HUD gets it done

[Dannyripms]

This guy is a winner and Scott would be insane not to get him after this year no matter what dan does. He took a Lafayette team that hasn't been to a bowl in 41 years (2 bowls total in history of school) to 2 straight bowls and a 9-3 record both times. Watching this game tonight seeing them only rush 3 and get constant pressure with them is just amazing. I'd love to see what he could do with our guys. I honestly believe he could have us competing with Alabama next year if he were to come to state. Dan's a dud, we want HUD!!!!!!

[bluelightstar]

And he's getting robbed by the replay officials already. He's definitely ready for the SEC

[smootness]

Dan's a dud, we want HUD!!!!!!

Only at Mississippi State.

[CadaverDawg]

I honestly believe he could have us competing with Alabama next year if he were to come to state. !

Haha, pull back on the reigns a bit

[Coach34]

Hud is 0-1 vs Freezus and the GusBus

[msstate7]

Hud is 0-1 vs Freezus and the GusBus

He's ready for saban now though. I like hud, but this is getting ridiculous

[State82]

This guy is a winner and Scott would be insane not to get him after this year no matter what dan does. He took a Lafayette team that hasn't been to a bowl in 41 years (2 bowls total in history of school) to 2 straight bowls and a 9-3 record both times. Watching this game tonight seeing them only rush 3 and get constant pressure with them is just amazing. I'd love to see what he could do with our guys. I honestly believe he could have us competing with Alabama next year if he were to come to state. Dan's a dud, we want HUD!!!!!!

I really like Hudspeth, but the only way we compete with Bama is if we fire Dan and Saban agrees to hop on over to Starkville for a couple of years just for a few yucks. Get real.

[woozman]

Mullen isn't going anywhere this year - put down the Ole Grandad...

[msstate7]

I really like hud. He's about to go 10-2 this season with a sun belt championship. Dan needs to finish strong this year if he wants to remain our coach. I think we get a bowl this season; but if we don't, hire hud

[preachermatt83]

Dan's a dud, We want Hud!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! hahahahahaha!!!

[Bothrops]

All this talk about Dan getting fired this year has been stated enough. I don't think Dan is going anywhere until he's ready, and that may happen sooner than people think. I like Hud's fire, but I'm not yet sold on him to the point that I think we immediately jump at him as soon as the job becomes available. I would hope that we conduct a broad search for a guy that not only possesses leadership qualities, but also runs a scheme of offense that would challenge the defenses in the SEC with MSU level talent. Maybe that's Hud, but I need to see more, because I don't think we're beating Malzahn with Hud.

[CadaverDawg]

All this talk about Dan getting fired this year has been stated enough. I don't think Dan is going anywhere until he's ready, and that may happen sooner than people think. I like Hud's fire, but I'm not yet sold on him to the point that I think we immediately jump at him as soon as the job becomes available. I would hope that we conduct a broad search for a guy that not only possesses leadership qualities, but also runs a scheme of offense that would challenge the defenses in the SEC with MSU level talent. Maybe that's Hud, but I need to see more, because I don't think we're beating Malzahn with Hud.

I respect your opinion, but to me that makes no sense. What more must you see? He is beating everyone he plays except for SEC teams. And why would you say he can't beat Malzahn? We should have beaten Malzahn with Dan this year, and Hud runs a similar style of offense with more creativity and has a good defense. Again, I respect it, but I don't get it. I just don't understand what more Hud could do to "sell you"...unless you're wanting him to do it with another team

[Todd4State]

I respect your opinion, but to me that makes no sense. What more must you see? He is beating everyone he plays except for SEC teams. And why would you say he can't beat Malzahn? We should have beaten Malzahn with Dan this year, and Hud runs a similar style of offense with more creativity and has a good defense. Again, I respect it, but I don't get it. I just don't understand what more Hud could do to "sell you"...unless you're wanting him to do it with another team

This reminds me of the baseball coaching search a little bit. Much like Cohen at the time, I have a hard time seeing anyone out there more qualified than Hudspeth other than the obvious unrealistic choices like Saban.

Some may say Chad Morris- but give me the guy with D-I head coaching experience over a OC any day.

[Todd4State]

I really like Hudspeth, but the only way we compete with Bama is if we fire Dan and Saban agrees to hop on over to Starkville for a couple of years just for a few yucks. Get real.

Jackie competed with Bama- and darn near and probably should have beat them in 92 and 94. And at that time, Bama was almost as good as they are now.

I don't ask that we win every game- although I certainly want to win every game. But what I do ask at the very least is that we compete hard and are respectable on the field every game against better opponents. I just haven't seen that the past couple of years. That always concerns me- and honestly it's why I don't think Dan will turn it around.

If we are respectable and are able to stay within reasonable range of winning a game- we're going to pull a few upsets and signature wins from time to time. Look at Ole Miss/LSU this past weekend. If we get out there and quit- it ain't gonna happen.

[BulldogBear]

This guy is a winner and Scott would be insane not to get him after this year no matter what dan does. He took a Lafayette team that hasn't been to a bowl in 41 years (2 bowls total in history of school) to 2 straight bowls and a 9-3 record both times. Watching this game tonight seeing them only rush 3 and get constant pressure with them is just amazing. I'd love to see what he could do with our guys. I honestly believe he could have us competing with Alabama next year if he were to come to state. Dan's a dud, we want HUD!!!!!!

Really? You can't be serious. So, if even if we won out except for Bama including a bowl win all while having probably the statistically best offense in school history, you would FIRE a coach with a 38-26 record, 4-1 vs. Ole Miss, 4 straight bowls for only time in history, etc. to hire a guy with 2 winning seasons at a directional Louisiana school?

Don't make statements like this. There is no credibility in them. I understand that a lot of you want to go with Hudspeth if we get rid of Dan, and would rather it be sooner rather than later. I actually agree with all but the sooner, but we have 6 games left to play and while 8-4 reg season record is not realistic given we are still reeling from what we saw in the trap game against BGSU, 7-5 is not unrealistic, and LIKELY if Dan gets his crap together. So that would change the statement above to (changes in italics):

So, if even if we won out except for Bama and TAMU or SC including a bowl win all while having probably the statistically best offense in school history, you would FIRE a coach with a 37-27 record, 4-1 vs. Ole Miss, 4 straight bowls for only time in history, etc. to hire a guy with 2 winning seasons at a directional Louisiana school?

[BulldogBear]

He's ready for saban now though. I like hud, but this is getting ridiculous

This^ ...I knew a bunch of folks would fawn over Hudspeth if the University of Little Louisiana won last night. We still have six games to play. When we lose to Kentucky and get hammered by Spurrier THEN we can talk all this hire Hud now before he gets away

[Dawgfan77]

Hud is 0-1 vs Freezus and the GusBus

At this point, so is Dan

[Op4isabitch]

Here's what I want honestly:

Dan to get the damn fire back in his belly. I want him to have the intensity that he had his first two years here at MSU.
I want him stalking the sidelines breathing fire and shitting napalm. He use to high five the kids constantly and chest bump them after a good play! It appears he's become soft and as a result the team seems as though its following that lead.

Give me the old Dan back and then I won't be interested in any other coach. However if we continue to see the meek Dan who chews his play card and tip toes along the sideline the rest of this season, then I will be ready for change at the top.

[Dawgfan77]

As much as you want this, sorry to say but it appears to me that in year 5 complacency has set in with Dan. I dont see the fire to win, and urgency. This attitude has trickled down to the players and its easy to see. To me this is the main culprit why we dont play with relentless effort, ie Bowling Green, last drive at Auburn, and the debacle that was the 4th quarter against LSU. The absolute best case scenario for all parties is for us to finish 6-6 Mullen leave for lateral type of job, and we go out and get Hudspeth. Sometimes change is the best thing to move forward

[TrapGame]

Here's what I want honestly:

Dan to get the damn fire back in his belly. I want him to have the intensity that he had his first two years here at MSU.
I want him stalking the sidelines breathing fire and shitting napalm. He use to high five the kids constantly and chest bump them after a good play! It appears he's become soft and as a result the team seems as though its following that lead.

Give me the old Dan back and then I won't be interested in any other coach. However if we continue to see the meek Dan who chews his play card and tip toes along the sideline the rest of this season, then I will be ready for change at the top.

This^

The relentless effort Mullen preaches starts with him. I want to see him start getting into players' faces like the first two years. His swagger and his fire have all but vanished. It's almost like he doesn't want to be here. And if that's the case he needs to go after the UCONN or U of New Hampshire job at the end of the season and let the university move on for the good of the football program.

[BulldogBear]

At this point, so is Dan
I had to laugh. Touche'

[CJDAWG85]

So many people in here have given up this year and want Dan gone. They act like we're 0-6 instead of 3-3. We have 3 winnable games left and the possibility of an upset in 1 or 2. I said possibility. But this fire Dan shit is garbage. If this is how y'all are acting now with the best coach in our program's history, then y'all will never be happy no matter who we bring in. Bottom line is Dan is going anywhere this year unless he decides to leave. So let's put the fire back in him and this team. Stop with the give up attitude.

[J-Dawg]

You are a fool.

[J-Dawg]

Bingo, I agree. I like HUD, I really do. I would love for him to be our coach someday.

But RIGHT NOW is not the time to count these chickens. We are not at the point for calling for a coaches firing. Let the season play out first, then let's see what happens.

I 100% agree with you "ya'll will never be happy" comment. It's sad, though, because as a fanbase we don't know how to act happy when it comes to football. This feels natural, so we roll with it, even when not necessariliy warranted.

[CJDAWG85]

You are a fool.

Me?

[Op4isabitch]

Look man, I don't want Dan gone! What I do want is for him to show that he wants to be here and actually gives a damn about the job that he gets paid $2.7 mil a year to perform. Right now he looks like he could give two hoots about being the head coach at MSU.

Show me you want the job and I'm 100% behind you. Keep preaching about intensity and relentless effort while you don't show it to me, then you've lost me as a supporter!

He has basically half a season left to show how much he wants to be the head coach here at MSU. If he doesn't start amping up his attitude and that of the team, then I can guarantee you he will start hearing a lot more folks calling for his head by. Bowl season!

[MadDawg]

If this goes down like you guys want, this is how it will actually play out:

We fire Mullen for only going 5-7 and not making a 4th straight bowl game.
We go after our "name" coach, the one we were willing to fire Dan for.
Hud turns us down for school "x".
We have a long, drawn out coaching search that destroys our upcoming recruiting class.
We hire the offensive line coach from Clemson as our head coach.
5 years later, rinse and repeat.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

Bingo, I agree. I like HUD, I really do. I would love for him to be our coach someday.

But RIGHT NOW is not the time to count these chickens. We are not at the point for calling for a coaches firing. Let the season play out first, then let's see what happens.

I 100% agree with you "ya'll will never be happy" comment. It's sad, though, because as a fanbase we don't know how to act happy when it comes to football. This feels natural, so we roll with it, even when not necessariliy warranted.

I am guessing everyone here was happy in 2010.

[CJDAWG85]

If this goes down like you guys want, this is how it will actually play out:

We fire Mullen for only going 5-7 and not making a 4th straight bowl game.
We go after our "name" coach, the one we were willing to fire Dan for.
Hud turns us down for school "x".
We have a long, drawn out coaching search that destroys our upcoming recruiting class.
We hire the offensive line coach from Clemson as our head coach.
5 years later, rinse and repeat.



Let's not David Cutcliffe ourselves like TSUN did...

[J-Dawg]

I am guessing everyone here was happy in 2010.

No doubt we were. However, the difference between now and 2010 isn't so huge that we should be screaming mid-season for our coaches firing.

[J-Dawg]

If this goes down like you guys want, this is how it will actually play out:

We fire Mullen for only going 5-7 and not making a 4th straight bowl game.
We go after our "name" coach, the one we were willing to fire Dan for.
Hud turns us down for school "x".
We have a long, drawn out coaching search that destroys our upcoming recruiting class.
We hire the offensive line coach from Clemson as our head coach.
5 years later, rinse and repeat.

Probably right. If the situation warrants is getting close to warranting a firing, I just hope we are nearly certain we can the one we want prior to setting the wheels in motion. Now if the situation is absolutely terrible, then we have no choice, and just have to get the best we can.

[J-Dawg]

Me?

The OP. Particularly for thinking we compete with Bama simply by hiring HUD.

That's more homerish than any Dan Mullen supporter is being in this situation.

[CJDAWG85]

Oh ok

[Big4Dawg]

If this goes down like you guys want, this is how it will actually play out:

We fire Mullen for only going 5-7 and not making a 4th straight bowl game.
We go after our "name" coach, the one we were willing to fire Dan for.
Hud turns us down for school "x".
We have a long, drawn out coaching search that destroys our upcoming recruiting class.
We hire the offensive line coach from Clemson as our head coach.
5 years later, rinse and repeat.

There is no way SS doesn't have a forward dated contract in his hand before we fire Mullen.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

No doubt we were. However, the difference between now and 2010 isn't so huge that we should be screaming mid-season for our coaches firing.

I will say that at the start of the season, 2010 was not looking good. Then we reeled off 6 straight wins and things started looking up.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

There is no way SS doesn't have a forward dated contract in his hand before we fire Mullen.

Yeah...they would not fire Mullen without being 100% sure that Hud was going to take the job.

[HancockCountyDog]

Guys, we are beating Arkansas and the bears. This is happening.

We are winning at least 6 games this year and we will be going to our 4th straight bowl. We will not fire a coach that has taken us to 4 straight bowl games while playing in the SEC West, so this is just all a little silly.

[CadaverDawg]

Guys, we are beating Arkansas and the bears. This is happening.

We are winning at least 6 games this year and we will be going to our 4th straight bowl. We will not fire a coach that has taken us to 4 straight bowl games while playing in the SEC West, so this is just all a little silly.

Is it as silly as acting like we are guaranteed to beat Arkansas and OM? Ha

[BulldogBear]

We played a crappy letdown game against a MAC school. Haven't played since. But Ole Miss has once and University of Louisiana-Little has twice and we want to fire our coach? Can't we just give ourselves a chance to bounce back first!? Like I said, lose to Kentucky AND get the smackdown put on us at South Carolina and then we'll talk about Hudspeth or whom the heckever. I LIKE HUDSPETH but also I LIKE MULLEN. We got 6 games left. When I change camps to the FIRE camp I'll be all in, but until Mullen actually... you know ...fails to answer this gauntlet thrown down, then I'm still behind him. Believe me if we lose out or go 4-8 and that 4th win is not the Egg bowl, I'll want him gone. If we go 5-7 without an Egg bowl win I'll be saying, "8 reg season wins 2014 including a signature win" or I want him gone. But we're not there yet. All this fire Mullen, hire Hudspeth today crap is very very very Ole Miss of us.

[BulldogBear]

The Bears are on their 3rd straight Head Coach who was/is tauted as the Messiah. I don't wanna see MSU go down that road. It's too reactionary. Kind of like USM dumping EJ after one year. Yeah, I'd have been P.O.'d and put MANY MANY conditions on continuing his employment. But they are gonna look at least a little silly if they hit 0-12 again and keep this guy. This is also similar to Eddie O. They got rid of a good coach for Eddie Christ and then HAD to dump him 3 years later b/c it didn't turn out to be all it was supposed to be cracked up to be. This is not a knock on Hudspeth...love the guy. I don't know him personally but I have an very close family member on his staff who has his trust and ear. All I'm saying is that even if he is a good candidate, we aren't to that point yet.

[smootness]

We played a crappy letdown game against a MAC school. Haven't played since. But Ole Miss has once and University of Louisiana-Little has twice and we want to fire our coach? Can't we just give ourselves a chance to bounce back first!? Like I said, lose to Kentucky AND get the smackdown put on us at South Carolina and then we'll talk about Hudspeth or whom the heckever. I LIKE HUDSPETH but also I LIKE MULLEN. We got 6 games left. When I change camps to the FIRE camp I'll be all in, but until Mullen actually... you know ...fails to answer this gauntlet thrown down, then I'm still behind him. Believe me if we lose out or go 4-8 and that 4th win is not the Egg bowl, I'll want him gone. If we go 5-7 without an Egg bowl win I'll be saying, "8 reg season wins 2014 including a signature win" or I want him gone. But we're not there yet. All this fire Mullen, hire Hudspeth today crap is very very very Ole Miss of us.

I agree with most of this post. I think a lot of this right now is based on emotion. The only thing State has done in the last 2 weeks is barely beat BG, and Ole Miss beat LSU since then; also ULL has won twice on national tv. If we beat Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas; Ole Miss loses to Missouri and Arkansas; and ULL loses to Arkansas St., everyone will chill.

What will lead to an awful offseason is if we finish 6-6 but win the Egg Bowl; Ole Miss finishes 7-5; and ULL finishes undefeated.

Because we definitely won't fire Mullen, but the fanbase will be completely divided.

[HancockCountyDog]

Is it as silly as acting like we are guaranteed to beat Arkansas and OM? Ha

I hear ya, and maybe Im a little too over confident on those two games, but we match up well against the bears, and Im pretty sure the hogs have quit.

Considering the number of injuries the bears have I don't see anyway we don't beat them at home.

[Johnson85]

Really? 7-5 is not unrealistic, and LIKELY if Dan gets his crap together.

The problem is it's unlikely we get our shit together if we didn't see fit to do it before the season started.

[smootness]

The Egg Bowl this year will tell a lot. If we come out flat again, at home, after what happened last year, then I'll start to really agree that Mullen has lost a handle and the team has lost its fire.

But I expect us to come out with our hair on fire and take it to them. If that happens, then it will officially be a war in MS; I agree with the rest of the fanbase that I want to see the fire in our team that they seemed to have in 2010. If I start to see some more of that, then I'll get even more behind Mullen.

[engie]

The reasons I want Hud now are mostly intangible. I've seen the writing on the wall with Dan.

We're going to finish in the low 30s in recruiting. Last in the SEC. The teams/programs we are ahead of right now(Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky) are going to put together much better classes than us. Ole Miss? LOL. They better get hammered -- because if they don't, their talent is going up to an entirely different tier from us.

We are on our way to 12th or worse "talent" in the conference -- with a coach that's no longer overachieving based on his talent and has apparently hit cruise control. Is our talent getting better still? Yes over the last 2 classes. This one is debatable. But it isn't getting better at the same rate as the rest of the conference -- MAINLY including our 2 consistent hurdles to bowl eligibility in Ole Miss and Kentucky. Our gimmes are about to stop being gimmes.

Dan has benefited from a new scheduling philosophy. Good for him. He's a .382 SEC coach. We are historically a .359 SEC team on the field. All this fuss is actually over 2.3% above our historical average?

[Op4isabitch]

To me it's not just about beating the Hogs and bears. It's about Mullen getting back to what he was doing when he first started building this program.

One major advantage I think Hudspeth has over Mullen is his ability to recruit the States we target heavily. Looking at Huds last two games on T.V his offense is very similar to what we see here at MSU under Mullen. The key difference is that Hud isn't playing scared or sitting on a small lead trying to run the clock.....he is playing to win and win by whatever number his team can put on the board. He doesn't try to change the tempo of the game when he is ahead, he just keeps his foot on the gas! Mullen should watch a few of Huds games and see how to run our offense!

[smootness]

You can't compare his SEC win % to ours historically without acknowledging that his tenure here has coincided with the golden age of SEC football, though.

There's no doubt that our schedule, year in and year out, has been tougher than ever before. We need to improve it, but you have to take that into consideration.

I do agree with you about recruiting, but as I've said before, it's hard to say that he's underachieving relative to our talent level because the primary guys we're relying on now are either upperclassmen from 2 bad classes or really young guys from the better classes. This class will be more like 2012-2013 than 2010-2011, on a per-player basis. I still think we need to give him a little more time to see what he can do when our upperclassmen are talented enough to really compete on a more level playing field with the rest of the conference.

[BulldogBear]

I hear ya, and maybe Im a little too over confident on those two games, but we match up well against the bears, and Im pretty sure the hogs have quit.

Considering the number of injuries the bears have I don't see anyway we don't beat them at home.

What scares me about the Arkansas game though is (1) our history in that state and (2) if you look at their schedule, I think we are the most winnable game left!! If they lose to us that probably means they lose 9 straight this season which is tough to do for anybody. They may get up for us. If we win that game I won't call it a signature win by ANY standards, but it'll still feel like a small accompishment.

[Dawgface]

At this point, so is Dan

WIth better players too.

As much as I like Hud, I doubt we get him. Dan will probably do just enough this year to hold on for another season. Hud will probably get a decent offer and be gone.

[engie]

You can't compare his SEC win % to ours historically without acknowledging that his tenure here has coincided with the golden age of SEC football, though.

There's no doubt that our schedule, year in and year out, has been tougher than ever before. We need to improve it, but you have to take that into consideration.

I do agree with you about recruiting, but as I've said before, it's hard to say that he's underachieving relative to our talent level because the primary guys we're relying on now are either upperclassmen from 2 bad classes or really young guys from the better classes. This class will be more like 2012-2013 than 2010-2011, on a per-player basis. I still think we need to give him a little more time to see what he can do when our upperclassmen are talented enough to really compete on a more level playing field with the rest of the conference.

You absolutely can compare it.

We had coaches for 60 years that played Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Ole Miss back-to-back in 4 straight weeks at the end of the season. While the conference as a whole may not have been as good then -- the way we attacked it and scheduled it absolutely made it a comparable challenge.

Whose fault is it that the 2010 and 2011 classes sucked? THAT was our window of opportunity to go for the jugular on OM -- and we laid a total goose egg because our cocky coach decided he didn't need to recruit elite talent. I'm not forgiving that -- especially now that Freeze is mopping the floor with us in recruiting.

[engie]

WIth better players too.

As much as I like Hud, I doubt we get him. Dan will probably do just enough this year to hold on for another season. Hud will probably get a decent offer and be gone.

Gone like Cohen was when Kentucky offered to build him a new stadium and offered him the biggest contract in the history of college baseball to stay?

[Big4Dawg]

What bothers me most is the right now, you can't look at OM's roster and say "they are better at that position" besides WR, yet, are beating teams like LSU and playing other teams close (A&M), while we are getting blown out by LSU and beating BG by 1.

[HancockCountyDog]

What bothers me most is the right now, you can't look at OM's roster and say "they are better at that position" besides WR, yet, are beating teams like LSU and playing other teams close (A&M), while we are getting blown out by LSU and beating BG by 1.

I agree with this. The bears beat LSU playing two true freshman at corner the majority of the game. They didn't have their top 3 DE's, best LB, top 2 corners, yet they played their ass off. That is what I want to see the rest of the season. Talent be damned. You can't tell me that the defense the bears trotted out on Saturday had anywhere near the talent of ours against LSU. ****, they had Nick ****ing Parker playing TE for them after their starting TE went down.

Im with Engie, we better not screw around here, because if Bucky can hang with A&M and beat LSU with the talent he did the past two weeks, god help us if he actually gets more talent on campus.

The bottom line though is that if we win 6 games, Dan is the head coach in 2014. If we win 5 and one is against the bears, he is still the head coach.

Only a blowout loss to the bears gets him fired, and that isn't going to happen.

[DawgInMemphis]

Gone like Cohen was when Kentucky offered to build him a new stadium and offered him the biggest contract in the history of college baseball to stay?

Cohen is an alum and MSU has a proud baseball tradition. Hudspeth is not an alum and we have a poor football tradition. Apples to oranges.

[engie]

Cohen is an alum and MSU has a proud baseball tradition. Hudspeth is not an alum and we have a poor football tradition. Apples to oranges.

A dream job is a dream job regardless. So, in reality, they are one-in-the-same. It's funny to me the extent that people ignore that while trying to "poor ole MSU" the football program.

Cohen is from Tuscaloosa -- Hudspeth was born and raised in Louisville, MS -- and his family still lives there. "Proud baseball tradition" doesn't mean jack shit when you inherit the mess on ALL levels that Cohen inherited. I challenge ANYONE to say that Hudspeth wouldn't walk directly into a much better situation with way higher probability of immediate success than Cohen did when he turned down the world @ UK to take a pay cut to be here.

Calling Hud "not an alum" is unfair as well. He was playing QB in college -- and MSU didn't offer him that opportunity. Apples to oranges, indeed.

[Dawgface]

Just curious. Are there any posters here that have actually had contact with him or his family that have indeed confirmed that MSU is his dream job?

[HoopsDawg]

This is mainly how I feel. I don't think we would pick up a huge coaching edge in Hud over Mullen, but the recruiting edge makes Hud an upgrade.

Having said that, we have to see how we finish. If we finish 5-7 it's going to be hard to fire Mullen unless we get blown out again in the Egg Bowl. If we finish 4-8, you have to consider making a change since Hud is out there.

If Hud wasn't out there, I don't think we would even be having these discussions b/c for the most part Mullen has done a decent job.






The reasons I want Hud now are mostly intangible. I've seen the writing on the wall with Dan.

We're going to finish in the low 30s in recruiting. Last in the SEC. The teams/programs we are ahead of right now(Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky) are going to put together much better classes than us. Ole Miss? LOL. They better get hammered -- because if they don't, their talent is going up to an entirely different tier from us.

We are on our way to 12th or worse "talent" in the conference -- with a coach that's no longer overachieving based on his talent and has apparently hit cruise control. Is our talent getting better still? Yes over the last 2 classes. This one is debatable. But it isn't getting better at the same rate as the rest of the conference -- MAINLY including our 2 consistent hurdles to bowl eligibility in Ole Miss and Kentucky. Our gimmes are about to stop being gimmes.

Dan has benefited from a new scheduling philosophy. Good for him. He's a .382 SEC coach. We are historically a .359 SEC team on the field. All this fuss is actually over 2.3% above our historical average?

[engie]

Just curious. Are there any posters here that have actually had contact with him or his family that have indeed confirmed that MSU is his dream job?

Yes. Has been that way for years. He and his family have told that to everyone that would listen since he was at North Alabama.

He's backed away from that approach in the most recent months -- which I view as a negotiating tactic. He's giving us the "fear of loss" now, which we've never really had before from him. I view it as -- he doesn't want to be our backup plan -- and the overt "this is his dream job and we can get him whenever we want" ideal would cause us to hesitate in actually making the move when the time was right -- and instead go with the "aw shucks, give Mullen another couple of years -- then we'll go grab Hud from Baylor" approach. Although I'd bet that we could do that, based on what I've heard for years, I would rather not have to find out...

[Dawgface]

Yes. Has been that way for years. He and his family have told that to everyone that would listen since he was at North Alabama.

He's backed away from that approach in the most recent months -- which I view as a negotiating tactic. He's giving us the "fear of loss" now, which we've never really had before from him. I view it as -- he doesn't want to be our backup plan -- and the overt "this is his dream job and we can get him whenever we want" ideal would cause us to hesitate in actually making the move when the time was right -- and instead go with the "aw shucks, give Mullen another couple of years -- then we'll go grab Hud from Baylor" approach. Although I'd bet that we could do that, based on what I've heard for years, I would rather not have to find out...

True, it might not be so easy then. If I had let it be known I wanted the MSU job but couldn't get it due to timing issues, I would certainly take another job and probably keep it if it was a good one. After all, the other school gave me the opportunity for the better job so I would appreciative enough to stay. But who knows how it would play out.

I can certainly believe he was interested greatly when he was at North AL. Who wouldn't want an SEC school over them? And also at ULL when there was some thought Mullen might be considering leaving 2-3 years ago. But now that Hud has built up his resume and is gaining attention from others, I just wonder if MSU is as high on the list for him. I hope so.

[fishwater99]

203

Hud is a pretty good coach, look at those above him...

Now where is Mullen?

[smootness]

Calling Hudspeth 'not an alum' is absolutely fair...because he isn't. Regardless of the reasons why he didn't go to State, he still isn't an alum. State may have been his favorite team growing up...but you see recruits pick a different school than their 'favorite' all the time because they get an offer from a better program.

The bottom line is, once you attend a school, the connection is deeper. Even if Hudspeth would have gone to State if he had the choice, he still never attended, so that connection didn't grow deeper. He may come to State and legimtiately not want to ever coach anywhere else. But offering the opinion that he might not have a deep enough connection to outweigh an offer from a school like Florida or Georgia is far from absurd.

The bottom line is, you can't compare Cohen to Hudspeth as though they are the same people in the same situation because they just aren't. You may believe Hudspeth would similarly value coaching at State, that's fine. But acting as though they are the same thing is crazy.

It's the same with comparing Mullen's SEC to that of previous coaches. I'm sorry, I don't care how the schedule was set up back then. Nobody before, in our history, had to face an SEC West with 4 teams in the top 10. Mullen did. You can't compare our SEC record in 2010 to, say, 1965, as though they're identical because they just aren't. It's a point for discussion, and you can argue that you think Mullen should be winning more. Again, that's fine. But it just isn't the exact same thing.

You mention us having to play tough conference games in consecutive weeks. I would challenge you to find me a year in which State had a tougher stretch than Alabama-Texas A&M-LSU last year.

[smootness]

Hudspeth is a good coach, I hope no one would doubt that. He's proven that.

But we have to have an honest discussion if we're going to have it. You expect Mullen to be on that list, or think Hudspeth's record being higher at ULL than Mullen's at Mississippi State proves Hudspeth is better?

Or, do you think Hudspeth would win 74% of his games at Mississippi State?

[engie]

Are you arguing 2 pages back for the sake of arguing again? With stuff that's already been adequately addressed, no less?