My fear for this football season

[SheltonChoked]

Let's assume we continue down a bad path this season. Let's say we finish 4-8. What are the odds we get a good coach to replace Mullen? I think not good. From an outsider prospective, we lost our best ever quarterback, 2 years away from our highest ever ranking, and one game away from a major postseason game.

How is this different from Ole Miss firing Cutcliff? And ending up with Oregeron.

I'm not saying keep or fire Mullen yet, but one down season might not be our worst case.

[missouridawg]

I've stated his multiple times this week.... But the only way you move in Mullen this offseason is if you already find the replacement coach before hand. You cannot fire Mullen and then start a search.

[starkvegasdawg]

I think the angst among most of the fans is not that we go 4-8 or worse. It's the fact that we are going 4-8 without the coaches doing everything they can to be better than 4-8. My personal opinion, if we were to go 4-8 but I thought that was the absolute best we could do this year due to factors like bad injuries, a brutal schedule, etc. then I would not be on the fire Mullen wagon. But if we go 4-8 (or worse) this year it will be due to not playing the best 11 on each side of the ball, some of the dumbest playcalling I have ever seen like trying to run a 175lbs back up the middle behind an inferior OL, and not recruiting up to our potential because the head coach's BFF is one of the main position coaches and that position coach is horrible and we can't attract the talent on the OL that we need to be successful at running 175lbs backs up the middle. He has been here 8 years. There is no excuse to not be able to stockpile enough talent to not have to do a complete rebuild. When you were #1 just two years ago and you can't parlay that into recruiting well enough to not lose to South Alabama and be staring a three win season in the face then something is wrong and it needs to be addressed.

[Dolphus Raymond]

If we lose Saturday we better start looking.

[Dolphus Raymond]

Sorry folks, but I'm not sure I will ever get over what happened Saturday. That type of crap is never, NEVER supposed to happen. I'll try to put up a good front by keeping my mouth shut about what happened but I'm afraid I have "crossed the Rubicon" with this coaching staff.

[DownwardDawg]

Sorry folks, but I'm not sure I will ever get over what happened Saturday. That type of crap is never, NEVER supposed to happen. I'll try to put up a good front by keeping my mouth shut about what happened but I'm afraid I have "crossed the Rubicon" with this coaching staff.
This is something that you and I agree on.
Also, this ain't the same old poor lil Mississippi State. We can pay extremely well for a HC now. Mullen can be replaced with a better coach, but that's up to our AD to find that person. There are a bunch of them out there. Do we have an AD that can go get one????

[RTO Dawg]

How old are y'all? A friend wants to know..

[msstate7]

Sorry folks, but I'm not sure I will ever get over what happened Saturday. That type of crap is never, NEVER supposed to happen. I'll try to put up a good front by keeping my mouth shut about what happened but I'm afraid I have "crossed the Rubicon" with this coaching staff.

You're right... It shouldn't, but it does...

Washington State lost to Portland State (FCS team) last year and finished 9-4 anyway. Virginia Tech and Michigan have finished ranked after losing to FCS teams in the last decade. Virginia had a 9-win season while losing to 5-7 Wyoming a few years ago. In 1998 a 9-win Virginia Tech team lost to a 2-win Temple team. Alabama lost to Louisiana Monroe under Saban and still made a bowl at least. VT lost to JMU in 2010, won the ACC (went 8-0 in conference), went 11-3 overall and finished the year #15.

Not saying we'll do anything similar, but crap does happen from time-to-time

[Op4isabitch]

Sorry folks, but I'm not sure I will ever get over what happened Saturday. That type of crap is never, NEVER supposed to happen. I'll try to put up a good front by keeping my mouth shut about what happened but I'm afraid I have "crossed the Rubicon" with this coaching staff.

Exactly. I'm not over Maine and now I've got to live with South Alabama. There was no excuse for loosing that game....period...the end..full stop. It rides squarely on ******* shoulders, the team has become a mirror of him...soft and uninterested.

[lamont]

To me it looks more like Nutt- coach riding it out, not much effort in recruiting, suspensions and arrests starting to climb, poor product on the field.

We have to ride out this season and see what happens. We also have to look at the direction of the program to see if we think 2017 will be better if he stays. We lose a lot of DL and OL guys. We are pounding the jucos right now looking for help. We lose Ross and Ritchie. Our schedule flips to play toss-up games away with Bama and LSU at home.

It's going to be ugly come November- and I 100% agree that if a move is made- we better have a verbal agreement already with someone.

[BB30]

This is something that you and I agree on.
Also, this ain't the same old poor lil Mississippi State. We can pay extremely well for a HC now. Mullen can be replaced with a better coach, but that's up to our AD to find that person. There are a bunch of them out there. Do we have an AD that can go get one????

Yes, we can afford a decent coach. But, lets look at a program that has more history a bigger fan base and more $$. Tennessee has all of that and they have had a coaching drought for a decade now and I still don't know if they have found the guy. I am not saying should we fall apart and win 3-4 games that we shouldn't look at removing the current staff but Strick better sure as hell have a replacement plan in place. A lot on here have the opinion that there are plenty of decent coaches out there that would love to come to Starkville, which is historically the hardest program in the SEC outside of maybe Vandy and KY to win at in the SEC. There is a lot more to getting a good coach than just having money to pay him. IF we decide to fire Mullen and we don't have a plan of action in place we could very easily be staring down another Croom/Rick Ray type of era.

[TrapGame]

Mullen was looking for another job while still coaching in the regular season last year. So I don't see anything wrong with the administration putting out the word that we're looking around too. However, it would have to be if we lost to Boom this Saturday.

[Dolphus Raymond]

To answer RTO (Radio-telephone operator ?) Dawg, I'm 57 years old and after Saturday have about seen all I fu----g need to see. We have enough talent to stomp USA like a rat in a closet and LOST. Let that sink in. An SEC West team lost to damn USA. HOW OLD AM I? Old enough to know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad for damn sure. Should we lose Saturday, it is time to start looking for a new coach. End of damn conversation.

[Maroonthirteen]

I've stated his multiple times this week.... But the only way you move in Mullen this offseason is if you already find the replacement coach before hand. You cannot fire Mullen and then start a search.

Exactly. I am sure Stricklin knows this too.

However, I think Stricklin needs to be looking now. Mullen will be looking again come October.

[HSVDawg]

One thing to note, our absolute worst case scenario with a replacement coach is Hudspeth. Is he at the top of anyone's list? Absolutely not, but he wouldn't be anywhere in the ballpark of a Rick Ray or Ed Orgeron type hire either. I still think we need to line up a solid replacement first before canning Mullen (IF it comes to that), but this is not going to be a repeat of the Rick Ray situation no matter how bad the blowback is if we part ways with Mullen.

[BrunswickDawg]

You're right... It shouldn't, but it does...

Washington State lost to Portland State (FCS team) last year and finished 9-4 anyway. Virginia Tech and Michigan have finished ranked after losing to FCS teams in the last decade. Virginia had a 9-win season while losing to 5-7 Wyoming a few years ago. In 1998 a 9-win Virginia Tech team lost to a 2-win Temple team. Alabama lost to Louisiana Monroe under Saban and still made a bowl at least. VT lost to JMU in 2010, won the ACC (went 8-0 in conference), went 11-3 overall and finished the year #15.

Not saying we'll do anything similar, but crap does happen from time-to-time

And I think if we recover and use this as a springboard for the rest of the season those those examples - the vast majority of restless natives will calm down. This includes me. Dan used up his credit in the bank with me, but that doesn't mean he is bankrupt yet.

BUT, if we show signs of more of the USA game, then someone better be lining up a Howland type hire right now or we will be screwed. I believe we have a talented base to build from and an attractive situation for a coach to come into. Two of the past 3 coaches have proven you can win here, and we have the facilities. We can't afford to be caught flat footed like we were with Stans. You can't tell me that someone like Bo Pellini wouldn't rather be here then Youngstown State (he is just an example, not a recommended coach).

[TrapGame]

One thing to note, our absolute worst case scenario with a replacement coach is Hudspeth. Is he at the top of anyone's list? Absolutely not, but he wouldn't be anywhere in the ballpark of a Rick Ray or Ed Orgeron type hire either. I still think we need to line up a solid replacement first before canning Mullen (IF it comes to that), but this is not going to be a repeat of the Rick Ray situation no matter how bad the blowback is if we part ways with Mullen.

If we wound up with Hud after all this it would be considered a failure. Hud is not the guy.

[HSVDawg]

If we wound up with Hud after all this it would be considered a failure. Hud is not the guy.

I'm not saying he is the guy long term. But we could be stuck with a lot worse coaches for 3 years. My point was that the worst case scenario for an immediate Mullen replacement is still a lot better than it was for us with replacing Stansbury or with OM when they replaced Cutcliffe. That has to be taken into consideration when making the ultimate decision.

[Dolphus Raymond]

To make myself clear NO WAY do we fire him before having someone lined-up to replace him. I am /was a Mullen fan prior to Saturday but will try not to harp on that. Look, we all know that our in-state rival is very likely on the cusp of significant to very harsh NCAA sanctions. We know it and they know it. When those sanctions come down, it is imperative that we are in the best position possible to ensure we can take advantage of the opportunity to bury them for a decade. IF we have to make a move, we have to look at it as strategic rather than tactical in that we have the opportunity to not only improve our program but to help bury our rival's program, too.
First, let's see what happens Saturday.

[TrapGame]

I'm not saying he is the guy long term. But we could be stuck with a lot worse coaches for 3 years. My point was that the worst case scenario for an immediate Mullen replacement is still a lot better than it was for us with replacing Stansbury or with OM when they replaced Cutcliffe. That has to be taken into consideration when making the ultimate decision.

If Strick calls all the short list coaches and they say no thanks we end it there. I'd take Mullen one more year then completely turn this into a clusterf*ck. Hud shouldn't be on the list period.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

How old are y'all? A friend wants to know..

Old enough to know better but still too young to care

[HSVDawg]

If Strick calls all the short list coaches and they say no thanks we end it there. I'd take Mullen one more year then completely turn this into a clusterf*ck. Hud shouldn't be on the list period.

I mostly agree. But if 3-9 or worse happens, something is going to have to be done no matter what the short list coaches say. That is the reality. I don't really think it's going to come to that (at least not yet I don't), but you are kidding yourself if you think we'd hire, for instance, a wide receivers coach at North Carolina over Hud if we catch a bunch of hell and can't attract decent interest in the job. My original post was simply a response to all those people who say if we fire Mullen this year it will be "Rick Ray all over again", because it won't be.

[Political Hack]

I've stated his multiple times this week.... But the only way you move in Mullen this offseason is if you already find the replacement coach before hand. You cannot fire Mullen and then start a search.

Accurate

[TrapGame]

I mostly agree. But if 3-9 or worse happens, something is going to have to be done no matter what the short list coaches say. That is the reality. I don't really think it's going to come to that (at least not yet I don't), but you are kidding yourself if you think we'd hire, for instance, a wide receivers coach at North Carolina over Hud if we catch a bunch of hell and can't attract decent interest in the job. My original post was simply a response to all those people who say if we fire Mullen this year it will be "Rick Ray all over again", because it won't be.

If we are down to a WR coach from UNC and Hud we've entered total cluster territory. I guarantee we'll have two or three good D1 coaches calling us if Mullen gets into the 3-9 area. We have facilities and money now.

[HSVDawg]

If we are down to a WR coach from UNC and Hud we've entered total cluster territory. I guarantee we'll have two or three good D1 coaches calling us if Mullen gets into the 3-9 area. We have facilities and money now.

Totally agree.

[lamont]

People need to remember:

We didn't have to hire Croom. We chose him over Jimbo Fisher. Thanks LT

Steve Spurrier looked into our job in the 80's but instead we hired Rockey Felker. A lot of our problems with hiring coaches have been self-inflicted

[Dolphus Raymond]

If we took a Croom over Jimbo Fisher, that is one of the biggest WTF? moments in MSU history.
Fisher was at LSU I think?

[AROB44]

People need to remember:

We didn't have to hire Croom. We chose him over Jimbo Fisher. Thanks LT

Steve Spurrier looked into our job in the 80's but instead we hired Rockey Felker. A lot of our problems with hiring coaches have been self-inflicted

I can fully agree with you on this. That has been the history with us. But....I just don't agree that we might not do it again. I am truly on the fence with DM. Have been strongly in his corner and really hope he rights the ship. If he doesn't....I just may finally retire from MSU athletics...checkbook and all.

[TrapGame]

If we took a Croom over Jimbo Fisher, that is one of the biggest WTF? moments in MSU history.
Fisher was at LSU I think?

Fisher's wife is a State alum. Her sister was a member of Genes and filled us all in on this travesty of athletic directing. Jimbo wanted the job.

[lamont]

If we took a Croom over Jimbo Fisher, that is one of the biggest WTF? moments in MSU history.
Fisher was at LSU I think?

Jimbo was the OC at LSU. LT wanted to make a splash hire instead of going with a proven winner.

LT also wanted Bobby Wallace over Jackie Sherrill but was overruled. He also wanted Dewayne Reboul over Rick Standsbury- overruled again. Worst guy to make a hire ever

[Tbonewannabe]

To me it looks more like Nutt- coach riding it out, not much effort in recruiting, suspensions and arrests starting to climb, poor product on the field.

We have to ride out this season and see what happens. We also have to look at the direction of the program to see if we think 2017 will be better if he stays. We lose a lot of DL and OL guys. We are pounding the jucos right now looking for help. We lose Ross and Ritchie. Our schedule flips to play toss-up games away with Bama and LSU at home.

It's going to be ugly come November- and I 100% agree that if a move is made- we better have a verbal agreement already with someone.

If we learned nothing else from Rick Ray, it is this. Next year is the year we are happy for 6-6, this year 6-6 should be the floor. Losing Dak hurts but everyone has to deal with it at some point. Next year UNM loses Machine Gun but they are redshirting their next guy. Several programs are starting true freshmen at QB but Dan very rarely trusts a freshman to play.

[Mjoelner34]

Jimbo was the OC at LSU. LT wanted to make a splash hire instead of going with a proven winner.

LT also wanted Bobby Wallace over Jackie Sherrill but was overruled. He also wanted Dewayne Reboul over Rick Standsbury- overruled again. Worst guy to make a hire ever

Bobby Wallace or Bobby Collins? I heard it was Collins and that he already had Hal Mumme lined up as his OC but the NCAA said that Collins was still too hot coming off of the SMU mess. So we got Jackie who was only about 3 or 4 degrees cooler than Collins.

[BrunswickDawg]

Bobby Wallace or Bobby Collins? I heard it was Collins and that he already had Hal Mumme lined up as his OC but the NCAA said that Collins was still too hot coming off of the SMU mess. So we got Jackie who was only about 3 or 4 degrees cooler than Collins.

I think it was Collins either when we hired Rockey or Jackie, but Wallace was the "Hud" of the mid-90s. Wallace was winning Natty's at UNA when Jackie had down years in '95, & '96. Rumor at the time was that the Cigar Boys had Wallace teed up and ready, until Jackie beat Bama and began his late 90s roll.

[tcdog70]

If we took a Croom over Jimbo Fisher, that is one of the biggest WTF? moments in MSU history.
Fisher was at LSU I think?

Fisher told my Brother (they were on the same plane) That LT was the lying-est SOB he had ever seen.

[Really Clark?]

I think it was Collins either when we hired Rockey or Jackie, but Wallace was the "Hud" of the mid-90s. Wallace was winning Natty's at UNA when Jackie had down years in '95, & '96. Rumor at the time was that the Cigar Boys had Wallace teed up and ready, until Jackie beat Bama and began his late 90s roll.

I always thought the parallels of that situation with Wallace and the money players trying to make a move with Hud in 2013, was morbidly funny. Deja vu. How both Jackie and Mullen pissed them off by winning. We win and they got mad because their power play was diffused.

[Spiderman]

Let's assume we continue down a bad path this season. Let's say we finish 4-8. What are the odds we get a good coach to replace Mullen? I think not good. From an outsider prospective, we lost our best ever quarterback, 2 years away from our highest ever ranking, and one game away from a major postseason game.

How is this different from Ole Miss firing Cutcliff? And ending up with Oregeron.

I'm not saying keep or fire Mullen yet, but one down season might not be our worst case.

Unless there is an off the field issue, and a major one, Mullen isn't going to be fired. He may leave for another job, but he won't be fired.

Here's what scares me.... I've been looking it up and can't find a situation, in modern times, where a coach who has been at a school for at least 4 years, had a loss this bad and the program got better or back on track. It's usually a sign of major problems.

I hope this is not the case and someone can find an example where it didn't mean the end of that coach.

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Fisher's wife is a State alum. Her sister was a member of Genes and filled us all in on this travesty of athletic directing. Jimbo wanted the job.

Candi Fisher is a State alum?

[MSUDawg99]

As I said in another thread, my biggest concern is losing the good recruits we have committed to us & also the defensive staff that's showing promise in recruiting & coaching...should we opt to make a coaching move. I just don't see Strick making a coaching move though.

[SheltonChoked]

People need to remember:

We didn't have to hire Croom. We chose him over Jimbo Fisher. Thanks LTd


This pisses me off more than anything. More than LT letting Grisham's kid go to UVA. ( yeah it the AD's fault when the richest alumn's kid wants to play and the coach says no. I don't care if he's 4'2" and wants to play basketball, you put that ****er on the team)

LT is responsible for putting our athletic program back 30 years. He should have been fired in the 90's.

[Percho]

My prayer is that the mouths of the lions can be shut.

[lamont]

As I said in another thread, my biggest concern is losing the good recruits we have committed to us & also the defensive staff that's showing promise in recruiting & coaching...should we opt to make a coaching move. I just don't see Strick making a coaching move though.

We're not going to keep the defensive coaching staff anyway. We change defensive coaches every season

[lamont]

I think it was Collins either when we hired Rockey or Jackie, but Wallace was the "Hud" of the mid-90s. Wallace was winning Natty's at UNA when Jackie had down years in '95, & '96. Rumor at the time was that the Cigar Boys had Wallace teed up and ready, until Jackie beat Bama and began his late 90s roll.

Bobby Wallace on the Jackie one

Spurrier inquired about our job when we hired Rockey. I'm not saying he would have taken it- but he did contact us about the position. He had just left the USFL and ended up at Duke. How nice would it have been to have Spurrier for 3 seasons before he left for Florida?

[Goldendawg]

Guys unless we finish strong or sign 30 our 2017 recruiting class will be ranked about 29 or 30 on 24/7. Even UNM will finish ahead of us with the NCAA cloud over them unless the hammer falls b4 Feb. 2017. Hitting JC players hard also shows weak recruiting in recent years past. You think a good player from HS with 2 to 3 years in the program likes to see JC players come in with immediate playing time? Worked great for Jackie (not) in his later years. Most of our recent JC players need a year or even a redshirt to see the field. Some of this may be on our HC seeming to reward seniority over talent. I just think heavy into JC players can be a real balancing act.