Strick gets "IT"

[Dawgtini]

Link to AL.com article (http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/09/mississippi_state_ad_scott_str.html#incart_river)

Q: How tough is it to be in the SEC, and more specifically in the West Division of that league, for the guy in your chair to gauge success?

A: The biggest challenge is you have to make sure that you determine what your goals are and not let other people determine what your goals should be. Typically, one of the criticisms that some people on the outside have had is that we haven't beaten some of the elite teams in our league in recent years. There's two things about that: one, not a lot of people have either, not just in the league but in the country. That's why they're elite teams. The second thing is, this may not be a three- or four-year process. It may be longer process than that. The thing that we've got to do is make sure that we're putting ourselves in bowl games every year and we're building on our success. Because the teams that are the elite teams, they weren't bad for four or five years and then suddenly became good. They've been good for decades and that;s why they are where they are. We've got to take a long-term view and not get too high or too low. ... Dan is doing a great job of evaluating talent and attracting talent and developing people. We have to put blinders on and push ahead.

[cheewgumm]

Not sure what else he would say. If we finish with 6 wins it'll be a different story.

[Jack Lambert]

Not sure what else he would say. If we finish with 6 wins it'll be a different story.

If we finish with six wins that means either KY or Arkansas was better then us. I know Vandy isn't.

[Dawgtini]

The most important part to me was "The biggest challenge is you have to make sure that you determine what your goals are and not let other people determine what your goals should be." Our fans let others (BearSharks?) determine what our goals should be and then define how well we measured up to those goals. Strick and the staff are realistic in setting goals and measuring the season against our history as a program and the competitiveness/progress of our program in relation to said history.

[mstatefan91]

I'm hoping it all works out, and we peak right as Alabama and LSU go into slumps. That could be this year

[Liverpooldawg]

That is exactly the way we have to look at it.

[preachermatt83]

so we should be continue to be satisfied with "just going to bowls".. Now all you idiots who hope for more and desire for greatness and refuse to continue to be just lil ole state, you all just sit down and shut up.. your stupid and should settle for being "ok"... **

[smootness]

so we should be continue to be satisfied with "just going to bowls".. Now all you idiots who hope for more and desire for greatness and refuse to continue to be just lil ole state, you all just sit down and shut up.. your stupid and should settle for being "ok"... **

This is not at all what he was saying, but I assume you know that. His point is simply that we have to set our own goals for what is realistic for our program. Insane fans see words like 'realistic' and assume you mean, 'We aren't good and won't ever be, so don't expect it.' But that's not at all what it means. It means that if you're Vanderbilt, you don't say, in 4 years we should expect to challenge year in and year out for the SEC East title. Sure, that's obviously what everyone's ultimate goal for the program, but the question is how to get there and how long it will realistically take to build that. If you try to get there in a time frame that isn't realistic, it could backfire and leave you worse off than you already were.

I don't think anyone is 'satisfied' with where we've been. But simply saying we can compete on the exact same level as the elite right now and should expect to do so doesn't make that a realistic goal.

Look at Texas A&M; everyone thinks they're competing with the big boys right now, but a) they have a much better foundation on which to begin building, and b) they still haven't won a ton of games the last 2 years. It takes time, especially in a league like the SEC, to build a sustainable successful program. Look at Spurrier at South Carolina. Even with his reputation and coaching ability, and with a good amount of fan support and resources, it took time. They didn't win 10-11 overnight.

[Dawgcentral]

"The thing that we've got to do is make sure that we're putting ourselves in bowl games every year and we're building on our success."

Stricklin's point." Building on our success" shouldn't be ignored. That means not being satisfied just going to a bowl every year.

[Dawgowar]

so we should be continue to be satisfied with "just going to bowls".. Now all you idiots who hope for more and desire for greatness and refuse to continue to be just lil ole state, you all just sit down and shut up.. your stupid and should settle for being "ok"... **

Not what he is saying at all. Not sure why the animosity for someone talking about building a program. Steady player development, improving facilities, six years of letting a first time head coach develop his skills while producing good results. The history making season(s) we all want will be born out of that.