Good Interview with Moorhead by CL

[ShotgunDawg]

Just posted

- I love that Moorhead is willing to talk about players. He gives far more insight than Mullen.
- Love how he views Stephen Guidry. Mullen wouldn't have been caught dead saying that. Mullen would've dampened expectations.

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/mississippi-state/2018/08/02/mississippi-state-head-coach-joe-moorhead-training-camp-aeris-williams-kylin-hill-preseason-rankings/893090002/

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Great insight.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Really liked what he said about being emotionally stable, never getting too high or too low. I felt like Mullen's teams would get really really high then collapse after they won a big game. It's why people say "we play better as underdogs"; the second we aren't underdogs, the team thinks they're hot shit and slack off. Really glad to hear Moorhead will address this

[sleepy dawg]

Really liked what he said about being emotionally stable, never getting too high or too low. I felt like Mullen's teams would get really really high then collapse after they won a big game. It's why people say "we play better as underdogs"; the second we aren't underdogs, the team thinks they're hot shit and slack off. Really glad to hear Moorhead will address this

People say we play better as underdogs b/c they're afraid of failure. There's nothing to backup that we play better as underdogs.

[RocketDawg]

Really liked what he said about being emotionally stable, never getting too high or too low. I felt like Mullen's teams would get really really high then collapse after they won a big game. It's why people say "we play better as underdogs"; the second we aren't underdogs, the team thinks they're hot shit and slack off. Really glad to hear Moorhead will address this

That certainly seems to have been the case with our teams ... they scramble like crazy to get up the ladder, then when they get there, or part way there, they get the big head. Maybe that's just our expectations more than reality.

[War Machine Dawg]

Copy & paste it. Any MSU fan with sense refuses to give that steaming rag a click.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State begins fall practices Friday afternoon, and first-year head coach Joe Moorhead is busy preparing for his inaugural training camp with the Bulldogs.

Just minutes after the Bulldogs landed at No. 18 in the first Amway Coaches Poll of the year late Thursday morning, Moorhead caught up with the Clarion Ledger inside his office for a preseason Q&A.

Clarion Ledger (Tyler Horka): What’s one thing you’ve been anticipating seeing out of your team once camp starts?

Joe Moorhead: “The first thing I’m looking forward to seeing is the product of all the great work coach (Anthony) Piroli and his staff have done in the weight room. The guys have transformed their bodies and gotten bigger, faster, stronger, more explosive. I believe we’re in great shape.”

CL: What’s something you don’t yet know about your team?

JM: “Obviously there are some positional battles that are still occurring. That’ll be the biggest thing. One of the things we talk about as a staff coming out of fall camp is trying to have a solid two-deep (roster) across the board. Offensively, the thing I’m most excited to see outside of Nick (Fitzgerald’s) continued progression and rehabilitation is the receiver position and who steps up and separates themselves there.”

CL: If you had to pick one receiver that will be the go-to guy based on what you’ve seen so far, who would it be?

JM: “This is kind of a catch-22 here. I’m going to give you two guys, and this is based off two things: productivity in spring ball and potential. The guy who made the most plays throughout the course of 15 spring practices – which includes the (spring) game – was Austin Williams. But I think the guy with the most athletic ability and talent and upside is Stephen Guidry.”

CL: What’s your plan on splitting carries between Aeris Williams and Kylin Hill?

JM: “That’s something we’ll discuss heading into game week against Stephen F. Austin. Those guys are atop the depth chart. You’ve got a known commodity in Aeris who’s done a very nice job. He has a great body of work as a player in the SEC. You’ve got another guy who’s tremendously talented in Kylin. He’s had a great offseason. It’s a good problem to have. We’re going to utilize both of them, but the distribution of carries and stuff like that will really be contingent on their performance in camp and where we are heading into the first week.”


CL: One position group that doesn’t get much attention but maybe should is offensive line. How comfortable are you with where those guys stand heading into camp?

JM: “We’re big, we’re strong, we’re physical, we’re athletic. I think coach (Marcus) Johnson does a great job with them. There are three very talented interior guys in Darryl (Williams), Elgton (Jenkins) and Deion (Calhoun). We have great size and strength on the edges with Greg (Eiland) and Stewart (Reese). I don’t want to limit it to five because there’s a good group behind them who have an opportunity to compete for playing time or push for starting jobs. I think that’s the good thing with the depth chart being in pencil instead of pen. We have people in second-string roles who can compete to become starters. The ones always have to be on their toes.”

CL: What’s one thing that keeps you up at night that you hope to flush out in camp?

JM: “The one thing we added for our fall camp goals that was a little bit different than our spring goals was our collective response to adversity as a football team. And quite frankly, our reaction to prosperity, too. We don’t want to be an emotional roller coaster on the field. We don’t want our highs to be too high or our lows to be too low. We have to find that kind of middle ground. We have to show our emotions without being too emotional. I think that’s something that separates good teams from great teams – the ability to still have that competitiveness, still have that drive but not get caught up in the emotion of the game. I think that’s going to be critical for us.”

CL: Sticking with the theme of emotions, what do you want your team’s reaction to being ranked in the preseason Top 25 to be?

JM: “I don’t think you can ignore it. I don’t think that’s necessarily the right thing to do. Any time that someone’s keeping score and we’re competing, I want us to be first. But ultimately, whether we’re ranked 25th, 18th, 10th or first, that doesn’t have a bearing on our approach. Our team understands that we don’t compete against an opponent or a ranking. We compete against a standard. There is a tendency to look at that rank and want to have to live up to it. It’s great – I would rather be 18th than not ranked, but if we’re going to be any good, it shouldn’t affect our approach.”

[Todd4State]

Really liked what he said about being emotionally stable, never getting too high or too low. I felt like Mullen's teams would get really really high then collapse after they won a big game. It's why people say "we play better as underdogs"; the second we aren't underdogs, the team thinks they're hot shit and slack off. Really glad to hear Moorhead will address this

See 2014. I think a lot of that was on Mullen. I remember after got to number one we had some sloppy games against Kentucky and Arkansas and we seemed to play nervous against Alabama.

[tireddawg]

Really liked what he said about being emotionally stable, never getting too high or too low. I felt like Mullen's teams would get really really high then collapse after they won a big game. It's why people say "we play better as underdogs"; the second we aren't underdogs, the team thinks they're hot shit and slack off. Really glad to hear Moorhead will address this

Teams take on the personality of the coach

[BuckyIsAB****]

Really surprised he said that much. Maybe I had just gotten used to danny 2 gloves coach speak

[Pit Bull]

BAMA has that emotional thing down to a T. Even when they got down to us late last year, they just kept plugging away until a big play came about to win the game. They seem to do that often under adversity......see last years NC game too!

[Lord McBuckethead]

BAMA has that emotional thing down to a T. Even when they got down to us late last year, they just kept plugging away until a big play came about to win the game. They seem to do that often under adversity......see last years NC game too!

It's either that or Hurts seems like he doesn't understand numbers.

[msstatelp1]

I really like that JoMo seems to always refer to coaches and players by name. For coaches he says "Coach so and so" and for players it's a name not a number. Another thing is coaching to a standard. That's what Saban does.

[TrapGame]

Teams take on the personality of the coach

So, if the coach is wearing Khaki shorts ...*