Some Thoughts - So Damn Proud Of Our Football Program Today

[ShotgunDawg]

What a hellacious win.

- With a normal coaching staff & an experienced QB, I think we are about 14-17 points better than Louisville. We have SEC DL & OL & they don't. It was that simple. We may have had better players at about 18-20 positions on the field. Considering the circumstances though, hell of a win. Other than going to #1, I'm not sure I've been prouder of the Mississippi State football program.

- WTF was Dan Mullen thinking? Very rarely in any sport do you see coaches take a new job when they have a young player like Keytaon & the right culture. Still seems odd to me. In any event though, I do thank Dan for building a sustainable program & the right culture. No matter your personal feelings, he left us in a great spot.

- Thank you to Greg Knox, Ron English, Looney, Elliott, Buckley, & the GAs. You guys could've half assed it but you didn't. You were professionals & did your job at a high level. Thank you & I hope MSU people don't forget this.

- Additionally, today's game tells an awful lot about the leadership in our athletic program & in the president's office. In a leadership vacuum, they were able to identify the right people to work through the process with flying colors. We kept our recruiting class & won a bowl game against a quality team. It literally could not have gone better.

- Joe Moorhead is taking over one hell of a football program with the RIGHT culture. Culture isn't tested when things are going well. It's tested in crisis. Although we lost the Egg Bowl due to unforeseen circumstances, from the moment Fitz went down, he showed leadership & others showed leadership. It is often said that the best programs & teams are those that can police themselves & do not need the coaches to do it for them. This bowl & the preparation for it shows that MSU football has the right locker room & culture to win a championship. In the equivalent of a power vacuum with the substitute teach running practice, meetings, game plan, etc, our players got it done. They were ready to play & held each other accountable. This cannot be understated or taken for granted. Our locker room polices itself.

- Keytaon Thompson, LOL. He is a complete & total bad ass on the football field. I completely now understand why we signed Whop & why he wanted to follow Key. He knew. I agree with C34, Fitz is a 5th year SR, with tons of experience, & will be the starter for the 2018 season, but we are good after he leaves. Key is a star. For comparison sake, he has it. He is more accurate than Fitz, has better, quicker feet, more burst, & throws a more catchable ball.

- In the 2nd half, every offensive player on the field will be here in 2018. Eiland is really good & took over for Rankin in the 2nd half.

- Really excited about Kylin Hill. I thought he looked even better today than he did in the season. Has burst and moves. My guess is that he & Aeris split things about 50/50 next year.

- Lastly, Moorhead is in an interesting spot. It is very rare that new head coaches take over a program that has so many things going right for it. Usually, coaches have to come in & rebuild everything in their own image. While I totally agree that Moorhead has to make this program his & put his imprint on it, I hope that respects, appreciates, & desires to keep the current identity. I'm really excited about what Moorhead can do to make the offense more explosive (No real big plays today for us) & the new WRs should offer him plenty of fire power to do so, but MSU is a physical, smash mouth program that needs to continue to play that way. Adjust some things, improve the explosiveness of the offense, but keep the same identity & culture as best he can. It's a tough task, but with so much right in our program, it would be dumb to revamp the thing.

- I absolutely love the off season momentum this gives us & we better 17ing sell out of season tickets for the 2018 season. Our defense should be lights out & we've got two deep of play makers all over the offense. We will finish 2017 in the top 20 & should begin 2018 in the top 12. Then in 2019 with Keytaon taking over & all those WRs plus Kylin, we'll be bad ass then as well.

[Commercecomet24]

Great assessment, agree completely. I might add our secondary played very well today too. Allowed 13 for 31 with 4 picks, pretty dang good. I?m most impressed by the leadership in that locker room. I said it in the game thread, on bad teams no one leads, on good teams coaches lead on elite teams players lead. We got leaders. We have some very impressive young men in that locker room. Future is bright!

[BrunswickDawg]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

[ShotgunDawg]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

Completely agree

[Commercecomet24]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

This is correct. Key is gonna be a heckuva of a qb for us in the future but Fitz is the man in 18 and he?s gonna be hell to deal with in JoMo offense. We have 2 great qbs and that?s awesome?

[TrapGame]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

[Mutt the Hoople]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

You know what pissed me off? I was looking at Mullen's house he's trying to sell in Starkvegas. It's a freaking PALACE! A $1.3 million house that would probably be $10 million in Florida or California.

Yet, he hated State and hated us SO much, that he spent YEARS trying to get out of that beautiful home.

[Todd4State]

Great assessment, agree completely. I might add our secondary played very well today too. Allowed 13 for 31 with 4 picks, pretty dang good. I?m most impressed by the leadership in that locker room. I said it in the game thread, on bad teams no one leads, on good teams coaches lead on elite teams players lead. We got leaders. We have some very impressive young men in that locker room. Future is bright!

That's a pretty impressive saying. I like that.

[Tbonewannabe]

Key does give us the ability to rest Fitz some. He should be able to take a series or two against someone like UK or UM next year. If we are up by 2 TDs then give Key a series.

[Todd4State]

I agree we are in great shape and we don't need to rebuild...but a reboot is going to be very good for us.

The biggest thing I think we need to improve going forward is we need to increase the focus on recruiting and recruiting budget. That wasn't going to happen under Dan.

I think we're going to be hungry next year despite having a 9 win season and I think Moorhead is going to bring a new energy that Dan simply wasn't giving us anymore.

[Todd4State]

Key does give us the ability to rest Fitz some. He should be able to take a series or two against someone like UK or UM next year. If we are up by 2 TDs then give Key a series.

I think we're going to see Fitz and Key both play a lot in the same formation next year. That's what Penn State does with their starter and back-up. It should keep any "controversy" down and could benefit us in the long run because QB recruits will know that there is a good chance that they will play some even if they aren't the starter.

[Todd4State]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

This is all true. He's also about to learn that we weren't totally successful just becasuse of him- but because of what WE are as a family. Today was lesson number one.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think we're going to see Fitz and Key both play a lot in the same formation next year. That's what Penn State does with their starter and back-up. It should keep any "controversy" down and could benefit us in the long run because QB recruits will know that there is a good chance that they will play some even if they aren't the starter.
I could even see us doing something along the lines of the Leak/Tebow tandem where we have 2 guys who play situationally. Our guys have enough respect for each other that it could work. That said, Fitz is the starter and it?s his team.

[Todd4State]

I could even see us doing something along the lines of the Leak/Tebow tandem where we have 2 guys who play situationally. Our guys have enough respect for each other that it could work. That said, Fitz is the starter and it?s his team.

ABSOLUTELY.

But I don't know if Moorhead will do the situational thing or not. He seems to prefer them both in the same formation based on what I've seen but we'll see. The thing about Leak and Tebow is they both had very different skill sets. Fitz and Key are more similar to each other. Both can run well.

[BHildreth3]

This is Fitz's team PERIOD. There is no discussion needed. However, I LOVE that #10 is getting a ton of experience. Same with Eiland. It will just make us better as a team.

[trob115]

I also saw Dantzler potentially take that next ?step?. He made several great plays today. I think he can be a shut down corner.

[Commercecomet24]

This is all true. He's also about to learn that we weren't totally successful just becasuse of him- but because of what WE are as a family. Today was lesson number one.

100% right! We are a family.

[msstate7]

I also saw Dantzler potentially take that next ?step?. He made several great plays today. I think he can be a shut down corner.

I feel much better about him heading into next season

[Commercecomet24]

I loved how Dantzler was playing the ball and not the man. He got his head around in time to knock at least 2 balls away today. So many dbs just play the man and never get their head around and get called for pi or give up big plays. Great technique

[Goldendawg]

My post #33 on Thoughts on Tomorrow's Game: "I say we win the game running the ball and on solid D". Proud of all the guys! Hail State!

[RougeDawg]

Great points.

May I piggyback on this after having just watched Penn State. They play both QB?s on the field at same time a good bit of the time. They even threw a pass to the backup today, almost getting him decapitated. We saw a little of this dual QB action this year in the Ark game I believe. Both Fitz and KT were in backfield on same play at least once or twice. I fully expect our offense to include some dual QB sets and completely f*ck with the defenses.

[Todd4State]

I loved how Dantzler was playing the ball and not the man. He got his head around in time to knock at least 2 balls away today. So many dbs just play the man and never get their head around and get called for pi or give up big plays. Great technique

If Peters and Dantzler are our starting corners I'm good with that. I've heard good things about Tyler Williams too.

[WSOPdawg]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

Well said.

[maroonmania]

- WTF was Dan Mullen thinking? Very rarely in any sport do you see coaches take a new job when they have a young player like Keytaon & the right culture. Still seems odd to me. In any event though, I do thank Dan for building a sustainable program & the right culture. No matter your personal feelings, he left us in a great spot.



Mullen didn't really care what we had coming back or about what he had built because his tremendous ego got significantly bruised in 2015 by Keenum after the job shopping he did at Miami, Maryland and Georgia that year which resulted in no extension and no raise from MSU. After that, he was going to leave at his next decent opportunity come hell or high water. Only reason he coached at MSU in 2017 was because his 5-7 record in 2016 left him with no real interest from anyone.

Mullen was a good coach for us who did some good things of which I am very appreciative. BUT, if Mullen was as good of a coach as Mullen thinks he is in his own mind we would have been winning 10 or 11 games a year every year he was here and actually winning or challenging for championships. I'm sure Mullen felt that anything we weren't accomplishing during his tenure was strictly due to shortcomings of our university and had nothing to do with faults or weaknesses that he or his staff might have. I'm going to be really interested to see the interaction between Mullen and Florida fans over the next few years.

[msbulldog]

What a hellacious win.

- With a normal coaching staff & an experienced QB, I think we are about 14-17 points better than Louisville. We have SEC DL & OL & they don't. It was that simple. We may have had better players at about 18-20 positions on the field. Considering the circumstances though, hell of a win. Other than going to #1, I'm not sure I've been prouder of the Mississippi State football program.

- WTF was Dan Mullen thinking? Very rarely in any sport do you see coaches take a new job when they have a young player like Keytaon & the right culture. Still seems odd to me. In any event though, I do thank Dan for building a sustainable program & the right culture. No matter your personal feelings, he left us in a great spot.

- Thank you to Greg Knox, Ron English, Looney, Elliott, Buckley, & the GAs. You guys could've half assed it but you didn't. You were professionals & did your job at a high level. Thank you & I hope MSU people don't forget this.

- Additionally, today's game tells an awful lot about the leadership in our athletic program & in the president's office. In a leadership vacuum, they were able to identify the right people to work through the process with flying colors. We kept our recruiting class & won a bowl game against a quality team. It literally could not have gone better.

- Joe Moorhead is taking over one hell of a football program with the RIGHT culture. Culture isn't tested when things are going well. It's tested in crisis. Although we lost the Egg Bowl due to unforeseen circumstances, from the moment Fitz went down, he showed leadership & others showed leadership. It is often said that the best programs & teams are those that can police themselves & do not need the coaches to do it for them. This bowl & the preparation for it shows that MSU football has the right locker room & culture to win a championship. In the equivalent of a power vacuum with the substitute teach running practice, meetings, game plan, etc, our players got it done. They were ready to play & held each other accountable. This cannot be understated or taken for granted. Our locker room polices itself.

- Keytaon Thompson, LOL. He is a complete & total bad ass on the football field. I completely now understand why we signed Whop & why he wanted to follow Key. He knew. I agree with C34, Fitz is a 5th year SR, with tons of experience, & will be the starter for the 2018 season, but we are good after he leaves. Key is a star. For comparison sake, he has it. He is more accurate than Fitz, has better, quicker feet, more burst, & throws a more catchable ball.

- In the 2nd half, every offensive player on the field will be here in 2018. Eiland is really good & took over for Rankin in the 2nd half.

- Really excited about Kylin Hill. I thought he looked even better today than he did in the season. Has burst and moves. My guess is that he & Aeris split things about 50/50 next year.

- Lastly, Moorhead is in an interesting spot. It is very rare that new head coaches take over a program that has so many things going right for it. Usually, coaches have to come in & rebuild everything in their own image. While I totally agree that Moorhead has to make this program his & put his imprint on it, I hope that respects, appreciates, & desires to keep the current identity. I'm really excited about what Moorhead can do to make the offense more explosive (No real big plays today for us) & the new WRs should offer him plenty of fire power to do so, but MSU is a physical, smash mouth program that needs to continue to play that way. Adjust some things, improve the explosiveness of the offense, but keep the same identity & culture as best he can. It's a tough task, but with so much right in our program, it would be dumb to revamp the thing.

- I absolutely love the off season momentum this gives us & we better 17ing sell out of season tickets for the 2018 season. Our defense should be lights out & we've got two deep of play makers all over the offense. We will finish 2017 in the top 20 & should begin 2018 in the top 12. Then in 2019 with Keytaon taking over & all those WRs plus Kylin, we'll be bad ass then as well.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ShotgunDawg again.

[Todd4State]

Mullen didn't really care what we had coming back or about what he had built because his tremendous ego got significantly bruised in 2015 by Keenum after the job shopping he did at Miami, Maryland and Georgia that year which resulted in no extension and no raise from MSU. After that, he was going to leave at his next decent opportunity come hell or high water. Only reason he coached at MSU in 2017 was because his 5-7 record in 2016 left him with no real interest from anyone.

Mullen was a good coach for us who did some good things of which I am very appreciative. BUT, if Mullen was as good of a coach as Mullen thinks he is in his own mind we would have been winning 10 or 11 games a year every year he was here and actually winning or challenging for championships. I'm sure Mullen felt that anything we weren't accomplishing during his tenure was strictly due to shortcomings of our university and had nothing to do with faults or weaknesses that he or his staff might have. I'm going to be really interested to see the interaction between Mullen and Florida fans over the next few years.

You nailed it. Dan was pretty fortunate that we didn't fire him after the 2015 season the way he was openly looking around and also based on how flat we looked in the Egg Bowl that year. A lot of schools would have.

We allowed him to stay, set some parameters for him to get an extension and followed through when Dan meet those in 2016. We allowed him to keep his friends as assistants despite their obvious faults, which again most schools would not have done that. We treated him very, very well and he didn't appreciate it. But I have a feeling in three years he will.

MSU deserves someone better than Dan. Not so much in terms of winning really- but at least in terms of wanting to be at MSU and appreciating what is there. MSU deserves someone that is going to give 100% in everything football related- game management, recruiting, fan relations, and etc.

[parabrave]

Key does give us the ability to rest Fitz some. He should be able to take a series or two against someone like UK or UM next year. If we are up by 2 TDs then give Key a series.

Or go back to the JWS 2 QB system/

[Todd4State]

Or go back to the JWS 2 QB system/

NOOOOOO!!!!

I can't tell you how many times it seemed like we killed momentum throwing Greg Plump out there in the third series of the game.

[BrunswickDawg]

NOOOOOO!!!!

I can't tell you how many times it seemed like we killed momentum throwing Greg Plump out there in the third series of the game.
I would hope he was referring to the Madkin/Wyatt combo.

[Todd4State]

I would hope he was referring to the Madkin/Wyatt combo.

Oh. LOL.

That one was actually pretty good. I wish Jackie would have just started Wyatt and just run two minute offense the entire game. It would have been a pre-cursor to the HUNH. That and play Dontae and Dicenzo over Chris Rainey. I never understood that either.

[Liverpooldawg]

What a hellacious win.

- With a normal coaching staff & an experienced QB, I think we are about 14-17 points better than Louisville. We have SEC DL & OL & they don't. It was that simple. We may have had better players at about 18-20 positions on the field. Considering the circumstances though, hell of a win. Other than going to #1, I'm not sure I've been prouder of the Mississippi State football program.

- WTF was Dan Mullen thinking? Very rarely in any sport do you see coaches take a new job when they have a young player like Keytaon & the right culture. Still seems odd to me. In any event though, I do thank Dan for building a sustainable program & the right culture. No matter your personal feelings, he left us in a great spot.

- Thank you to Greg Knox, Ron English, Looney, Elliott, Buckley, & the GAs. You guys could've half assed it but you didn't. You were professionals & did your job at a high level. Thank you & I hope MSU people don't forget this.

- Additionally, today's game tells an awful lot about the leadership in our athletic program & in the president's office. In a leadership vacuum, they were able to identify the right people to work through the process with flying colors. We kept our recruiting class & won a bowl game against a quality team. It literally could not have gone better.

- Joe Moorhead is taking over one hell of a football program with the RIGHT culture. Culture isn't tested when things are going well. It's tested in crisis. Although we lost the Egg Bowl due to unforeseen circumstances, from the moment Fitz went down, he showed leadership & others showed leadership. It is often said that the best programs & teams are those that can police themselves & do not need the coaches to do it for them. This bowl & the preparation for it shows that MSU football has the right locker room & culture to win a championship. In the equivalent of a power vacuum with the substitute teach running practice, meetings, game plan, etc, our players got it done. They were ready to play & held each other accountable. This cannot be understated or taken for granted. Our locker room polices itself.

- Keytaon Thompson, LOL. He is a complete & total bad ass on the football field. I completely now understand why we signed Whop & why he wanted to follow Key. He knew. I agree with C34, Fitz is a 5th year SR, with tons of experience, & will be the starter for the 2018 season, but we are good after he leaves. Key is a star. For comparison sake, he has it. He is more accurate than Fitz, has better, quicker feet, more burst, & throws a more catchable ball.

- In the 2nd half, every offensive player on the field will be here in 2018. Eiland is really good & took over for Rankin in the 2nd half.

- Really excited about Kylin Hill. I thought he looked even better today than he did in the season. Has burst and moves. My guess is that he & Aeris split things about 50/50 next year.

- Lastly, Moorhead is in an interesting spot. It is very rare that new head coaches take over a program that has so many things going right for it. Usually, coaches have to come in & rebuild everything in their own image. While I totally agree that Moorhead has to make this program his & put his imprint on it, I hope that respects, appreciates, & desires to keep the current identity. I'm really excited about what Moorhead can do to make the offense more explosive (No real big plays today for us) & the new WRs should offer him plenty of fire power to do so, but MSU is a physical, smash mouth program that needs to continue to play that way. Adjust some things, improve the explosiveness of the offense, but keep the same identity & culture as best he can. It's a tough task, but with so much right in our program, it would be dumb to revamp the thing.

- I absolutely love the off season momentum this gives us & we better 17ing sell out of season tickets for the 2018 season. Our defense should be lights out & we've got two deep of play makers all over the offense. We will finish 2017 in the top 20 & should begin 2018 in the top 12. Then in 2019 with Keytaon taking over & all those WRs plus Kylin, we'll be bad ass then as well.

YEP.

[Rejlector84sports]

I watched the Penn State game and was definitely impressed as how well the offense did. You could see that they knew well how coach JoMo would run the offense and didn't have to go far to run it under the new coordinator. I also think that is what we saw today in Jacksonville - the team was so schooled on how Mullen would have called the offense and how Grantham would have called the defense to play up to that level even with a smaller staff. I don't see any letdowns coming on either side of the ball next season, and with Cooke and Crestman we need not worry about kicking game. Yep, this ole timer is proud of my alma mater. Now let's after it in basketball and baseball too.....