also, Tulane pretty much rebuilt their team in the portal in one offseason as well and maintained their status quo that had been going on during the Fritz era.

MSU on the other hand routinely ****s it up.

[MoreCowbell]

Finding developmental players was absolutely the mantra for Dan while he was here. And yes, it worked some. But it also limited our ceiling and it hurt the perception of our program nationally when it comes to recruiting. Perception is reality.

Still taking up for the best football coach in Lowe's history I see? If he was half as good as you say he is he would be in the NFL right now or at the very least coaching somewhere in college. But I guess me and everyone that coaches football is a dumbass too? Maybe Dan will feel sorry for him and hire him at UNLV and he can go play at Target or the mall there.



You're really going the money is the problem route when in the past three months MSU has gotten major donations for football totaling over 12 million dollars? That's BEFORE whatever millions we had in NIL before those donations happened. How about the issue is MSU actually spend the money that is being given to them to get good players? Or is pointing that out somehow making me "the problem"? The real problem is not holding the coaching staff accountable for their failures in an effort to somehow pretend that we're all pulling in the same direction. At some point Lebby has to get off the pot or start shitting.



If there is bidding war going on then use one of the fan boys to call them out on it. Steve tried to do that I guess. Would be a good way to put them to good use. I know for example the St Louis Cardinals have leaked things through the media to provide context to fans for moves that were unpopular.



Their academic standards didn't prevent Vanderbilt from raiding that great American bastion of education New Mexico State. Also, Tulane pretty much rebuilt their team in the portal in one offseason as well and maintained their status quo that had been going on during the Fritz era.

MSU on the other hand routinely ****s it up.

You always had great baseball posts and insights so I just assumed a while back that you were pretty grounded and on point with all MSU opinions.

Lately though? Woah boy. You will post some stuff that has me scratching my head wondering if you might be losing it a little.

I am not sure how old you are or where you live/have lived but you seem to be rather small minded in your outlook on things.

Just my observation.