Take a minute to listen to this

[slickdawg]

press conference - Spurrier never blows smoke.

http://www.gamecocksonline.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/110213aaa.html

[ShotgunDawg]

Yea, this is what's frustrating, but also why I'm not ready to make a change. We show the ability to shut down good offenses and score on good defenses, but rarely do them at the same time and, if we do, we make critical errors that keep us from winning.

Mullen hasn't done a bad job, but I understand why some people want him gone. I just think the problems are fixable.

let me be clear about this though

1. Mullen has done a good enough job that a new MSU would be taking over a better situation than any new MSU coach has in the past half century.

2. The MSU coaching job would then be a less desirable job than it is now because coaches would see that going to bowls isn't good enough at one of the toughest coaching jobs in sports.

[DawgsBite34]

Yea, this is what's frustrating, but also why I'm not ready to make a change. We show the ability to shut down good offenses and score on good defenses, but rarely do them at the same time and, if we do, we make critical errors that keep us from winning.

Mullen hasn't done a bad job, but I understand why some people want him gone. I just think the problems are fixable.

let me be clear about this though

1. Mullen has done a good enough job that a new MSU would be taking over a better situation than any new MSU coach has in the past half century.

2. The MSU coaching job would then be a less desirable job than it is now because coaches would see that going to bowls isn't good enough at one of the toughest coaching jobs in sports.

Why is MSU one of the toughest jobs? I get so sick of hearing this.....
Spurrier goes to SC which was never any good and now look. Mark my words, if Hudspeth comes we will win next year and hopefully after that. What did yall expect Spurrier to do? He never comes out and says anything overly positive because he knows the second he pats his team on the back, like Mullen does at State every offseason saying '' Well we made a bowl game and blah blah blah'' Spurrier knows he cant afford to get complacent at SC because they like us, are not historically a juggernaut like Florida and Alabama. You cant get complacent at places like State, and SC or youll end up like Mullen is now. Losing the fan base and looking like your losing the players. All it takes is a coach to avoid that

[cheewgumm]

If coaches don't want to stup up to a $3M / yr salary and a chance to coach in the SEC then we probab ly shouldn't hire them.

And if it is SOOO difficult, then how are we also so CLOSE? Everyone says its impossible to win at State, but we are so close to winning 9 games. How can it be both?

Look. Things have changed. This is not your fathers or grandfathers Miss State. More specifically this is not your grandfathers SEC. Engie outlined this in another thread and I'm not going to butcher his work, but the money has changed things. Our fans have to realize it. You can't compare our potential to State's past. They are 2 different animals. The SEC tide has raised all boats, and we're one of the boats. We can do MUCH better and should expect to.



Yea, this is what's frustrating, but also why I'm not ready to make a change. We show the ability to shut down good offenses and score on good defenses, but rarely do them at the same time and, if we do, we make critical errors that keep us from winning.

Mullen hasn't done a bad job, but I understand why some people want him gone. I just think the problems are fixable.

let me be clear about this though

1. Mullen has done a good enough job that a new MSU would be taking over a better situation than any new MSU coach has in the past half century.

2. The MSU coaching job would then be a less desirable job than it is now because coaches would see that going to bowls isn't good enough at one of the toughest coaching jobs in sports.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

Why is MSU one of the toughest jobs? I get so sick of hearing this.....


Conversely, I don't understand how anyone can objectively look around and not realize that MSU is one of the tougher jobs in the country. Let's just make a list:

1. MSU is in the state of Mississippi - this fact alone is huge; even though those of us from here love MS, no one outside ever has anything good to say about the state; we have the worst public education system in the known universe which leads to issues with high school talent qualifying or having a good enough educational foundation to succeed even if they do qualify; MS high school football is still stuck in the 1980s which means the talent coming out of high school does not generally have the same football education as players from other states; there are 3 major universities to compete with in a tiny state; I could go on for ever on this one topic and it is the major factor here - HELL, the IHL won't let us sign a coach for more than 4 years at a time!!

2. MSU plays in the toughest division in college football at the moment (maybe in the history of college football) - this may work as an advantage in some regards, but we have to bring it every week whereas other schools do not.

3. MSU plays in the richest conference in the world - while our money situation is improving, every one else's is too, so even though we are improving nationally here, we are stagnant against all the universities that really count for us.

4. MSU does not have brand name recognition - do I need to expand? We have a less than stellar history to draw from.

5. Starkville, MS is a nice place to those of us who spent time at MSU but is a shithole to everyone else - seriously, I love the place but let's not pretend that its on par with 90% of our competitors.

I can type on this all day if needed, but the above points should hammer home the point appropriately.

[RiverCityDawg]

Why is MSU one of the toughest jobs? I get so sick of hearing this.....


One reason is because you have to play Alabama, Auburn, LSU and TA&M every year. Most coaches would say we will never be able to recruit equal or better talent with those teams, so you have to out coach them and/or get lucky to avoid 4 losses every year. Speaking of recruiting, everyone knows about our low budget and there is still a perception that our facilities are bottom tier. Also, being located in Starkville doesn't do us any favors.

I think there are arguments against a lot of these points, but perception is often reality.


Edited to add: NewTweeterEndzoneDance beat me to it. It's pretty obvious State IS a tough job.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

Look. Things have changed. This is not your fathers or grandfathers Miss State. More specifically this is not your grandfathers SEC. Engie outlined this in another thread and I'm not going to butcher his work, but the money has changed things. Our fans have to realize it. You can't compare our potential to State's past. They are 2 different animals. The SEC tide has raised all boats, and we're one of the boats. We can do MUCH better and should expect to.

The counter to this argument: if the SEC $ tide has raised all boats, including ours, then why should we suddenly jump ahead of programs within the SEC that have historically been ahead of ours? Because they are rising with the tide at the same rate or greater than we are, and they started out ahead of us. Let's say we are historically 10th out of 14th in the SEC (just a random ranking for the sake of argument), we get more money, so our expectations improve. However, Team #9 also gets more money, so their expectations improve as well. Why should we suddenly jump ahead of teams 8 and 9 just because we have more money?

Is your argument that since we have more money now than a lot of the rest of the country that the SEC should have 10-11 teams that ALL win 10 games every year? That's mathematically impossible. Or is your argument that our money is better than our competitors money somehow, so we should automatically jump them? Or are you just discounting the fact that the rest of the SEC has more money also?

Don't get me wrong, I want to be better as well. But all of these knee-jerk arguments I read on here in 123412421 separate threads per day conveniently ignore important factors and have a lot of holes in them. If the argument is simply that you want to see a team that fights harder than the one we have seen in the past 12 months and you think we need a new coach to get there, then that is one thing. But if your entire argument is based upon the manipulation of numbers and stats, and you think that we must demand more because we have more money now, well, then you are building your entire premise on a sandy foundation.

[DawgsBite34]

Its thoughts like that why State didn't have 3 straight bowl games for idk how long before this year. You can win here, you can recruit here, Croom did good recruiting and hell, Sherrill recruited well. Dan has done decent and product on the field shows, we have players to win. Maybe not an NC or even the SEC West but its better than 4-4

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

Its thoughts like that why State didn't have 3 straight bowl games for idk how long before this year. You can win here, you can recruit here, Croom did good recruiting and hell, Sherrill recruited well. Dan has done decent and product on the field shows, we have players to win. Maybe not an NC or even the SEC West but its better than 4-4

So, because I simply stated some actual facts, you just brush it off as "poor old Mississippi State attitude". Thanks for the un-insightful and bullshit response. I, in no way, shape or form, stated or implied that MSU cannot be a winning program. I think we can. But completely ignoring actual facts and issues isn't how we keep things moving in the right direction. We can change the future, but we ignore the past at our own peril.

[DawgsBite34]

So, because I simply stated some actual facts, you just brush it off as "poor old Mississippi State attitude". Thanks for the un-insightful and bullshit response. I, in no way, shape or form, stated or implied that MSU cannot be a winning program. I think we can. But completely ignoring actual facts and issues isn't how we keep things moving in the right direction. We can change the future, but we ignore the past at our own peril.
I agree with the West being a tough division and that our history isn't what Bama, LSU and all them are but its no reason that we should look at that and settle for 4-4 because of a bullshit coach

[Percho]

Back to the vid a moment. I bet Old Steve understands without those TO's they would have been a lot of trouble.