It's Time for MSU to get serious about Football

[Todd4State]

Well, it's past time.

MSU needs to buy better players. That is what it is going to take to get better.

MSU needs to fire Hutzler now. They need to send a message to fans now that this is unacceptable and we're going to fix it.

Lebby gets 2026 to fix this and that's it. It's simple- he turns it around and he stays. He doesn't- goodbye.

I could care less if he hires an OC but sure. I'm certainly not against it either.

Special teams coach needs to go too. Just too many mistakes there.

[MetEdDawg]

We are going to have to spend a lot of money to retool this team and keep what little young talent we have.

OL has to be completely retooled and so does the secondary. DL needs help and maybe we can entice Whitson to stay another year.

Got to keep Fluff, Taylor, Evans, Lockhart. Everything else is up for grabs. We will have to be very heavy in the portal again and to get appreciably better we will have to spend a lot of money.

That doesn't include the staff changes that we will need to be made.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

If we want things to get better we have to figure out how to pay the roster more. The going rate for a competitive SEC roster seems to be $25m this year, up from $20m the year before and $10m the year before.

If we can't figure how to get to those numbers then all the other debates are a waste of time. Getting a better defensive coordinator will make our defense better on the margins, but improving the margins doesn't mean anything when the talent gap has already determined the outcome.

[Rawdawg]

I have said multiple times we have to spend in the $25-$30 million range to be competitive. Not good but competitive. Our roster last year was a division 1AA roster. We?ve improved to a G5 roster. We have several more steps to take to get to SEC level.

As soon as we began SEC play we have gotten our asses whipped on the line of scrimmage. There aren?t any outliers. Our lines of scrimmage are not remotely close to SEC caliber and it?s shows.

[TrapGame]

If are not investing at least $25mil on a roster then can forget about being competitive.

[BigDawg81]

Well, it's past time.

MSU needs to buy better players. That is what it is going to take to get better.

MSU needs to fire Hutzler now. They need to send a message to fans now that this is unacceptable and we're going to fix it.

Lebby gets 2026 to fix this and that's it. It's simple- he turns it around and he stays. He doesn't- goodbye.

I could care less if he hires an OC but sure. I'm certainly not against it either.

Special teams coach needs to go too. Just too many mistakes there.
Do you think that it will happen? I do not

[cheewgumm]

Ugh

Like our coach who hired his special teams buddy as DC?

[StarkVegasSteve]

We need to get better across both lines to start. That probably cost 7-10 mil alone, and that is a very conservative number. Then you have to replace Thompson, Traore, probably our entire secondary outside of Issac, and you need a quality backup since Kromenhoek is gone. That is AT MINIMUM and additional 5-7 million. And that is not even including what it will cost to retain your current roster. Kamario is going to cost us 1.5 minimum unless he wants to take a hometown discount.

[EdwardDrayton]

We need to get better across both lines to start. That probably cost 7-10 mil alone, and that is a very conservative number. Then you have to replace Thompson, Traore, probably our entire secondary outside of Issac, and you need a quality backup since Kromenhoek is gone. That is AT MINIMUM and additional 5-7 million. And that is not even including what it will cost to retain your current roster. Kamario is going to cost us 1.5 minimum unless he wants to take a hometown discount.

The DL made our secondary look less than. So would spend the money upfront before the secondary. Of course have to keep Kamario first and foremost. So Kamario, the DL and an OC above all else. OL next in the sequence.

[AROB44]

Todd.....you are always saying it's time for MSU to get serious about football, but you never mention the fans. Fans have to be invested and that means $$$$. But reading this message board, too many people are saying they aren't going to put money in or say they can't afford to. Without more money, we will constantly be firing coaches hoping the next one can win with inferior talent. This attitude of win and then I'll support them is just ass backwards. This team finished right where most thought they would. Vastly improved, but out manned by most teams on our schedule.

[Maverick91]

We need to get better across both lines to start. That probably cost 7-10 mil alone, and that is a very conservative number. Then you have to replace Thompson, Traore, probably our entire secondary outside of Issac, and you need a quality backup since Kromenhoek is gone. That is AT MINIMUM and additional 5-7 million. And that is not even including what it will cost to retain your current roster. Kamario is going to cost us 1.5 minimum unless he wants to take a hometown discount.

So basically you are saying the profit sharing should allow us to build a sec interior and get some good play makers? Then we just need to fill the extra space

[Maverick91]

Todd.....you are always saying it's time for MSU to get serious about football, but you never mention the fans. Fans have to be invested and that means $$$$. But reading this message board, too many people are saying they aren't going to put money in or say they can't afford to. Without more money, we will constantly be firing coaches hoping the next one can win with inferior talent. This attitude of win and then I'll support them is just ass backwards. This team finished right where most thought they would. Vastly improved, but out manned by most teams on our schedule.

It's really freaking hard to ask the sidewalk fan to invest anything when we know the administration is half foot in the door. They are the ones that should be first bought in.

[Quaoarsking]

If we were a serious football program, we wouldn't be retaining a coach who was 7-17 (1-15), got blown out Toledo, and has pissed away multiple games (including to a 3-9 team) with coaching that we otherwise would have won.

If we were a serious football program, we wouldn't have hired him in the first place.

[Coursesuper]

Todd.....you are always saying it's time for MSU to get serious about football, but you never mention the fans. Fans have to be invested and that means $$$$. But reading this message board, too many people are saying they aren't going to put money in or say they can't afford to. Without more money, we will constantly be firing coaches hoping the next one can win with inferior talent. This attitude of win and then I'll support them is just ass backwards. This team finished right where most thought they would. Vastly improved, but out manned by most teams on our schedule.

This is all true. People can’t grasp that we are MSU, but we sit on our hands and wait for someone to lead instead of just going and doing because it what needs to be done. If we want it we find a way.

[CaptainObvious]

Okay dammit. I?m good for $10 per month. Where do I send it?

[CaptainObvious]

How many people are on this board right now. If we all commit to $10 per month, that will only leave us about $24,999,500 short of our needed $25 million!

[Brobi-wan]

It's really freaking hard to ask the sidewalk fan to invest anything when we know the administration is half foot in the door. They are the ones that should be first bought in.

Do we even have sidewalk fans? We just need some sidewalk people to show up to some games. It’s the alumni who should give.

[Maverick91]

If we were a serious football program, we wouldn't be retaining a coach who was 7-17 (1-15), got blown out Toledo, and has pissed away multiple games (including to a 3-9 team) with coaching that we otherwise would have won.

If we were a serious football program, we wouldn't have hired him in the first place.

Your last point I can take as an argument. But like what would you have accepted last year and this year knowing the uphill battle we had?

[Maverick91]

Do we even have sidewalk fans? We just need some sidewalk people to show up to some games. It’s the alumni who should give.

Lol. By definition you are correct. But I mean it's hard to think the average fan is going to invest outside their time and energy if the admin doesn't invest above a lukewarm investment.

[Quaoarsking]

Your last point I can take as an argument. But like what would you have accepted last year and this year knowing the uphill battle we had?

Last year - losing to Toledo at all was unacceptable. Losing in the dominating, humiliating fashion we did was a total disgrace. I would have also liked to be competitive in at least 1 SEC game, but I could have gotten past that if things had been better this year.

This year - beating Arizona State was good. Choking away the Tennessee game was frustrating, but it sure looked like progress. But after that, there's really not much to be happy about. We should have never lost to a 3-9 Florida team, period, and really shouldn't have been close, but we did, and it's largely because of Lebby's baffling playcalling decisions. Texas isn't a bad loss on paper, but Arch has been overrated all year, and we led by 17 with 10 minutes to go and kept snapping with 20 seconds on the clock. It was good to beat Arkansas, but come on, we were very lucky to beat a 2-10 team thanks to them getting nearly 200 penalty yards. It shouldn't have been close. And then 3 straight uncompetitive blowouts.

I'm just not seeing any reason to be optimistic about next year, especially how the season got worse and worse as it went on. Before the season, I might have said that 5-7 wouldn't be terrible, but that was before I knew that 6 of our 9 P4 opponents would be significantly worse than their preseason expectation, 2 of them much, much worse.

[Bothrops]

We aren't about to invest 30-35 million for 2026. Lol

[Rawdawg]

We aren't about to invest 30-35 million for 2026. Lol

We?re not but we should if we can. Look at the investment Ole Miss has made into football and how much their entire athletic department has benefited from it.

[Maroon Glasses]

With help of Google and AI.. fan donations only make up 2-4% of NIL value. It also goes on to explain that while it is helpful and generous (lol), fan donations really don't move the needle with NIL.

What does move the needle are boosters and commercial companies that account for almost 20% with the rest coming from rev share.

If you can give as a fan.. that's great. Every penny helps. But if we are truly lacking in NIL then the issue isn't fans that work every day and just want to enjoy a win on a Saturday. If our boosters give all they can and our administration has tapped into every resource possible to get commercial NIL then we are just shit out of luck. But I doubt that's the case.

[Turfdawg67]

Todd.....you are always saying it's time for MSU to get serious about football, but you never mention the fans. Fans have to be invested and that means $$$$. But reading this message board, too many people are saying they aren't going to put money in or say they can't afford to. Without more money, we will constantly be firing coaches hoping the next one can win with inferior talent. This attitude of win and then I'll support them is just ass backwards. This team finished right where most thought they would. Vastly improved, but out manned by most teams on our schedule.

A lot of OM fans were "fed up" with LK after '22 (go read NAFOOM). Did they "rally" around, sing Kumbaya by a campfire, hold hands and turn things around?!? No, the rich boosters dumped more money for coaches and players and they, along with a nice stretch of favorable schedules, have them where they are. Give us a couple, or hell, one, good winning season and we'll get together and stop bitching too.

ETA... unless, of course, we win 9 games in an unorthodox/unlike MSU's "RTGDF" manner, and some fans will still bitch.

[Turfdawg67]

With help of Google and AI.. fan donations only make up 2-4% of NIL value. It also goes on to explain that while it is helpful and generous (lol), fan donations really don't move the needle with NIL.

What does move the needle are boosters and commercial companies that account for almost 20% with the rest coming from rev share.

If you can give as a fan.. that's great. Every penny helps. But if we are truly lacking in NIL then the issue isn't fans that work every day and just want to enjoy a win on a Saturday. If our boosters give all they can and our administration has tapped into every resource possible to get commercial NIL then we are just shit out of luck. But I doubt that's the case.

Exactly... this BS that a microcosm, i.e. a message board, that has differing views, means we aren't pulling in the same direction as a university, is absurd.

[Maroon Glasses]

Exactly... this BS that a microcosm, i.e. a message board, that has differing views, means we aren't pulling in the same direction as a university, is absurd.

Yeah it is. We as fans all have the same goal. Ultimately tho, we are under the thumb of the powers at be. We are at the bottom of the pyramid scheme.

I don't think our diffent view points and opinions mean we are pulling in opposite directions. I don't know how all this ends up falling at the feet of us.

[Maroonthirteen]

With help of Google and AI.. fan donations only make up 2-4% of NIL value. It also goes on to explain that while it is helpful and generous (lol), fan donations really don't move the needle with NIL.

What does move the needle are boosters and commercial companies that account for almost 20% with the rest coming from rev share.

If you can give as a fan.. that's great. Every penny helps. But if we are truly lacking in NIL then the issue isn't fans that work every day and just want to enjoy a win on a Saturday. If our boosters give all they can and our administration has tapped into every resource possible to get commercial NIL then we are just shit out of luck. But I doubt that's the case.

Your first paragraphs are on the money. States Achilles heal is being in a rural area with little commerce relative to our sec peers. You need many businesses making 50k-100k donations per year. The rank and file could pitch in a few million as a whole. However anytime I travel and see state fans. The conversation is usually "I have not been to campus in years". The alumni could do better, much better. There is some room for growth there.


However I am afraid the big boosters and those of us that care are trying. I think it is obvious by the recruiting and portal signees for football and basketball they past two years.... we are maxed out. Watching that game yesterday and many other sec games, it feels helpless because we are so behind in talent and size. S-O-L.

[SaintDawg]

LOL? It?s time to get serious about MSU football. Do you really, really mean it this time?

[maroonmania]

If are not investing at least $25mil on a roster then can forget about being competitive.

Well, bottom line may be that we can't be competitive until someone puts a reasonable 'salary cap' on schools. Asking fans and boosters to pony up that kind of money EVERY year is ridiculous for us and a lot of schools. Unless you have oil millionaires and such as boosters who are into football that is not easy money to obtain. Ridiculous that a lot of college players are making more than a significant % of NFL players make.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

It all started a few years ago when the supreme court ruling came out about players being paid.

Our fans in very large numbers rejected the idea and thought nothing was going to change.

Ole Miss saw the opportunity and pounced on it. You can see the difference now very clearly.

Our fans in general just don't like football. They like winning and will cling to any program that does so... See Baseball, Women's Basketball etc.

We had a capacity crowd show up to an alumni baseball game 3 weeks ago. We wouldn't even come close to that kind of draw if there was some kind of alumni football event. Not even close.

In 5 years there won't be a SEC or a BIG 10. There will be one super conference, and the old style thinking that our charter membership of the SEC will get us a spot is not going to fly. We have to get more competitive at football right now. No more dragging feet. Because if we don't, our precious baseball team will be the annual preseason favorite in the Sun Belt, and our fans will be beating their chest about sweeping South Alabama in a weekend series in April. That's the reality and we have to move fast.

[Coursesuper]

It all started a few years ago when the supreme court ruling came out about players being paid.

Our fans in very large numbers rejected the idea and thought nothing was going to change.

Ole Miss saw the opportunity and pounced on it. You can see the difference now very clearly.

Our fans in general just don't like football. They like winning and will cling to any program that does so... See Baseball, Women's Basketball etc.

We had a capacity crowd show up to an alumni baseball game 3 weeks ago. We wouldn't even come close to that kind of draw if there was some kind of alumni football event. Not even close.

In 5 years there won't be a SEC or a BIG 10. There will be one super conference, and the old style thinking that our charter membership of the SEC will get us a spot is not going to fly. We have to get more competitive at football right now. No more dragging feet. Because if we don't, our precious baseball team will be the annual preseason favorite in the Sun Belt, and our fans will be beating their chest about sweeping South Alabama in a weekend series in April. That's the reality and we have to move fast.

This is completely correct.

[Coursesuper]

Well, bottom line may be that we can't be competitive until someone puts a reasonable 'salary cap' on schools. Asking fans and boosters to pony up that kind of money EVERY year is ridiculous for us and a lot of schools. Unless you have oil millionaires and such as boosters who are into football that is not easy money to obtain. Ridiculous that a lot of college players are making more than a significant % of NFL players make.

Why do so many not ask why? Stop and use your brain housing group. Who wants things to be like this? Who profits?

[BuckyIsAB****]

Last year - losing to Toledo at all was unacceptable. Losing in the dominating, humiliating fashion we did was a total disgrace. I would have also liked to be competitive in at least 1 SEC game, but I could have gotten past that if things had been better this year.

This year - beating Arizona State was good. Choking away the Tennessee game was frustrating, but it sure looked like progress. But after that, there's really not much to be happy about. We should have never lost to a 3-9 Florida team, period, and really shouldn't have been close, but we did, and it's largely because of Lebby's baffling playcalling decisions. Texas isn't a bad loss on paper, but Arch has been overrated all year, and we led by 17 with 10 minutes to go and kept snapping with 20 seconds on the clock. It was good to beat Arkansas, but come on, we were very lucky to beat a 2-10 team thanks to them getting nearly 200 penalty yards. It shouldn't have been close. And then 3 straight uncompetitive blowouts.

I'm just not seeing any reason to be optimistic about next year, especially how the season got worse and worse as it went on. Before the season, I might have said that 5-7 wouldn't be terrible, but that was before I knew that 6 of our 9 P4 opponents would be significantly worse than their preseason expectation, 2 of them much, much worse.

No its your fault cause you didn?t donate your salary