How I would staff the coaching staff

[Todd4State]

I'm operating under the assumption that the NCAA is going to approve a 10th assistant coach in April, which is likely. I'm also operating under the assumption that Linquist is leaving which I don't believe is official yet but also likely.

Head Coach/OC/QB Coach and guru- Dan Mullen. I'm probably in the minority, but I don't think Dan is a bad play-caller at all. Sure, he has some Dak up the middle moments- but any OC is going to make some bad calls. Overall though Dan does a very good job. I don't think anyone can deny that he is a great developer of QB's- Alex Smith, Tebow, Chris Leak for a year, Relf, Tyler Russell set some school records, DAK, and now Nick and likely Keytaeon in the future. Needless to say, Dan does a great job and I think we could probably get away with a GA or "analyst" coaching the QB's when Dan isn't able to. Most of the QB's we recruit talk about wanting to play for Dan, so I'm not really sure how efficient hiring a QB coach for on the field purposes is for us. Dan seems to recruit QB's very well.

RB/ST- Greg Knox. Yes, he is in the country club. But in general his position group is productive when given the opportunity and used optimally. Even Holloway was productive as a running back when used properly. I believe we have three four stars on the roster for next year in Williams, Gibson, and Hill and even Dontavian Lee has become a very productive special teams player this year. It will be interesting to see if the ST Coach title sticks with Shane Grantham likely coming in.

WR- Billy Gonzalez. Another country club member, but like Knox while he has some shortcomings his group in general produces. Fred Ross is one of the best receivers in school history. Malik Dear is solid and even though I think he is out of position at outside WR, Donald Gray is productive. I thought Jamal Couch looked very promising this year and I can't wait to see Reggie Todd. He also has one of the best players in the state committed in Malik Heath for 2018.

TE- Brad Peterson. This has been rumored for awhile and I would move Sallach to an analyst position. We'll see if it actually happens likely after NSD I guess. I'm not sure what he would give us in terms of an on the field coach, but he would improve our recruiting greatly. Putting him in a position where he could use his recruiting powers off campus as well as on campus only makes us stronger. Plus, TE is a role position. If he's not a great on the field coach, I don't think it would hurt us that much. If he is a great on the field coach- it's a huge bonus. Win/bigger win either way.

OL- Will Friend. My fear is Alabama will hire him if Christobal leaves. He would improve our recruiting and I think he would likely be as good a on the field coach as Hevesy. Friend also has SEC experience at Georgia and even though he is at Colorado State, the fact that he is one of the highest paid o-line coaches in the country says a lot about him. He is also their OC, although I have a feeling Mike Bobo is calling a lot of the plays there as well.

AHC- John Hevesy. This is really a perfect position (Assistant Head Coach) for him. He could be Dan's best friend and confidant on staff. His experience as an OL and TE coach could certainly come in handy because then it could potentially allow Peterson and Friend more time to go recruit and Hevesy could fill in for them while they are doing that. It also keeps him off of the recruiting trail and since he isn't really a specific position coach you would avoid situations like Paul Gainer where we're trying to cover for Hevesy with someone like Buckley and the player hasn't heard from Hevesy in awhile.

DL- Brian Baker. Our pass rush was one of the biggest weak links on the team, but I can give Baker a pass since it was his first year and the fact that he went out and added JUCO talent to the guys we have in place such as Simmons, Marquiss Spencer, Kobe Jones, and Fletcher Adams. He also has NFL experience and while the unit itself wasn't great I did like what I saw from an individual player standpoint.

AHC/DC/OLB- Todd Grantham. I can not wait to see his defense. He's intense and he is also a proven DC. He has NFL experience and has had success in the SEC despite Georgia not appreciating it. And to boot, he also has a reputation as a good recruiter. If he stops Arkansas once and holds Charleston Southern to under 40 points, he's an upgrade. Needless to say, the bar has been set pretty low. He's our most legit DC hire since Ellis Johnson and to me probably our most exciting DC hire since Joe Lee Dunn.

ILB/ST?- Shane Grantham. Other than the fact that he is Todd's brother and was pretty successful at Navy, which is impressive to me, I honestly don't know a lot about him. If I don't have a problem with Hevesy being on the staff, I don't really know why I would have a problem with Todd's brother being on the staff either. One thing I do like about him coaching LB's is I think that will allow Todd to focus on other parts of the defense and not his position group as much or at least have someone that can help manage his group if another one needs attention.

CB- TBuck. Probably our best recruiter right now and has NFL experience. And I thought he did a very good job with Jamal Peters who had never played CB before until August I believe. I can't wait to see how he progresses as a player. And I thought Lashard Durr had a good first year. Jamoral Graham made some nice plays at times and I thought he improved. It's very difficult to play secondary with very little pass rush being generated.

S- Patrick Austin. To me he's basically the defensive version of Brad Peterson. He's one of our best recruiters and putting him on the field will only strengthen our recruiting for the better. It does remain to be seen what kind of on the field coach he will be. If he's Tony Hughes Jr., I think we all would be happy with that.


So- to sum up to make sure my math is right and for those scoring at home...

Will Friend replaces Brian Johnson, Peterson replaces Sallach, Todd Grantham replaces Sirmon, Shane Grantham is the "10th coach" likely to be approved by the NCAA in April, and Austin replaces Linquist.

And one more coach that I want to talk about is Chris Boniol who I now think after careful consideration should remain an off the field coach but is still a very important coach that I want to talk about. He's basically an NFL kicking coach. Yes, Graves struggled but we all know he had a back injury. When Graves was healthy, he was very effective. I also thought Logan Cooke did well until he was injured and Brad Wall did a good job on KO's. We also have an Army All-American kicker and punter OV us soon. If we land them, Boniol has to get a lot of credit. I think due to the nature of kickers and recruiting, we could likely get away with an off the field coach in recruiting when it comes to that especially with a guy like Boniol who has NFL pedigree. I can't remember the last time a punter had a hat party although it wouldn't surprise me if someone has done it before.

If Dan staffs us like I mention above- or close to it- it would be our best coaching staff in our football history in terms of both X's and O's and recruiting IMO.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

A few things

1. You don't want your HC/OC trying to be a position coach also. Just not enough time for it.
2. I doubt Will Friend will leave Colorado St without being an OC. He's not going anywhere just to be an OL coach.
3. Pat isn't ready to be an on field college coach. He's doing a good job in his new position let him handle that for a few years.
4. Grantham brother is headed to MSU. TBuck will most likely handle CB & Safeties.

[Todd4State]

If that's the case, I don't mind demoting Hevesy to an analyst position and just upgrading totally there. That would possibly open the door to offering someone like Friend and also giving him the OC title as well. I do agree that Austin is doing a good job and I can certainly see where there would be more exposure coaching safeties vs. TE's.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

The situation with Gainer is we moved on. Simple as that.

[ScottH]

If that's the case, I don't mind demoting Hevesy to an analyst position and just upgrading totally there. .

Just pay him to stay away and hang out alone at Starkville County Club. That's what he does now.

He can be on speed dial when Dan needs a buddy to play with.

Problem solved.

[ScoobaDawg]

I assume you meant Tony, Todd's brother. No clue who Shane is...

IYOK I'm glad to hear that.. didn't know if the nepotism laws would prevent it.

[Todd4State]

I assume you meant Tony, Todd's brother. No clue who Shane is...

IYOK I'm glad to hear that.. didn't know if the nepotism laws would prevent it.

Oops.

[I seen it dawg]

We need to find an asst DB guy to help TBuck

[hailstate17]

I still don't get everybody's problem with Hevesy. We had a good o line this year. Was it Alabama level? No, but neither was our defense, wide receiver play, or anything for that matter. We were in the top half of the SEC in rushing and could've been even higher had our head coach realized that Aeris and Fitz were the guys from day one.

[Reason2succeed]

I still don't get everybody's problem with Hevesy. We had a good o line this year. Was it Alabama level? No, but neither was our defense, wide receiver play, or anything for that matter. We were in the top half of the SEC in rushing and could've been even higher had our head coach realized that Aeris and Fitz were the guys from day one.

They're biggest problem is not the on field production but his recruiting. He misses on far too many players. They believe that better players would give us a better OL and thus better teams. I agree but realize that this could be said about every position on the field. This is not a secret to Dan Mullen either.

[1bigdawg]

They're biggest problem is not the on field production but his recruiting. He misses on far too many players. They believe that better players would give us a better OL and thus better teams. I agree but realize that this could be said about every position on the field. This is not a secret to Dan Mullen either.

It is coaching, also. We could not run the ball effectively against South Alabama...

[wasabaka]

It is coaching, also. We could not run the ball effectively against South Alabama...

Seriously? Fitz only played two series. With Shump and Holloway. Six plays, three of which were passes. The best personnel were not on the field for that game, which I concede is 100% Mullen's fault.

Even with all of this, we rushed for 239 yards and 7.0 yards per rush. Defense and special teams lost that game for us, not our running game.

1st and 10 at MSST 24
(14:55 - 1st) Brandon Holloway run for 2 yds to the MisSt 26
2nd and 8 at MSST 26
(14:55 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete
3rd and 8 at MSST 26
(14:10 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald run for 5 yds to the MisSt 31
4th and 3 at MSST 31
(13:35 - 1st) Logan Cooke punt for 57 yds , Jaylan Daniels returns for no gain to the SAlab 12

1st and 10 at MSST 27
(8:48 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete to Justin Johnson
2nd and 10 at MSST 27
(8:36 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald run for 6 yds to the MisSt 33
3rd and 4 at MSST 33
(8:14 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete to Justin Johnson
4th and 4 at MSST 33
(7:57 - 1st) Logan Cooke punt blocked by Nigel Lawrence, downed SALab 39

[wasabaka]

But excuse me for injecting facts into the conversation.

[maroonmania]

I still don't get everybody's problem with Hevesy. We had a good o line this year. Was it Alabama level? No, but neither was our defense, wide receiver play, or anything for that matter. We were in the top half of the SEC in rushing and could've been even higher had our head coach realized that Aeris and Fitz were the guys from day one.

John, is that you?

[maroonmania]

They're biggest problem is not the on field production but his recruiting. He misses on far too many players. They believe that better players would give us a better OL and thus better teams. I agree but realize that this could be said about every position on the field. This is not a secret to Dan Mullen either.

Its not being said about any other position on the field because no other coach on our staff has the issues and reputation that Hevesy does. No other coach on our staff has managed to piss off 95% of all MS HS head coaches either at one time or another.

[1bigdawg]

Its not being said about any other position on the field because no other coach on our staff has the issues and reputation that Hevesy does. No other coach on our staff has managed to piss off 95% of all MS HS head coaches either at one time or another.

I heard it was only 94%.**

[fader2103]

2. I doubt Will Friend will leave Colorado St without being an OC. He's not going anywhere just to be an OL coach.


Sounds like IYOK has reached out to Friend already and they didn't gel*

[wasabaka]

Sounds like IYOK has reached out to Friend already and they didn't gel*

They didn't have the same tastes in shoes and had differing views on offensive production in T-Ball.**

[War Machine Dawg]

Seriously? Fitz only played two series. With Shump and Holloway. Six plays, three of which were passes. The best personnel were not on the field for that game, which I concede is 100% Mullen's fault.

Even with all of this, we rushed for 239 yards and 7.0 yards per rush. Defense and special teams lost that game for us, not our running game.

1st and 10 at MSST 24
(14:55 - 1st) Brandon Holloway run for 2 yds to the MisSt 26
2nd and 8 at MSST 26
(14:55 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete
3rd and 8 at MSST 26
(14:10 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald run for 5 yds to the MisSt 31
4th and 3 at MSST 31
(13:35 - 1st) Logan Cooke punt for 57 yds , Jaylan Daniels returns for no gain to the SAlab 12

1st and 10 at MSST 27
(8:48 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete to Justin Johnson
2nd and 10 at MSST 27
(8:36 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald run for 6 yds to the MisSt 33
3rd and 4 at MSST 33
(8:14 - 1st) Nick Fitzgerald pass incomplete to Justin Johnson
4th and 4 at MSST 33
(7:57 - 1st) Logan Cooke punt blocked by Nigel Lawrence, downed SALab 39

Actually, it was 5 called pass pays. 2 of those 3 runs were Fitz scrambling when no one was open. We came out running the damned Air Raid with a sophomore first time starter. Some of the most horrendous game planning I've ever seen.

[ElitedawgRecruiting]

I want to ask a serious question here.

Why is everyone so sure that Peterson will make a good on the field coach. And before I get the 500 "he can't be any worse than Sallach responses" let me explain. The teams he had at Brandon were one of the most talent laden 6A teams of the past 20 years. And he never won the big one. He leaves and they keep winning at the same level without him. If we are gonna go all in and pay this kinda scratch for a proven D.C., shouldn't we want the same thing from other other coaches? I know as many high school coaches as Brad but that doesn't mean I should coach tight ends at MSU

[1bigdawg]

I want to ask a serious question here.

Why is everyone so sure that Peterson will make a good on the field coach. And before I get the 500 "he can't be any worse than Sallach responses" let me explain. The teams he had at Brandon were one of the most talent laden 6A teams of the past 20 years. And he never won the big one. He leaves and they keep winning at the same level without him. If we are gonna go all in and pay this kinda scratch for a proven D.C., shouldn't we want the same thing from other other coaches? I know as many high school coaches as Brad but that doesn't mean I should coach tight ends at MSU

Good question. And while I would love to have a good recruiter as TE coach, as most teams do, it is also important that they be a reasonably good position coach.

[Big4Dawg]

I want to ask a serious question here.

Why is everyone so sure that Peterson will make a good on the field coach. And before I get the 500 "he can't be any worse than Sallach responses" let me explain. The teams he had at Brandon were one of the most talent laden 6A teams of the past 20 years. And he never won the big one. He leaves and they keep winning at the same level without him. If we are gonna go all in and pay this kinda scratch for a proven D.C., shouldn't we want the same thing from other other coaches? I know as many high school coaches as Brad but that doesn't mean I should coach tight ends at MSU

It think it's more Sallach and as you said, people thinking he can't be worse and this way, he can actually recruit on the road and in High Schools. IMO Sallach brings the bare minimum.

Look around at other programs TE coaches.

OM - http://247sports.com/Coach/Maurice-Harris-1019 - recruiting coordinator
Arkansas - http://247sports.com/Coach/Barry-Lunney-Jr-1513
Kentucky - http://247sports.com/Coach/Vince-Marrow-1504
LSU - http://247sports.com/Coach/Barry-Lunney-Jr-1513
Auburn - http://247sports.com/Coach/Scott-Fountain-1523 (also special teams)

Then you look at ours:
http://247sports.com/Coach/Scott-Sallach-298

one commit.

He's been here 9 years and has had 10 commits and most of them haven't been great.

http://247sports.com/Coach/Scott-Sallach-298/AllTimeRecruits

[ElitedawgRecruiting]

Like I said, other then Sallach is bad, why us Peterson the answer?

[Big4Dawg]

Because we hired him to be a recruiter. Let leave his office and recruit

[msstate7]

I want to ask a serious question here.

Why is everyone so sure that Peterson will make a good on the field coach. And before I get the 500 "he can't be any worse than Sallach responses" let me explain. The teams he had at Brandon were one of the most talent laden 6A teams of the past 20 years. And he never won the big one. He leaves and they keep winning at the same level without him. If we are gonna go all in and pay this kinda scratch for a proven D.C., shouldn't we want the same thing from other other coaches? I know as many high school coaches as Brad but that doesn't mean I should coach tight ends at MSU

He didn't win 2 state championships at Louisville?

[ElitedawgRecruiting]

He didn't win 2 state championships at Louisville?

But didn't he underachieved on the biggest stage in the state?

That's my whole point. Knowing people and being a good recruiter are worlds apart.

Seems like we want to replace an underachieving recruiter with and underachieving coach. Is it not possible to find a guy that can do both and has a history of doing so?

[msstate7]

But didn't he underachieved on the biggest stage in the state?

That's my whole point. Knowing people and being a good recruiter are worlds apart.

Seems like we want to replace an underachieving recruiter with and underachieving coach. Is it not possible to find a guy that can do both and has a history of doing so?

I don't know if Peterson can coach TEs or not, but I know he's a good coach. He won at newton, forest, Louisville, Brandon, and Madison central (they missed playoffs year before his arrival). He's a bulldog and I think Mullen saw something in him or he wouldn't be here.

[BeastMan]

But didn't he underachieved on the biggest stage in the state?

That's my whole point. Knowing people and being a good recruiter are worlds apart.

Seems like we want to replace an underachieving recruiter with and underachieving coach. Is it not possible to find a guy that can do both and has a history of doing so?


I wouldn't call him an underachieving coach by any stretch. The guy won state titles at Louisville, ran in to more talented USP team in the title & almost pulled it off, and he turned around MC in 1 year.

Further, he morphed the MC program in 1 year. Revamped advertising on the video scoreboard and added for-pay tailgate spots in the endzone. He completely changed the culture and game day experience at MC and he did that by being a "recruiter" of parents. In HS, Brad was the total package coach and CEO. To suggest anything else is ludacris. I have no idea how he'd do as an on-field assistant but his resume suggest he'd be good. As of now, I'd prefer him where he is and let he and Pat keep cultivating those recruiting relationship.

[fader2103]

I honestly think that people want Brad to become an On the field coach because he has name recognition in Mississippi. I have no idea where he would recruit out of state, but his name doesn't carry as much weight in Fl or Ga as it does in Kosy.

[parabrave]

I'm operating under the assumption that the NCAA is going to approve a 10th assistant coach in April, which is likely. I'm also operating under the assumption that Linquist is leaving which I don't believe is official yet but also likely.

Head Coach/OC/QB Coach and guru- Dan Mullen. I'm probably in the minority, but I don't think Dan is a bad play-caller at all. Sure, he has some Dak up the middle moments- but any OC is going to make some bad calls. Overall though Dan does a very good job. I don't think anyone can deny that he is a great developer of QB's- Alex Smith, Tebow, Chris Leak for a year, Relf, Tyler Russell set some school records, DAK, and now Nick and likely Keytaeon in the future. Needless to say, Dan does a great job and I think we could probably get away with a GA or "analyst" coaching the QB's when Dan isn't able to. Most of the QB's we recruit talk about wanting to play for Dan, so I'm not really sure how efficient hiring a QB coach for on the field purposes is for us. Dan seems to recruit QB's very well.

RB/ST- Greg Knox. Yes, he is in the country club. But in general his position group is productive when given the opportunity and used optimally. Even Holloway was productive as a running back when used properly. I believe we have three four stars on the roster for next year in Williams, Gibson, and Hill and even Dontavian Lee has become a very productive special teams player this year. It will be interesting to see if the ST Coach title sticks with Shane Grantham likely coming in.

WR- Billy Gonzalez. Another country club member, but like Knox while he has some shortcomings his group in general produces. Fred Ross is one of the best receivers in school history. Malik Dear is solid and even though I think he is out of position at outside WR, Donald Gray is productive. I thought Jamal Couch looked very promising this year and I can't wait to see Reggie Todd. He also has one of the best players in the state committed in Malik Heath for 2018.

TE- Brad Peterson. This has been rumored for awhile and I would move Sallach to an analyst position. We'll see if it actually happens likely after NSD I guess. I'm not sure what he would give us in terms of an on the field coach, but he would improve our recruiting greatly. Putting him in a position where he could use his recruiting powers off campus as well as on campus only makes us stronger. Plus, TE is a role position. If he's not a great on the field coach, I don't think it would hurt us that much. If he is a great on the field coach- it's a huge bonus. Win/bigger win either way.

OL- Will Friend. My fear is Alabama will hire him if Christobal leaves. He would improve our recruiting and I think he would likely be as good a on the field coach as Hevesy. Friend also has SEC experience at Georgia and even though he is at Colorado State, the fact that he is one of the highest paid o-line coaches in the country says a lot about him. He is also their OC, although I have a feeling Mike Bobo is calling a lot of the plays there as well.

AHC- John Hevesy. This is really a perfect position (Assistant Head Coach) for him. He could be Dan's best friend and confidant on staff. His experience as an OL and TE coach could certainly come in handy because then it could potentially allow Peterson and Friend more time to go recruit and Hevesy could fill in for them while they are doing that. It also keeps him off of the recruiting trail and since he isn't really a specific position coach you would avoid situations like Paul Gainer where we're trying to cover for Hevesy with someone like Buckley and the player hasn't heard from Hevesy in awhile.

DL- Brian Baker. Our pass rush was one of the biggest weak links on the team, but I can give Baker a pass since it was his first year and the fact that he went out and added JUCO talent to the guys we have in place such as Simmons, Marquiss Spencer, Kobe Jones, and Fletcher Adams. He also has NFL experience and while the unit itself wasn't great I did like what I saw from an individual player standpoint.

AHC/DC/OLB- Todd Grantham. I can not wait to see his defense. He's intense and he is also a proven DC. He has NFL experience and has had success in the SEC despite Georgia not appreciating it. And to boot, he also has a reputation as a good recruiter. If he stops Arkansas once and holds Charleston Southern to under 40 points, he's an upgrade. Needless to say, the bar has been set pretty low. He's our most legit DC hire since Ellis Johnson and to me probably our most exciting DC hire since Joe Lee Dunn.

ILB/ST?- Shane Grantham. Other than the fact that he is Todd's brother and was pretty successful at Navy, which is impressive to me, I honestly don't know a lot about him. If I don't have a problem with Hevesy being on the staff, I don't really know why I would have a problem with Todd's brother being on the staff either. One thing I do like about him coaching LB's is I think that will allow Todd to focus on other parts of the defense and not his position group as much or at least have someone that can help manage his group if another one needs attention.

CB- TBuck. Probably our best recruiter right now and has NFL experience. And I thought he did a very good job with Jamal Peters who had never played CB before until August I believe. I can't wait to see how he progresses as a player. And I thought Lashard Durr had a good first year. Jamoral Graham made some nice plays at times and I thought he improved. It's very difficult to play secondary with very little pass rush being generated.

S- Patrick Austin. To me he's basically the defensive version of Brad Peterson. He's one of our best recruiters and putting him on the field will only strengthen our recruiting for the better. It does remain to be seen what kind of on the field coach he will be. If he's Tony Hughes Jr., I think we all would be happy with that.


So- to sum up to make sure my math is right and for those scoring at home...

Will Friend replaces Brian Johnson, Peterson replaces Sallach, Todd Grantham replaces Sirmon, Shane Grantham is the "10th coach" likely to be approved by the NCAA in April, and Austin replaces Linquist.

And one more coach that I want to talk about is Chris Boniol who I now think after careful consideration should remain an off the field coach but is still a very important coach that I want to talk about. He's basically an NFL kicking coach. Yes, Graves struggled but we all know he had a back injury. When Graves was healthy, he was very effective. I also thought Logan Cooke did well until he was injured and Brad Wall did a good job on KO's. We also have an Army All-American kicker and punter OV us soon. If we land them, Boniol has to get a lot of credit. I think due to the nature of kickers and recruiting, we could likely get away with an off the field coach in recruiting when it comes to that especially with a guy like Boniol who has NFL pedigree. I can't remember the last time a punter had a hat party although it wouldn't surprise me if someone has done it before.

If Dan staffs us like I mention above- or close to it- it would be our best coaching staff in our football history in terms of both X's and O's and recruiting IMO.

Hire the Miami of Ohios DB coach to be the Tackling specialist. Their safeties didn't miss one tackle in our bowl game.

[NCDawg]

It's ridiculous keeping Hevesy as OL coach, when he clearly is not getting the job done, and the only reason to keep him on is because of friendship with the HC. I have zero hope of ever getting to Atlanta as long as Mullen has him coaching the OL.