If tony Hughes leaves, who do we miss out on?

[msstate7]

Isn't knott's connection to us tony Hughes coaching his dad?

How would it affect Simmons, aj, and Kobe?

[BeastMan]

All I know for sure is that if Hughes leaves and we miss out on someone, that will be the excuse fans will give ad nauseam.

[Leroy Jenkins]

We dont have a shortage of talent at S, we have a shortage of coaching. We have All American guys on the roster lets get a position coach and the recruiting will follow the Ws.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Isn't knott's connection to us tony Hughes coaching his dad?

How would it affect Simmons, aj, and Kobe?

It won't. He's not the primary on any of them. He's been helping with Simmons but Turner has taken over that recruitment along with the whole staff. I hate to see Tony go but nothing is going to collapse or anything bevy is he left.

[defiantdog]

Isn't knott's connection to us tony Hughes coaching his dad?

How would it affect Simmons, aj, and Kobe?

It affects none of the above. Turner has been on Simmons and Kobe for the last year. I have a good feeling our entire staff is on AJ. And we are Knott's back up plan. We'll have to do some shifting with the 2017 guys from the southern part of the state. But that shouldn't be a problem. Hughes is gone by the way.

[msstate7]

It affects none of the above. Turner has been on Simmons and Kobe for the last year. I have a good feeling our entire staff is on AJ. And we are Knott's back up plan. We'll have to do some shifting with the 2017 guys from the southern part of the state. But that shouldn't be a problem. Hughes is gone by the way.

Will we replace with a safety coach again or what?

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Hughes is not a dynamic recruiter. His recruiting value is his familiarity with Mississippi towns, people, schools, coaches, etc. He knows tons of people and is well liked. He is great with the parents. He really makes kids and their parents feel comfortable. He seems trustworthy and genuine.

[mic]

Word is , Coach Hughes isn't at practice today...

[BrunswickDawg]

And he will do a great job at JSU. It's not like he is leaving for a school we compete with for talent. This will be a step up opportunity for him and for us without it looking like we pushed out a long term coach that everybody likes.

[Saltydog]

you say, "His recruiting value is his familiarity with Mississippi towns, people, schools, coaches, etc. He knows tons of people and is well liked. He is great with the parents. He really makes kids and their parents feel comfortable. He seems trustworthy and genuine."

Sounds like a damn good recruiter to me and personally I think it's a bigger loss than some here want to admit.

[defiantdog]

Will we replace with a safety coach again or what?

Yeah, we will. But I wish we'd mesh the safety / cornerbacks coach as one and hire a linebacker coach. This would free Diaz to solely be the defensive coordinator. We also need to give a position coach, other than the running backs coach, the special teams coordinator position. Knox needs to focus on the running backs and nothing else. Graduate Assistants are good and all, but they aren't quite yet coaches.

[BeastMan]

We dont have a shortage of talent at S, we have a shortage of coaching. We have All American guys on the roster lets get a position coach and the recruiting will follow the Ws.

We have 2 SEC talented safeties on the roster. Look at the safety position commitments. The Safety roster is a far cry from set. (I'm not counting Peters because he played the Matt Wells role this year).

[somebodyshotmypaw]

you say, "His recruiting value is his familiarity with Mississippi towns, people, schools, coaches, etc. He knows tons of people and is well liked. He is great with the parents. He really makes kids and their parents feel comfortable. He seems trustworthy and genuine."

Sounds like a damn good recruiter to me and personally I think it's a bigger loss than some here want to admit.

Agreed. My point is that he is not a great salesman. He approaches it more from a trust building aspect than a sales pitch. If he recruits a kid from a po-dunk Mississippi town, chances are Hughes has a story about that town, or a friend around the area, and that makes the family comfortable with him. He puts the kid and family at ease because the family starts to see Hughes as "one of us". Some recruiters are dynamic and get kids excited and fired up. They can really sell a kid. Hughes approaches it differently.

[Leroy Jenkins]

We have 2 SEC talented safeties on the roster. Look at the safety position commitments. The Safety roster is a far cry from set. (I'm not counting Peters because he played the Matt Wells role this year).

JT Gray did.. and Jackson tried to. Next years the Safeties will be

1 Peters
2 Bryant
3 McLaurin


4 Everyone else

Next years LB rotation will be deep, and Peters wont be in it.

[smootness]

Agreed. My point is that he is not a great salesman. He approaches it more from a trust building aspect than a sales pitch. If he recruits a kid from a po-dunk Mississippi town, chances are Hughes has a story about that town, or a friend around the area, and that makes the family comfortable with him. He puts the kid and family at ease because the family starts to see Hughes as "one of us". Some recruiters are dynamic and get kids excited and fired up. They can really sell a kid. Hughes approaches it differently.

So he's not a dynamic recruiter, he's just a great one.

[HancockCountyDog]

What is weird is that a week ago, most everyone on the board would have said that Hughes was our team's best recruiter, now he won't cost us anyone and he was a terrible position coach.

Just bizarre how we can rationalize things.

Personally I think we will miss Hughes on the recruiting trail. HS coaches and parents loved him.

[BeastMan]

What is weird is that a week ago, most everyone on the board would have said that Hughes was our team's best recruiter, now he won't cost us anyone and he was a terrible position coach.

Just bizarre how we can rationalize things.

Personally I think we will miss Hughes on the recruiting trail. HS coaches and parents loved him.

I've been consistent in how I feel about the safety position for a long time. I agree with your last sentence 100%. I just don't think it will be a killer. It's not ideal, especially right now.

[Really Clark?]

I still think he is a great recruiter in the state, especially the central part south. Just right now it works out that we don't have many big recruits this year in that part of the state. And looks like we have been transitioning his recruits this fall when the JSU deal first came up. Next year is the issue but hopefully we will get someone who can take up the slack.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

So he's not a dynamic recruiter, he's just a great one.

Exactly. He is a great recruiter. Some of the dynamic guys can recruit anywhere. A guy like Hughes loses effectiveness if he was hired by UCLA or Washington State or Penn State. His strength is his knowledge of Mississippi. He would be a home run for JSU.

[State82]

His strength is his knowledge of Mississippi. He would be a home run for JSU.

That's my thinking too. JSU would be crazy not to hire him.

[Todd4State]

Exactly. He is a great recruiter. Some of the dynamic guys can recruit anywhere. A guy like Hughes loses effectiveness if he was hired by UCLA or Washington State or Penn State. His strength is his knowledge of Mississippi. He would be a home run for JSU.

One of the reasons JSU fired Comegy was because he didn't recruit Mississippi as well as they wanted to. JPS in particular. Harold Jackson didn't do a very good job of recruiting in Mississippi either- but whatever.

He also has connections at Hinds which is the closest JUCO to JSU. Plus he has connections to the big three in state schools in Mississippi- which may help JSU get some transfers down the road.

[Coach34]

JT Gray did.. and Jackson tried to. Next years the Safeties will be

1 Peters
2 Bryant
3 McLaurin


4 Everyone else

Next years LB rotation will be deep, and Peters wont be in it.

Coman will be out there too- you're nuts if you dont think he will be. He will most likely start

[bulldawg28]

Buckley is from the Mississippi coast. If we somehow bring him in it could be huge with that talent in that area alone. It would also help with southern Louisiana and the Florida panhandle.

[HSVDawg]

It won't. He's not the primary on any of them. He's been helping with Simmons but Turner has taken over that recruitment along with the whole staff. I hate to see Tony go but nothing is going to collapse or anything bevy is he left.

If he isn't a big loss for his recruiting skills, then somebody damn well better explain why he's stuck around for 7 years because it sure isn't because of our play at the safety position.

[Really Clark?]

If he isn't a big loss for his recruiting skills, then somebody damn well better explain why he's stuck around for 7 years because it sure isn't because of our play at the safety position.

I posted about this earlier in the thread as well. He is the best recruiter for in state talent and was the BIGGEST reason we have Peters and McLaurin (as well as many others). It's just this cycle that this year it won't hurt. But the staff has to get things squared away for next year and he would have been heavily involved.

[Jarius]

For the record, at this point Tony doesn't even have a recruiting area any more. He simply goes after the "big fish". That came straight from him. That should tell you what Mullen thinks of his recruiting abilities (and what he doesn't think of others abilities on staff).

[jumbo]

Isn't knott's connection to us tony Hughes coaching his dad?



Hughes did not coach Nigel's dad. Nigel's sister runs track at MSU.

[HSVDawg]

I posted about this earlier in the thread as well. He is the best recruiter for in state talent and was the BIGGEST reason we have Peters and McLaurin (as well as many others). It's just this cycle that this year it won't hurt. But the staff has to get things squared away for next year and he would have been heavily involved.

Exactly. Point being, the party line has always been that he was more or less retained year after year for his recruiting acumen. Now that he's leaving people are saying it's no big loss and imply that he's replaceable by Buckley or whoever else. If he is actually that replaceable, he should have been gone a long time ago. I also think it's a bigger loss than people are letting on.

[maroonmania]

Exactly. Point being, the party line has always been that he was more or less retained year after year for his recruiting acumen. Now that he's leaving people are saying it's no big loss and imply that he's replaceable by Buckley or whoever else. If he is actually that replaceable, he should have been gone a long time ago. I also think it's a bigger loss than people are letting on.

Oh, no doubt its a HUGE loss. We don't have a great recruiting staff to begin with and now we lose the best recruiter we have. No way to spin that other than its a huge loss.

[LC Dawg]

Tony Hughes has a good relationship or at least the respect of most, if not all, high school coaches in this state. That is something that has taken time to develop and can't be immediately replaced. The reason these relationships exist is because of the way Coach Hughes goes about his job. No coach is irreplaceable but he has been good for Mississippi State and he will definitely be missed.