Frustrating

[EdDawg]

After having a few days to calm down I think I have figured out what is so frustrating about Dan.

Before I reveal that let me say this, I think everyone agrees we are not a national powerhouse and our opportunities for huge success doesn't come around very often. Now I also believe most of us want to do whatever we can to help, whether it be donations or just showing up and making noise at every game. Those two things along with any other help we can give our university is what will push us forward and allow us to see more and bigger success.

Now what frustrates me is the 2014 season. That was an unbelievable season! But looking back that season was our shot to make history. We should have been in the playoffs, no ifs and or buts about it. Think about it, even the most optimistic fans know it will be awhile before we are ever in that situation again, and I am not an ole poor Mississippi State fan. I know we can be better than what we are now.

That was our shot and we blew it TWICE, against Bama and Ole Miss. When we made the national championship in baseball I was unable to go, but I knew we would be back again someday. There is no way I would have missed us playing in the playoffs in 2014 though.

[GTHOM]

Agreed. The 2014 egg bowl should have been a warning sign to everyone. But the ''we were number 1'' Mullenites made it seem a lot less worse. Even ignoring us looking like hot garbage vs GA Tech in the bowl game. Mullen checked out after losing to Bama and hes looked like he cared 1 time since and that was the SC game this year

[Todd4State]

Well, it's not JUST 2014 in and of itself. If we had come back the next year and gone to the Sugar Bowl that would have rectified any ill will I have towards Dan. Instead we lost a game to LSU at home because of clock mismanagement, and while I can tolerate the losses to A&M on the road and to Alabama at home coming out unprepared and uninterested in the Egg Bowl in 2015 was pretty close to unforgiveable.

It's also frustrating to come that close and to see Holloway up the middle ad nauseum in 2015 when Williams and Lee both had a higher YPC, an offensive line that is a complete mess and the coach of that unit being held almost completely unaccountable not to mention his toxic recruiting, seeing Zach Jackson start almost every game, not seeing Peters and McLaurin worked in to the safety rotation more to add athleticism and more play making ability, and not seeing Dear get more touches. All of those things loom even larger when you don't accomplish your goals. And then he finishes with a clunker of a recruiting class and we find out that we are way under the 85 scholarship limit which is gross roster mismanagement.

I feel like a lot of coaches would have done some of the things that I mentioned above better and when you are Mississippi State you can't afford to have a country club atmosphere with assistants, mismanage the roster, and not find ways to use the most talented players and maximize your results.

No matter how you feel about Dan, I would like to see what we could do with someone that can recruit a little bit better and put our players in a better position to succeed and see what we can become from that. If we are a 6-6 floor 10-2 ceiling team without maximizing our roster, our staff and our recruiting, I think that's pretty exciting in many ways about what we could potentially be. I don't think we have really ever had a coach that has done all of those things in my fan lifetime- Dan came pretty close 2009-2011 and then things seemed to change for whatever reason.

[Jack Lambert]

Agreed. The 2014 egg bowl should have been a warning sign to everyone. But the ''we were number 1'' Mullenites made it seem a lot less worse. Even ignoring us looking like hot garbage vs GA Tech in the bowl game. Mullen checked out after losing to Bama and hes looked like he cared 1 time since and that was the SC game this year

Don't forget Mullen was the coach who got us to number 1 and no other coach at MSU has ever done that in football. If you are going to blame him for not getting into the play off you should give him credit for getting us to number 1 in the first place. Also don't forget those were his players he recruited and coached up to get to number 1. It is almost impossible to do that at Miss State unless we take the Ole Miss approach. Ole Miss who bought and paid for their team and have not gotten to number 1. Two years from now we will be going bowling and they will be sitting at home.

In 2013 we heard all the same bitching Over and over and over again. Kind of like every 106 FM radio channel in the nation playing a Boston song every hour on the hour. It gets old. Same song, same dance and all it does is bring us and the school down . Appreciate what we have because these have been the best eight year of Miss State football ever. Trust me I have seen some pretty shitty teams go onto the field.

One more thing it wasn't but a few year ago we had a Ole Miss coach printing off post from message boards and showing them to recruits parents.

So when you post remember others are watching and reading.

Remember life is good and ease up a little.

[EdDawg]

I do give credit to Mullen for getting us to #1. And the whole "we haven't done anything like that before" argument is exactly my point. We wasted our one opportunity to make the playoffs and possibly play for a national championship.

I believe Dan is a very good coach if he can make the adjustments that need to be made. It's just frustrating when he preached about us competing for championships, and then he loses focus when we were so close.

[Sienfield]

I believe we lost 3 of the last 4 games in 2014.

[dawgday166]

And in 2012 we lost 4 of last 5 after starting 7 - 0. Got destroyed by Bammer and pretty much everyone else including OM the rest of the way. Didn't show up to play any of those games except Ark (and they had an interim HC from the Petrino incident).

[EdDawg]

I will say our 2012 team was not very good. The sec, save a couple of teams, was really down. Most people knew that our 7-0 start was because of poor competition.

[dawgday166]

I knew it too. That's why when Banks made his social media video and there was sooo much hype before Bama game I was bothered some. Any half-way smart coach would've been low-keyed going into that game. Hopefully the Elephant will be dozing some when you play him.

ETA: The shouting to the world that we're 7-0 or #1 going into a big game is probably Mullen wanting to get himself noticed. Just MHO.

ETAA: And 2012 was Freeze's 1st year. We were better than OM that year too.

[maroonmania]

Frustrating thing for me is I'm feeling very few in our athletic department are truly invested in building something long term AT MSU. All Mullen did after going to #1 was try to use that as a stepping stone to getting another job and getting that much lazier on the recruiting trail. Then you have our esteemed athletic director bail to what Mullen would call a "lateral" move (as in Geoff Collins) to go take the same job at another conference school. About the only hope I have of anyone looking to invest at MSU is possibly Howland just because at his age MAYBE he is not looking to move on at the first sign of success, but who knows. Sad to think we are school with a nearly 100 million dollar athletic budget but are apparently just good for training coaches and ADs for the same jobs at other D1 schools. Heck, even Cohen appears to be looking to get out of coaching to go into administration. I guess I do feel that after the Stricklin defection nobody at MSU should expect Mullen to do anything but whore himself out to other schools with bigger names every year. If our MSU alumnus AD can't see any need to be here long term then why should anyone else be expected to? Heck, several other ADs wouldn't leave their schools for FL (including Byrne even though he could have doubled his salary) but ours did. Of course by taking his foot off the gas after getting to #1 Mullen is likely losing any big time opportunities he would have had anyway.

[RougeDawg]

Well, it's not JUST 2014 in and of itself. If we had come back the next year and gone to the Sugar Bowl that would have rectified any ill will I have towards Dan. Instead we lost a game to LSU at home because of clock mismanagement, and while I can tolerate the losses to A&M on the road and to Alabama at home coming out unprepared and uninterested in the Egg Bowl in 2015 was pretty close to unforgiveable.

It's also frustrating to come that close and to see Holloway up the middle ad nauseum in 2015 when Williams and Lee both had a higher YPC, an offensive line that is a complete mess and the coach of that unit being held almost completely unaccountable not to mention his toxic recruiting, seeing Zach Jackson start almost every game, not seeing Peters and McLaurin worked in to the safety rotation more to add athleticism and more play making ability, and not seeing Dear get more touches. All of those things loom even larger when you don't accomplish your goals. And then he finishes with a clunker of a recruiting class and we find out that we are way under the 85 scholarship limit which is gross roster mismanagement.

I feel like a lot of coaches would have done some of the things that I mentioned above better and when you are Mississippi State you can't afford to have a country club atmosphere with assistants, mismanage the roster, and not find ways to use the most talented players and maximize your results.

No matter how you feel about Dan, I would like to see what we could do with someone that can recruit a little bit better and put our players in a better position to succeed and see what we can become from that. If we are a 6-6 floor 10-2 ceiling team without maximizing our roster, our staff and our recruiting, I think that's pretty exciting in many ways about what we could potentially be. I don't think we have really ever had a coach that has done all of those things in my fan lifetime- Dan came pretty close 2009-2011 and then things seemed to change for whatever reason.

Agree whole heartedly. Dans lack of fire and passion for the last 4-5 seasons has been frustrating. He got that fat pay day and mailed it in. Add in his "it takes 2-3 years to get a player ready to play college football" attitude with every player from -2 to 5 stars has not only hurt the on field production, but also negatively impacted recruiting. Why would top guys want to come here if they're going to be given the Chris jones treatment. The Williams, Lee, Gibson, Mixon treatment? The JRob and Dak treatment. And on and on.

[HoopsDawg]

The only way to elevate the program is recruiting. You can't miss on the Lashley's and the AJ Browns. You just can't.

[QuadrupleOption]

Frustrating? Sure.

But I will never complain about a 9+ win season at MSU until after we start winning conference and national titles on a regular basis. I wish we'd won it all too, or at least made the playoffs, but 2014 was a banner season by any measure for our school. Y'all need to understand that.

[BoomBoom]

After having a few days to calm down I think I have figured out what is so frustrating about Dan.

Before I reveal that let me say this, I think everyone agrees we are not a national powerhouse and our opportunities for huge success doesn't come around very often. Now I also believe most of us want to do whatever we can to help, whether it be donations or just showing up and making noise at every game. Those two things along with any other help we can give our university is what will push us forward and allow us to see more and bigger success.

Now what frustrates me is the 2014 season. That was an unbelievable season! But looking back that season was our shot to make history. We should have been in the playoffs, no ifs and or buts about it. Think about it, even the most optimistic fans know it will be awhile before we are ever in that situation again, and I am not an ole poor Mississippi State fan. I know we can be better than what we are now.

That was our shot and we blew it TWICE, against Bama and Ole Miss. When we made the national championship in baseball I was unable to go, but I knew we would be back again someday. There is no way I would have missed us playing in the playoffs in 2014 though.

Look at the end of season rankings. That reveals we rose to #1 by beating highly overrated teams. When we finally played good teams, we got our ass handed to us. It was not "our shot".

I really don't know why our fans can't grasp this. Emotional attachment to being #1 I guess. But in hindsight we were clearly overrated.

[Tbonewannabe]

[QUOTE=BoomBoom;621106]Look at the end of season rankings. That reveals we rose to #1 by beating highly overrated teams. When we finally played good teams, we got our ass handed to us. It was not "our shot".

I really don't know why our fans can't grasp this. Emotional attachment to being #1 I guess. But in hindsight we were clearly o
The teams we beat were overrated but we also peaked early. We struggled down the stretch against bad teams and sucked against Bama and UNM.

[EdDawg]

We played one great team, Bama, and we started with very conservative play calling. We scored a touchdown late to make it a one score game, but if we play that game loose then we are competitive throughout that game. Our signature wins weren't as big as they were when we achieved them, but we were a playoff caliber team that year.

[EdDawg]

Frustrating? Sure.

But I will never complain about a 9+ win season at MSU until after we start winning conference and national titles on a regular basis. I wish we'd won it all too, or at least made the playoffs, but 2014 was a banner season by any measure for our school. Y'all need to understand that.

It was an amazing season. I am not saying it wasn't, but if you were told at the beginning of the season we should be 1 or the 4 teams in the playoffs but we lose 3 games. That wouldn't be a little frustrating knowing that that could be our only shot for a long time?

To me the fans that believe we will never be more than a mid level P5 team would be the ones who would be more frustrated. If someone really believes that we are a mid level team than it should frustrate you that we squandered our chances in 2014. Not only coming out conservative against Bama, but to turn around and not even give the committee a chance to vote us in against ole miss.

[GTHOM]

Don't forget Mullen was the coach who got us to number 1 and no other coach at MSU has ever done that in football. If you are going to blame him for not getting into the play off you should give him credit for getting us to number 1 in the first place. Also don't forget those were his players he recruited and coached up to get to number 1. It is almost impossible to do that at Miss State unless we take the Ole Miss approach. Ole Miss who bought and paid for their team and have not gotten to number 1. Two years from now we will be going bowling and they will be sitting at home.

In 2013 we heard all the same bitching Over and over and over again. Kind of like every 106 FM radio channel in the nation playing a Boston song every hour on the hour. It gets old. Same song, same dance and all it does is bring us and the school down . Appreciate what we have because these have been the best eight year of Miss State football ever. Trust me I have seen some pretty shitty teams go onto the field.

One more thing it wasn't but a few year ago we had a Ole Miss coach printing off post from message boards and showing them to recruits parents.

So when you post remember others are watching and reading.

Remember life is good and ease up a little.

What did being number 1 in the nation do for us?? How did we capitalize on such a great achievement?? We bombed and looked totally unprepared and flat against our biggest rival not only that same season but the next year as well in Daks last home game. Being number 1 was cool and all but what did it really mean? Not much

[GTHOM]

Look at the end of season rankings. That reveals we rose to #1 by beating highly overrated teams. When we finally played good teams, we got our ass handed to us. It was not "our shot".

I really don't know why our fans can't grasp this. Emotional attachment to being #1 I guess. But in hindsight we were clearly overrated.

We weren't overrated, our intensity dropped after playing 3 straight huge games and winning all 3. Everyone should have seen us being flat vs UK and the others coming. Dan let us down after we lost to bama, which btw was partly his fault for coaching with no nuts and wide eyes in big games like he always does. His ''well we wouldnt have made the playoff anyway'' quote after losing the egg bowl still pisses me off

[Bothrops]

Mullen is a good coach when he tries.

[QuadrupleOption]

It was an amazing season. I am not saying it wasn't, but if you were told at the beginning of the season we should be 1 or the 4 teams in the playoffs but we lose 3 games. That wouldn't be a little frustrating knowing that that could be our only shot for a long time?

To me the fans that believe we will never be more than a mid level P5 team would be the ones who would be more frustrated. If someone really believes that we are a mid level team than it should frustrate you that we squandered our chances in 2014. Not only coming out conservative against Bama, but to turn around and not even give the committee a chance to vote us in against ole miss.

I hated losing those three games, especially the Egg Bowl. But again, in hindsight, it was a good year. It was a much better year than anyone (including our own fans) ever thought we would have. And I remember how great that season was, even with the shitty losses mixed in, because we were among the nation's best that year.

I don't believe we are a mid-level team or program, honestly. I believe that we are as good or better than just about every other team out there with the exception of elite teams in other conferences. But we play in a brutal division of a brutal conference so it always seems like it's worse than it actually is. I believe that we will get better and will be competing for great bowl games again soon. But as long as Bama is doing what they do with Saban, no one is going to dethrone them consistently.

[oldtrickdawg]

Gentlemen, some of these posts are very cerebral and reflective; some are something other ...One of the frequent offerings on the site involves the state of our competition when we defeated them...The folks at Oxnard used to parlay a weak schedule into national rankings and bowls regularly..We ,on the other hand, regularly played a top five or ten rated schedule and lost a goodly number of those games..We have changed the attitudes of a lot of our higher touted competition in recent years from one of expecting a tough game but a win to we might lose this State game if we don't show ...For me, that is significant...Now, the issue I want to air involves a tendency of some of our loyal fans to downgrade our accomplishments on the field by assigning levels of quality to our opponents..You have heard it..Well, this team or that team had an off year..Let's give our guys credit ..If they beat the perennial powers; they beat the perennial powers....We don't need to assign some sort of qualifying criterion to it...If we beat them it is in the books forever...State beats LSU or whomever...The Oxnard people have made a career of beating UT/Chattanooga's...Relist the moment....We beat Auburn....It is their problem if they had a "down" year; not ours..They beat us a lot of years we had a down year but you won't hear them say oh, State had a down year...

[Goldendawg]

The #1 year felt surreal to me, but I loved it and wished my Superdawg Dad had been alive to experience it. I did however have a bad taste in my mouth when we choked against Bama and didn't bother to show up against UM when we still had a lot on the line. I knew better than to go to the Ga Tech bowl game at that point.

[RocketDawg]

The #1 year felt surreal to me, but I loved it and wished my Superdawg Dad had been alive to experience it. I did however have a bad taste in my mouth when we choked against Bama and didn't bother to show up against UM when we still had a lot on the line. I knew better than to go to the Ga Tech bowl game at that point.

You're right. The reason we lost the Orange Bowl was because of the last 3 games, not because Georgia Tech was all that great. I think losing the game to Alabama, and being totally outclassed in doing so, really got to Dan and we're still suffering the consequences. It started our rapid downward spiral and it's still going on.

[Goldendawg]

I agree 100%. We have been pretty mediocre at best since being #1.

[Todd4State]

You're right. The reason we lost the Orange Bowl was because of the last 3 games, not because Georgia Tech was all that great. I think losing the game to Alabama, and being totally outclassed in doing so, really got to Dan and we're still suffering the consequences. It started our rapid downward spiral and it's still going on.

I think we got to number one and Dan thought he could parlay that into a better job. He was wrong.

[msbulldog]

Hail State!

[BiscuitEater]

It's also frustrating to come that close and to see Holloway up the middle ad nauseum in 2015 when Williams and Lee both had a higher YPC

That right there is one of .. if not THE most idiotic misuse of stats I have seen in a while. Vast majority of those carries happened late in the four cupcake OOC games.

Go compare Fitz's numbers with Dak's. Hey .. Fitz had way better numbers .. better completion %, rating, yards per completion, TD ratio, 0 ints, etc. .. etc.

Daks stats were majority SEC .. Fitz racked up stats against NW State, and other cupcakes. Who was the better QB?