A statistical comparison of MSU, Auburn, and Ole Miss since 2011

[DeviousDawg]

While working on another, far more extensive post, I ran across these stats when doing some research...

Since 2011-

Average recruiting ranking:

1. Auburn- #11
2. Ole Miss- #23
3. Miss State- #27


Total 5* signed:

1. Auburn- 11
2. Ole Miss- 9
3. Miss State- 3

Total 4* signed:

1. Auburn- 128
2. Ole Miss- 56
3. Miss State- 43

Total amount of NFL draft picks:

1. Auburn- 38
2. Miss State- 34
3. Ole Miss- 23

Overall win/loss record:

1. Auburn- (73-45) | 62% wins
2. Miss State- (70-47) | 60% wins
3. Ole Miss- (56-56) | 50% wins

If you add the 2010 Cam Newton national championship season to the win loss records (2010-2019), the numbers look like this.

Overall win/loss record(2010-2019):

1. Auburn- (87-45) | 66% wins
2. Miss State- (79-51) | 61% wins
3. Ole Miss- (60-64) | 48% wins

Bowl Game Appearances(since 2010):

1. MSU- 10
2. Auburn- 9
3. Ole Miss- 4


What do you take from this? Well you could interpret it a lot of ways, but personally this is what I see...

Around 2010 we entered a new era of college football. The Power 5 era. You could call it the CFP era but Power 5 fits better imo. This era was ushered in when the powers that be decided that the big 5 conferences would stand far above the rest of Division 1 football. Automatically, the teams in P5 conferences that were historically bad programs, got a shot in the arm because now they stand above all D1 programs that are not in the P5, which means better recruiting and more exposure. What really set it all in motion was the emergence of conference network channels, like the SEC Network, Big10 Network, PAC 12 Network and ACC Network. These ludicrous TV deals gave another, even stronger shot in the arm to P5 programs that were historically bad to mediocre. These deals are split evenly among conference members, which allowed the historically bad programs to get much closer and even compete with the athletic budgets of historical blue blood powers. At the same time, it pushed these historically bad programs, another several levels above all other non-P5 D1 football programs, creating a gap that G5 programs will never be able to close.

Mississippi State use these advantages of the new era to crawl out of the basement, and make a name for themselves in the college football landscape. They used the money and exposure of the new era of network deals to slowly, but steadily, become a top 25 program, something that 15 years ago would've seemed like nothing more than a dream.

Back to the idea, so what do the above numbers mean? They mean that in today's new era of College Football, Mississippi State's football program is much closer to Auburn than they are Ole Miss (in real results, like wins and draft picks). We have taken the next step, it was just so slow that we didn't realize it happening in real time. We have done it the right way and built something to last, and because of all this, we were able to hire one of the best football coaches in America, and are now starting to get the attention of P5 football prospects across the Southeast, and even country.

Mississippi State had 4 less draft picks and 3 less wins than Auburn in the last decade and new era of college football, that's 0.4 and 0.3 less draft picks and wins per season, respectively. This is with Auburn signing 139 4* and 5* players, and MSU only signing 46 4* and 5* players. That gap is so huge that it seems impossible that the results made from those players are essentially equal.

Mississippi State has had 11 more draft picks and 14 more wins (or 19 if looking back to 2010) than Ole Miss in the new era of CFB, that's 1.1 and 1.4(or 1.9 if looking back to 2010) more draft picks and wins per season, respectively.

The numbers don't lie folks. Right now, the present time, the time that matters, Mississippi State's Football program is head over heels better than Ole Miss's Football program, don't let them tell you otherwise. They had to cheat at a rate not seen since SMU's heyday, and that wasn't even enough to keep up with MSU's program.

But hey, Ole Miss had a higher average recruiting ranking over that period, and that's all that matters, right?? Who cares that Ole Miss actually finished with a losing record on the field in the last decade while MSU finished 28 games over .500?

MSU>>>Ole Miss

NUMBERS...DON'T...LIE...

[DeviousDawg]

In Summary:

In the last decade....
-MSU had 6 more bowl game appearances than Ole Miss
-MSU had 19 more wins than Ole Miss
-MSU had 11 more NFL draft picks than Ole Miss

-MSU had 1 more bowl game appearance than Auburn
-MSU had 3 less wins than Auburn(or 8 if looking at 2010 too)
-MSU had 4 less NFL draft picks than Auburn

We are closer as a program to Auburn than we are Ole Miss. There is no argument.

[viverlibre]

One word, *******. Had he stayed one more season and coached that 2018 team, what could have been...

He was the right coach at the right time.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Congrats Devious you just got Ole Miss on probation again in 3-5.

[Todd4State]

Great post again. One important thing that the rise of the P5 did for MSU is it separated us from USM. That was another team we used to compete with for players. That and playing them in 2014 and winning 49-0 (should have been 63-0 if our fullback didn't screw up on the goal line and Dak underthrew a ball that was picked in the end zone- and yes, that's nitpicky). Eliminating them as competition has really helped us. Think about Chris Jones- I believe USM had or was recruiting him and in the past they may have been a factor but they weren't in the end and it's because we're SEC.

I think that and to piggyback on one of your other posts- integration to me was really THE first start for us becoming what we are. When we got Frank Dowsing and I think his name was Robert Bell- we upset Ole Miss in 1970 and Dowsing had a big game that day. Ole Miss really has never been the same since Archie and Vaught left. Unless they cheated their ass off. I think Ole Miss made a major mistake not hiring Bob Tyler and MSU really capitalized on that. And while he may have been a bad AD- I won't argue with that since he got us on probation- he was a good football coach who own 9 games twice in his career on the field at MSU. That had not happened since the 1940's.

I think the difference in philosophy of program building between MSU and Ole Miss has been quite stark. We were willing to build knowing that hey, we may go 5-7 one year (2009) but in the long run consistently having a good culture has resulted in sustained success.

One thing that I think would surprise some fans is we do typically point to 1991 as a change in eras and rightfully so as the Egg Bowl moved back to campus from Jackson and Jackie became our coach but if you go back to 1987 we have a 17-16 lead in the Egg Bowl.

[parabrave]

While working on another, far more extensive post, I ran across these stats when doing some research...

Since 2011-

Average recruiting ranking:

1. Auburn- #11
2. Ole Miss- #23
3. Miss State- #27


Total 5* signed:

1. Auburn- 11
2. Ole Miss- 9
3. Miss State- 3

Total 4* signed:

1. Auburn- 128
2. Ole Miss- 56
3. Miss State- 43

Total amount of NFL draft picks:

1. Auburn- 38
2. Miss State- 34
3. Ole Miss- 23

Overall win/loss record:

1. Auburn- (73-45) | 62% wins
2. Miss State- (70-47) | 60% wins
3. Ole Miss- (56-56) | 50% wins

If you add the 2010 Cam Newton national championship season to the win loss records (2010-2019), the numbers look like this.

Overall win/loss record(2010-2019):

1. Auburn- (87-45) | 66% wins
2. Miss State- (79-51) | 61% wins
3. Ole Miss- (60-64) | 48% wins

Bowl Game Appearances(since 2010):

1. MSU- 10
2. Auburn- 9
3. Ole Miss- 4


What do you take from this? Well you could interpret it a lot of ways, but personally this is what I see...

Around 2010 we entered a new era of college football. The Power 5 era. You could call it the CFP era but Power 5 fits better imo. This era was ushered in when the powers that be decided that the big 5 conferences would stand far above the rest of Division 1 football. Automatically, the teams in P5 conferences that were historically bad programs, got a shot in the arm because now they stand above all D1 programs that are not in the P5, which means better recruiting and more exposure. What really set it all in motion was the emergence of conference network channels, like the SEC Network, Big10 Network, PAC 12 Network and ACC Network. These ludicrous TV deals gave another, even stronger shot in the arm to P5 programs that were historically bad to mediocre. These deals are split evenly among conference members, which allowed the historically bad programs to get much closer and even compete with the athletic budgets of historical blue blood powers. At the same time, it pushed these historically bad programs, another several levels above all other non-P5 D1 football programs, creating a gap that G5 programs will never be able to close.

Mississippi State use these advantages of the new era to crawl out of the basement, and make a name for themselves in the college football landscape. They used the money and exposure of the new era of network deals to slowly, but steadily, become a top 25 program, something that 15 years ago would've seemed like nothing more than a dream.

Back to the idea, so what do the above numbers mean? They mean that in today's new era of College Football, Mississippi State's football program is much closer to Auburn than they are Ole Miss (in real results, like wins and draft picks). We have taken the next step, it was just so slow that we didn't realize it happening in real time. We have done it the right way and built something to last, and because of all this, we were able to hire one of the best football coaches in America, and are now starting to get the attention of P5 football prospects across the Southeast, and even country.

Mississippi State had 4 less draft picks and 3 less wins than Auburn in the last decade and new era of college football, that's 0.4 and 0.3 less draft picks and wins per season, respectively. This is with Auburn signing 139 4* and 5* players, and MSU only signing 46 4* and 5* players. That gap is so huge that it seems impossible that the results made from those players are essentially equal.

Mississippi State has had 11 more draft picks and 14 more wins (or 19 if looking back to 2010) than Ole Miss in the new era of CFB, that's 1.1 and 1.4(or 1.9 if looking back to 2010) more draft picks and wins per season, respectively.

The numbers don't lie folks. Right now, the present time, the time that matters, Mississippi State's Football program is head over heels better than Ole Miss's Football program, don't let them tell you otherwise. They had to cheat at a rate not seen since SMU's heyday, and that wasn't even enough to keep up with MSU's program.

But hey, Ole Miss had a higher average recruiting ranking over that period, and that's all that matters, right?? Who cares that Ole Miss actually finished with a losing record on the field in the last decade while MSU finished 28 games over .500?

MSU>>>Ole Miss

NUMBERS...DON'T...LIE...

Your PHD in Sports analysis will be mailed to you. Dam good presentation.

[Jack Lambert]

One word, *******. Had he stayed one more season and coached that 2018 team, what could have been...

He was the right coach at the right time.

I feel pretty good that if Newton had come to State we would have been in the running for the BCS.

[parabrave]

Great post again. One important thing that the rise of the P5 did for MSU is it separated us from USM. That was another team we used to compete with for players. That and playing them in 2014 and winning 49-0 (should have been 63-0 if our fullback didn't screw up on the goal line and Dak underthrew a ball that was picked in the end zone- and yes, that's nitpicky). Eliminating them as competition has really helped us. Think about Chris Jones- I believe USM had or was recruiting him and in the past they may have been a factor but they weren't in the end and it's because we're SEC.

I think that and to piggyback on one of your other posts- integration to me was really THE first start for us becoming what we are. When we got Frank Dowsing and I think his name was Robert Bell- we upset Ole Miss in 1970 and Dowsing had a big game that day. Ole Miss really has never been the same since Archie and Vaught left. Unless they cheated their ass off. I think Ole Miss made a major mistake not hiring Bob Tyler and MSU really capitalized on that. And while he may have been a bad AD- I won't argue with that since he got us on probation- he was a good football coach who own 9 games twice in his career on the field at MSU. That had not happened since the 1940's.

I think the difference in philosophy of program building between MSU and Ole Miss has been quite stark. We were willing to build knowing that hey, we may go 5-7 one year (2009) but in the long run consistently having a good culture has resulted in sustained success.

One thing that I think would surprise some fans is we do typically point to 1991 as a change in eras and rightfully so as the Egg Bowl moved back to campus from Jackson and Jackie became our coach but if you go back to 1987 we have a 17-16 lead in the Egg Bowl.

USM has had 2 major setbacks to their program. 1. Firing Bowers destroyed all of the contacts and relationships that Bower had built over the years. USM had always recruited the HS stars that everybody else had overlooked, especially in Alabama and Florida. 2. The emergence of other smaller directional schools in Ala and FL was their death knell that they will not be able to overcome. But they did have someone drafted this year.

[ShotgunDawg]

While working on another, far more extensive post, I ran across these stats when doing some research...

Since 2011-

Average recruiting ranking:

1. Auburn- #11
2. Ole Miss- #23
3. Miss State- #27


Total 5* signed:

1. Auburn- 11
2. Ole Miss- 9
3. Miss State- 3

Total 4* signed:

1. Auburn- 128
2. Ole Miss- 56
3. Miss State- 43

Total amount of NFL draft picks:

1. Auburn- 38
2. Miss State- 34
3. Ole Miss- 23

Overall win/loss record:

1. Auburn- (73-45) | 62% wins
2. Miss State- (70-47) | 60% wins
3. Ole Miss- (56-56) | 50% wins

If you add the 2010 Cam Newton national championship season to the win loss records (2010-2019), the numbers look like this.

Overall win/loss record(2010-2019):

1. Auburn- (87-45) | 66% wins
2. Miss State- (79-51) | 61% wins
3. Ole Miss- (60-64) | 48% wins

Bowl Game Appearances(since 2010):

1. MSU- 10
2. Auburn- 9
3. Ole Miss- 4


What do you take from this? Well you could interpret it a lot of ways, but personally this is what I see...

Around 2010 we entered a new era of college football. The Power 5 era. You could call it the CFP era but Power 5 fits better imo. This era was ushered in when the powers that be decided that the big 5 conferences would stand far above the rest of Division 1 football. Automatically, the teams in P5 conferences that were historically bad programs, got a shot in the arm because now they stand above all D1 programs that are not in the P5, which means better recruiting and more exposure. What really set it all in motion was the emergence of conference network channels, like the SEC Network, Big10 Network, PAC 12 Network and ACC Network. These ludicrous TV deals gave another, even stronger shot in the arm to P5 programs that were historically bad to mediocre. These deals are split evenly among conference members, which allowed the historically bad programs to get much closer and even compete with the athletic budgets of historical blue blood powers. At the same time, it pushed these historically bad programs, another several levels above all other non-P5 D1 football programs, creating a gap that G5 programs will never be able to close.

Mississippi State use these advantages of the new era to crawl out of the basement, and make a name for themselves in the college football landscape. They used the money and exposure of the new era of network deals to slowly, but steadily, become a top 25 program, something that 15 years ago would've seemed like nothing more than a dream.

Back to the idea, so what do the above numbers mean? They mean that in today's new era of College Football, Mississippi State's football program is much closer to Auburn than they are Ole Miss (in real results, like wins and draft picks). We have taken the next step, it was just so slow that we didn't realize it happening in real time. We have done it the right way and built something to last, and because of all this, we were able to hire one of the best football coaches in America, and are now starting to get the attention of P5 football prospects across the Southeast, and even country.

Mississippi State had 4 less draft picks and 3 less wins than Auburn in the last decade and new era of college football, that's 0.4 and 0.3 less draft picks and wins per season, respectively. This is with Auburn signing 139 4* and 5* players, and MSU only signing 46 4* and 5* players. That gap is so huge that it seems impossible that the results made from those players are essentially equal.

Mississippi State has had 11 more draft picks and 14 more wins (or 19 if looking back to 2010) than Ole Miss in the new era of CFB, that's 1.1 and 1.4(or 1.9 if looking back to 2010) more draft picks and wins per season, respectively.

The numbers don't lie folks. Right now, the present time, the time that matters, Mississippi State's Football program is head over heels better than Ole Miss's Football program, don't let them tell you otherwise. They had to cheat at a rate not seen since SMU's heyday, and that wasn't even enough to keep up with MSU's program.

But hey, Ole Miss had a higher average recruiting ranking over that period, and that's all that matters, right?? Who cares that Ole Miss actually finished with a losing record on the field in the last decade while MSU finished 28 games over .500?

MSU>>>Ole Miss

NUMBERS...DON'T...LIE...

Dead nuts on.

How do we take the next step?

How do we really start to compete for top recruits? Like the recruits that actually give you chance to win big?

[StateDawg44]

I feel pretty good that if Newton had come to State we would have been in the running for the BCS.

This applies to pretty much any school.

Just sucks we were in the running to get him and then got outbid.

[ShotgunDawg]

What sucks is that we MSU grads on the radio in Mississippi that would never dare to repeat these numbers as they have vested business interests I'm always portraying MSU and OM as equals.

They aren't. The last decade has shown that there is a clear difference between the programs

[DeviousDawg]

USM has had 2 major setbacks to their program. 1. Firing Bowers destroyed all of the contacts and relationships that Bower had built over the years. USM had always recruited the HS stars that everybody else had overlooked, especially in Alabama and Florida. 2. The emergence of other smaller directional schools in Ala and FL was their death knell that they will not be able to overcome. But they did have someone drafted this year.

Here is USM's main problem:

Athletic Budgets in 2005:
MSU- $25,000,000
USM- $18,000,000

Athletic Budgets in 2019:
MSU- $106,000,000
USM- $25,000,000

[1bigdawg]

I think that and to piggyback on one of your other posts- integration to me was really THE first start for us becoming what we are. When we got Frank Dowsing and I think his name was Robert Bell- we upset Ole Miss in 1970 and Dowsing had a big game that day. Ole Miss really has never been the same since Archie and Vaught left. Unless they cheated their ass off. I think Ole Miss made a major mistake not hiring Bob Tyler and MSU really capitalized on that. And while he may have been a bad AD- I won't argue with that since he got us on probation- he was a good football coach who own 9 games twice in his career on the field at MSU. That had not happened since the 1940's.

Tyler did a great job as coach and was a great recruiter. We had two advantages recruiting at the time: Ole Miss's racial history and Tyler's "creative" recruiting. One of our biggest mistakes in my lifetime was making Tyler AD.

[gtowndawg]

One word, *******. Had he stayed one more season and coached that 2018 team, what could have been...

He was the right coach at the right time.

Dude, I just said that yesterday to some friends (what could have been in 2018). Same exact thing.

[AmiteDog]

Dude, I just said that yesterday to some friends (what could have been in 2018). Same exact thing.

Hunch was looking to leave for FOUR+ years. Just think what could have been if he had done his JOB completely during the last half of his tenure. Not giving a crap and job hunting every November and December held us back from what we really could have been.

[BrunswickDawg]

Here is USM's main problem:

Athletic Budgets in 2005:
MSU- $25,000,000
USM- $18,000,000

Athletic Budgets in 2019:
MSU- $106,000,000
USM- $25,000,000

It almost makes you feel bad for USM.

How about this - Ole Miss is a lot closer to being USM than they are MSU.
Since 2011:
Bowls: USM 5 OM 4
W/L: USM: 53-61; OM 56-56

Yes, USM is in CUSA. But, considering their lack of resources and the way they cratered after Fedora left, they aren't doing so bad.

[ShotgunDawg]

Hunch was looking to leave for FOUR+ years. Just think what could have been if he had done his JOB completely during the last half of his tenure. Not giving a crap and job hunting every November and December held us back from what we really could have been.

I interested to see what Mullen does if he can’t beat Georgia over the next few years?

I think he’ll eventually ditch Florida for Norte Dame or some other non SEC blue blood.

[ShotgunDawg]

Here is USM's main problem:

Athletic Budgets in 2005:
MSU- $25,000,000
USM- $18,000,000

Athletic Budgets in 2019:
MSU- $106,000,000
USM- $25,000,000

How do we take the next step?

What’s your vision for that?

[TrapGame]

One word, *******. Had he stayed one more season and coached that 2018 team, what could have been...

He was the right coach at the right time.

One more year with most talented MSU football team in twenty years. That's why I don't fully buy Mullen's excuse for leaving as "I've done all I can do. It's time to move on." If we made the playoffs in 2018 Mullen could have named his next head coaching job. He was ready to bail to Tennessee's dumpster fire over a monster he had built.

[ShotgunDawg]

One more year with most talented MSU football team in twenty years. That's why I don't fully buy Mullen's excuse for leaving as "I've done all I can do. It's time to move on." If we made the playoffs in 2018 Mullen could have named his next head coaching job. He was ready to bail to Tennessee's dumpster fire over a monster he had built.

I personally think Mullen was scared.

Something about that 2018 roster worried him & made him nervous that it wouldn't live up to expectations & thus cause people to be disgruntled & his career to regress.

The only other reason I can figure is that maybe there was something in his personal life that made him want/need to get out of Starkville. We'll never know

[DownwardDawg]

Hunch was looking to leave for FOUR+ years. Just think what could have been if he had done his JOB completely during the last half of his tenure. Not giving a crap and job hunting every November and December held us back from what we really could have been.

This is dead on.
I will say I think we compete for the West if he had stayed for the 2018 season, but we never achieved our potential with him as coach due to his job searching.

[TrapGame]

This is dead on.
I will say I think we compete for the West if he had stayed for the 2018 season, but we never achieved our potential with him as coach due to his job searching.

That's why the "I've done all I can do." excuse is bullshit. He mailed it in three Egg Bowls that would have had us either 9, 10 or that mythical 2014 run where we could have been 11-1. Dan's ego will be his undoing.

[R2Dawg]

I personally think Mullen was scared.

Something about that 2018 roster worried him & made him nervous that it wouldn't live up to expectations & thus cause people to be disgruntled & his career to regress.

The only other reason I can figure is that maybe there was something in his personal life that made him want/need to get out of Starkville. We'll never know

Only thing Dan was scared of in 2018 was being too successful. If he knew anything, he should have known that D was loaded - Grantham surely told him. Fitz wasn't hurt when he was making leave decisions.

His leaving was more about timing (UF opening up when it did). He wanted to leave and he was on the next best ticket he could find out of here. UT, UF, where ever. He knew if he stayed much longer he would get branded with MSU and he didn't want that. City boy wanted out of the country.

[DeviousDawg]

How do we take the next step?

What?s your vision for that?

First, you have to define the next step. For me, I think the next step would be averaging 8 regular season wins with an average recruiting ranking in the 18-22 range over the next 5 years, moving us up from a top 25 program to a top 20 program. OK, so how do we get there? I think the answer is a lot more simple than what you may have been looking for...

Keep the foot on the gas and stay between the lines. In other words, I think we are set up right now to take the next step, we just can't let up, and can't have any scandals and/or NCAA troubles. We did the hard work over the last 10 years, now all we have to do is continue to build on it. Here is why I think we are on track to take the next step over the next 5 years:

1. Recruiting has solidified. Gone are the days where we finish with a recruiting class in the 35-45 range every few years. We are starting to stack top 25 after top 25 class. The first half of last decade, and Mullen's first 5 classes(2010-2014), we finished with an average recruiting ranking of #33.5, the second half of the last decade(2015-2020) we used the success from the previous 5 years of bowl games and consistency to take the next step in recruiting, finishing with an average recruiting ranking of #24.5, and 9 spots better than we were over the 5 years before that. That's a big jump, and I think we will see another similar bump into the top 15-20 over the next 5 years, which may be our recruiting ceiling until we take the next step, which is competing for championships on a semi regular basis(every 3 years or so).

2. We have something to sell on both sides of the field. Dan Mullen's offense worked, but limited us from being able to recruit blue chip skill players. Sure, we would get some 4 star Running Backs every couple of years and sure we would get some bruising 4 star dual threat QB's just about every year, but that was the ceiling under Dan, the best we could do. No blue chip WR in their right mind would want to come play for Dan Mullen's MSU, wouldn't admit it back then but it's true. Over the last decade we have had ZERO wide receivers drafted, ZERO. We simply had nothing to sell to WR, and never would under Dan, and you have to have NFL WR's to take the next step and take down the giants. Look at 2014, we had a QB that could throw, and 2 WR's that could ball, easily the best, most balanced offense of Dan's career.

Back to the point, we have something to sell at every position on both sides of the field...
-Wide Receivers- come play in the SEC for a coach that has had a top 5 passing offense for 7 straight seasons, and a offense that has an 8 man rotation at WR. Come play early and often, and rack up stats against the best defense in the country.
-Quarterbacks- come play in the SEC and lead the nation in just about every passing stat in the country. Plus, Dak will continue to be a plus for us in recruiting for the next decade. Add to that that after next years draft, where Costello will go in the 1st-2nd round, we will have had 2 straight Grad TR QB's drafted.
-Running Backs- come play in the SEC for an offense where the passing game opens up huge holes in a consistent 5 man box. Come prepare yourself in the NFL by leading the nation in receiving yards for a RB while also learning how to pass block, this is what the NFL offenses are moving towards, plus fewer carries in a loaded box means fresher legs when you get to the league. The latest 2021 NFL draft rankings have Max Borghi (Washington State RB) as the #3 RB in the draft, all because he has had the opportunity to prove that he can do it all, run, catch, and block. Also, they have Kylin Hill ranked as the #9 RB in the 2021 draft, and I think a year under Leach where he shows that he is a complete back and can be a receiving threat out of the backfield, he will easily become a top 5 RB in the draft. That's something to sell, 2 of the top 5 RB's in next years draft.
-Offensive Line: The NFL is moving more and more towards becoming an Air Raid league. This means pass blocking is at a premium, not big bruising run blocking. Leach's offense will prepare you for the NFL. Also, we have had an O-lineman drafted in each of the last 4 NFL drafts, and one in the top 3 rounds in each of the last 3 years.
-Defense: Pretty self explanatory here, we have defensive superstars all over the league, and in every position. We have had 21 defensive players drafted in the last decade, Ole Miss has had 23 players drafted, TOTAL. We send defensive players to the league, this is widely known and recruits itself. Plus Mississippi generally produces way more defensive blue chips than offensive blue chips. We will continue to recruit well on defense, it's in our blood.

It's just a perfect fit, the one position that we simply could not recruit, Wide Receiver, will now have 4 stars lining up to join the team and 8 man rotation, especially after a year of Leach running his offense here with an NFL QB, we will start to see this pay dividends immediately. Then QB and OL, same story. Defensively, all we have to do is point to the NFL. We have something to sell at every position now and this is HUGE. This is where the jump in recruiting rankings will come from, we will sign at least 4-5 offensive 4/5 stars every year, while continuing to bring in another 3-5 defensive 4 stars every year. That puts us in the top 20.

3. We are JUCO U. All the best JUCO's are right here in Mississippi, year in and year out there are a handful of NFL players in the Mississippi JUCO system, and we will continue to bring in a large chunk of those because we have proven that we will put you in the NFL. We have had 6 JUCO players drafted in just the last 3 years, that is huge. We are set up to continue to take advantage of the JUCO system, and even more than ever now, JUCO WR's will be begging to come in and join our 8 man rotation and catch 50+ balls, we could get the #1 JUCO WR in the country just about every year.

4. The new transfer rule is going to really help us, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 4 and 5 star WR's across the country that are sitting behind older guys for their first year or two, will become restless and decide to transfer since they don't have to sit a year. This will happen, A LOT, and who do you think will be the #1 school these blue chips WR's will want to transfer to? Mississippi State and Mike Leach where they are all but guaranteed to get 40+ receptions in their first year. I do not think people understand how huge this will be. 2 years from now, we will have built a receiving corp that has more blue chips than we have signed in the past 20 years combined.

5. We are starting to recruit nationally, and this trend will continue. For the most part, we will use Mississippi as our defensive recruiting stronghold, Mississippi has all the talent we need on that side of the ball to take the next step. Offensively, MS just doesn't produce the kind of talent that we need, but that's OK, we have a head coach that has name recognition from Samoa to Hawaii, from Seattle to Miami, from Southern California to Atlanta, and from West Texas to East Texas. Southern California and East Texas make up over 50% of all of Leach's signees through his 18 years of recruiting classes. 240 of the 418 guys he has signed were from Southern California or East Texas, which happen to be 2 of the top 3 recruiting hot beds in the country. He has connections that run deep, and we will sign big time guys from both Southern California and East Texas year in and year out. The third national recruiting hotbed? South Florida, where Leach resides for half of the year, and has made many connections.


Everything is set up for us to take the next step. We are in a perfect position, the best position MSU has ever been in, right this moment. We have a head coach that took 2 cellar dwellers, the 2 most remote P5 schools, and went to 16 bowl games in 18 years. Listen to this, and this is all coming in depth in a later post, but over the last 5 recruiting cycles(2016-2020), Washington State only had 1 top 300 player within 250 miles of their campus, ONE. Texas Tech only had 5 top 300 players within 250 miles of their campus, FIVE. Mississippi State has had 175 top 300 players within 250 miles of campus, ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

https://imgur.com/8mgp7zQ
3192

Guess which 2 schools have the smallest population density within 250 miles of campus? Washington State and Texas Tech, and it's not close. Leach has done everything with literally the 2 worst P5 programs to Coach in the country. He has to go into someone else's backyard, 500+ miles away, and convince them to move out to the middle of freaking nowhere, to play in the PAC12 or Big12. Yet he went to 16 bowls in 18 seasons. What is he gonna do at a place that has blue chips growing on trees, in all directions, and the opportunity to play in the SEC and close enough to home for Momma to come to the games? We are set up, the foundation is laid, now we literally have the perfect coach for us step in, and turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Long story short, keep on keepin on. We are on the tracks and rolling, only thing that can stop us is a derailment. Things are about get really fun.

[ShotgunDawg]

Only thing Dan was scared of in 2018 was being too successful. If he knew anything, he should have known that D was loaded - Grantham surely told him. Fitz wasn't hurt when he was making leave decisions.

His leaving was more about timing (UF opening up when it did). He wanted to leave and he was on the next best ticket he could find out of here. UT, UF, where ever. He knew if he stayed much longer he would get branded with MSU and he didn't want that. City boy wanted out of the country.

He was going to Tennessee before Florida opened. He wanted out for some reason

[ShotgunDawg]

First, you have to define the next step. For me, I think the next step would be averaging 8 regular season wins with an average recruiting ranking in the 18-22 range over the next 5 years, moving us up from a top 25 program to a top 20 program. OK, so how do we get there? I think the answer is a lot more simple than what you may have been looking for...

Keep the foot on the gas and stay between the lines. In other words, I think we are set up right now to take the next step, we just can't let up, and can't have any scandals and/or NCAA troubles. We did the hard work over the last 10 years, now all we have to do is continue to build on it. Here is why I think we are on track to take the next step over the next 5 years:

1. Recruiting has solidified. Gone are the days where we finish with a recruiting class in the 35-45 range every few years. We are starting to stack top 25 after top 25 class. The first half of last decade, and Mullen's first 5 classes(2010-2014), we finished with an average recruiting ranking of #33.5, the second half of the last decade(2015-2020) we used the success from the previous 5 years of bowl games and consistency to take the next step in recruiting, finishing with an average recruiting ranking of #24.5, and 9 spots better than we were over the 5 years before that. That's a big jump, and I think we will see another similar bump into the top 15-20 over the next 5 years, which may be our recruiting ceiling until we take the next step, which is competing for championships on a semi regular basis(every 3 years or so).

2. We have something to sell on both sides of the field. Dan Mullen's offense worked, but limited us from being able to recruit blue chip skill players. Sure, we would get some 4 star Running Backs every couple of years and sure we would get some bruising 4 star dual threat QB's just about every year, but that was the ceiling under Dan, the best we could do. No blue chip WR in their right mind would want to come play for Dan Mullen's MSU, wouldn't admit it back then but it's true. Over the last decade we have had ZERO wide receivers drafted, ZERO. We simply had nothing to sell to WR, and never would under Dan, and you have to have NFL WR's to take the next step and take down the giants. Look at 2014, we had a QB that could throw, and 2 WR's that could ball, easily the best, most balanced offense of Dan's career.

Back to the point, we have something to sell at every position on both sides of the field...
-Wide Receivers- come play in the SEC for a coach that has had a top 5 passing offense for 7 straight seasons, and a offense that has an 8 man rotation at WR. Come play early and often, and rack up stats against the best defense in the country.
-Quarterbacks- come play in the SEC and lead the nation in just about every passing stat in the country. Plus, Dak will continue to be a plus for us in recruiting for the next decade. Add to that that after next years draft, where Costello will go in the 1st-2nd round, we will have had 2 straight Grad TR QB's drafted.
-Running Backs- come play in the SEC for an offense where the passing game opens up huge holes in a consistent 5 man box. Come prepare yourself in the NFL by leading the nation in receiving yards for a RB while also learning how to pass block, this is what the NFL offenses are moving towards, plus fewer carries in a loaded box means fresher legs when you get to the league. The latest 2021 NFL draft rankings have Max Borghi (Washington State RB) as the #3 RB in the draft, all because he has had the opportunity to prove that he can do it all, run, catch, and block. Also, they have Kylin Hill ranked as the #9 RB in the 2021 draft, and I think a year under Leach where he shows that he is a complete back and can be a receiving threat out of the backfield, he will easily become a top 5 RB in the draft. That's something to sell, 2 of the top 5 RB's in next years draft.
-Offensive Line: The NFL is moving more and more towards becoming an Air Raid league. This means pass blocking is at a premium, not big bruising run blocking. Leach's offense will prepare you for the NFL. Also, we have had an O-lineman drafted in each of the last 4 NFL drafts, and one in the top 3 rounds in each of the last 3 years.
-Defense: Pretty self explanatory here, we have defensive superstars all over the league, and in every position. We have had 21 defensive players drafted in the last decade, Ole Miss has had 23 players drafted, TOTAL. We send defensive players to the league, this is widely known and recruits itself. Plus Mississippi generally produces way more defensive blue chips than offensive blue chips. We will continue to recruit well on defense, it's in our blood.

It's just a perfect fit, the one position that we simply could not recruit, Wide Receiver, will now have 4 stars lining up to join the team and 8 man rotation, especially after a year of Leach running his offense here with an NFL QB, we will start to see this pay dividends immediately. Then QB and OL, same story. Defensively, all we have to do is point to the NFL. We have something to sell at every position now and this is HUGE. This is where the jump in recruiting rankings will come from, we will sign at least 4-5 offensive 4/5 stars every year, while continuing to bring in another 3-5 defensive 4 stars every year. That puts us in the top 20.

3. We are JUCO U. All the best JUCO's are right here in Mississippi, year in and year out there are a handful of NFL players in the Mississippi JUCO system, and we will continue to bring in a large chunk of those because we have proven that we will put you in the NFL. We have had 6 JUCO players drafted in just the last 3 years, that is huge. We are set up to continue to take advantage of the JUCO system, and even more than ever now, JUCO WR's will be begging to come in and join our 8 man rotation and catch 50+ balls, we could get the #1 JUCO WR in the country just about every year.

4. The new transfer rule is going to really help us, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 4 and 5 star WR's across the country that are sitting behind older guys for their first year or two, will become restless and decide to transfer since they don't have to sit a year. This will happen, A LOT, and who do you think will be the #1 school these blue chips WR's will want to transfer to? Mississippi State and Mike Leach where they are all but guaranteed to get 40+ receptions in their first year. I do not think people understand how huge this will be. 2 years from now, we will have built a receiving corp that has more blue chips than we have signed in the past 20 years combined.

5. We are starting to recruit nationally, and this trend will continue. For the most part, we will use Mississippi as our defensive recruiting stronghold, Mississippi has all the talent we need on that side of the ball to take the next step. Offensively, MS just doesn't produce the kind of talent that we need, but that's OK, we have a head coach that has name recognition from Samoa to Hawaii, from Seattle to Miami, from Southern California to Atlanta, and from West Texas to East Texas. Southern California and East Texas make up over 50% of all of Leach's signees through his 18 years of recruiting classes. 240 of the 418 guys he has signed were from Southern California or East Texas, which happen to be 2 of the top 3 recruiting hot beds in the country. He has connections that run deep, and we will sign big time guys from both Southern California and East Texas year in and year out. The third national recruiting hotbed? South Florida, where Leach resides for half of the year, and has made many connections.


Everything is set up for us to take the next step. We are in a perfect position, the best position MSU has ever been in, right this moment. We have a head coach that took 2 cellar dwellers, the 2 most remote P5 schools, and went to 16 bowl games in 18 years. Listen to this, and this is all coming in depth in a later post, but over the last 5 recruiting cycles(2016-2020), Washington State only had 1 top 300 player within 250 miles of their campus, ONE. Texas Tech only had 5 top 300 players within 250 miles of their campus, FIVE. Mississippi State has had 175 top 300 players within 250 miles of campus, ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

https://imgur.com/8mgp7zQ
3192

Guess which 2 schools have the smallest population density within 250 miles of campus? Washington State and Texas Tech, and it's not close. Leach has done everything with literally the 2 worst P5 programs to Coach in the country. He has to go into someone else's backyard, 500+ miles away, and convince them to move out to the middle of freaking nowhere, to play in the PAC12 or Big12. Yet he went to 16 bowls in 18 seasons. What is he gonna do at a place that has blue chips growing on trees, in all directions, and the opportunity to play in the SEC and close enough to home for Momma to come to the games? We are set up, the foundation is laid, now we literally have the perfect coach for us step in, and turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Long story short, keep on keepin on. We are on the tracks and rolling, only thing that can stop us is a derailment. Things are about get really fun.

Elite post. Outstanding

You're point on the amount of top 300 prospects within 250 miles is striking. I think that's the reason Leach took the job & he's out to prove something

[MedDawg]

First, you have to define the next step. For me, I think the next step would be averaging 8 regular season wins with an average recruiting ranking in the 18-22 range over the next 5 years, moving us up from a top 25 program to a top 20 program. OK, so how do we get there? I think the answer is a lot more simple than what you may have been looking for...


Everything is set up for us to take the next step. We are in a perfect position, the best position MSU has ever been in, right this moment. We have a head coach that took 2 cellar dwellers, the 2 most remote P5 schools, and went to 16 bowl games in 18 years. Listen to this, and this is all coming in depth in a later post, but over the last 5 recruiting cycles(2016-2020), Washington State only had 1 top 300 player within 250 miles of their campus, ONE. Texas Tech only had 5 top 300 players within 250 miles of their campus, FIVE. Mississippi State has had 175 top 300 players within 250 miles of campus, ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

https://imgur.com/8mgp7zQ
3192

Guess which 2 schools have the smallest population density within 250 miles of campus? Washington State and Texas Tech, and it's not close. Leach has done everything with literally the 2 worst P5 programs to Coach in the country. He has to go into someone else's backyard, 500+ miles away, and convince them to move out to the middle of freaking nowhere, to play in the PAC12 or Big12. Yet he went to 16 bowls in 18 seasons. What is he gonna do at a place that has blue chips growing on trees, in all directions, and the opportunity to play in the SEC and close enough to home for Momma to come to the games? We are set up, the foundation is laid, now we literally have the perfect coach for us step in, and turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Long story short, keep on keepin on. We are on the tracks and rolling, only thing that can stop us is a derailment. Things are about get really fun.

Excellent post. Correct about defense being 'our thing'. Has been since Sherrill started. Leach had one defensive four-star his entire time at Washington State. MSU will have 9 four-stars on defense just next season.

[BrunswickDawg]

First, you have to define the next step. For me, I think the next step would be averaging 8 regular season wins with an average recruiting ranking in the 18-22 range over the next 5 years, moving us up from a top 25 program to a top 20 program. OK, so how do we get there? I think the answer is a lot more simple than what you may have been looking for...

Keep the foot on the gas and stay between the lines. In other words, I think we are set up right now to take the next step, we just can't let up, and can't have any scandals and/or NCAA troubles. We did the hard work over the last 10 years, now all we have to do is continue to build on it. Here is why I think we are on track to take the next step over the next 5 years:

1. Recruiting has solidified. Gone are the days where we finish with a recruiting class in the 35-45 range every few years. We are starting to stack top 25 after top 25 class. The first half of last decade, and Mullen's first 5 classes(2010-2014), we finished with an average recruiting ranking of #33.5, the second half of the last decade(2015-2020) we used the success from the previous 5 years of bowl games and consistency to take the next step in recruiting, finishing with an average recruiting ranking of #24.5, and 9 spots better than we were over the 5 years before that. That's a big jump, and I think we will see another similar bump into the top 15-20 over the next 5 years, which may be our recruiting ceiling until we take the next step, which is competing for championships on a semi regular basis(every 3 years or so).

2. We have something to sell on both sides of the field. Dan Mullen's offense worked, but limited us from being able to recruit blue chip skill players. Sure, we would get some 4 star Running Backs every couple of years and sure we would get some bruising 4 star dual threat QB's just about every year, but that was the ceiling under Dan, the best we could do. No blue chip WR in their right mind would want to come play for Dan Mullen's MSU, wouldn't admit it back then but it's true. Over the last decade we have had ZERO wide receivers drafted, ZERO. We simply had nothing to sell to WR, and never would under Dan, and you have to have NFL WR's to take the next step and take down the giants. Look at 2014, we had a QB that could throw, and 2 WR's that could ball, easily the best, most balanced offense of Dan's career.

Back to the point, we have something to sell at every position on both sides of the field...
-Wide Receivers- come play in the SEC for a coach that has had a top 5 passing offense for 7 straight seasons, and a offense that has an 8 man rotation at WR. Come play early and often, and rack up stats against the best defense in the country.
-Quarterbacks- come play in the SEC and lead the nation in just about every passing stat in the country. Plus, Dak will continue to be a plus for us in recruiting for the next decade. Add to that that after next years draft, where Costello will go in the 1st-2nd round, we will have had 2 straight Grad TR QB's drafted.
-Running Backs- come play in the SEC for an offense where the passing game opens up huge holes in a consistent 5 man box. Come prepare yourself in the NFL by leading the nation in receiving yards for a RB while also learning how to pass block, this is what the NFL offenses are moving towards, plus fewer carries in a loaded box means fresher legs when you get to the league. The latest 2021 NFL draft rankings have Max Borghi (Washington State RB) as the #3 RB in the draft, all because he has had the opportunity to prove that he can do it all, run, catch, and block. Also, they have Kylin Hill ranked as the #9 RB in the 2021 draft, and I think a year under Leach where he shows that he is a complete back and can be a receiving threat out of the backfield, he will easily become a top 5 RB in the draft. That's something to sell, 2 of the top 5 RB's in next years draft.
-Offensive Line: The NFL is moving more and more towards becoming an Air Raid league. This means pass blocking is at a premium, not big bruising run blocking. Leach's offense will prepare you for the NFL. Also, we have had an O-lineman drafted in each of the last 4 NFL drafts, and one in the top 3 rounds in each of the last 3 years.
-Defense: Pretty self explanatory here, we have defensive superstars all over the league, and in every position. We have had 21 defensive players drafted in the last decade, Ole Miss has had 23 players drafted, TOTAL. We send defensive players to the league, this is widely known and recruits itself. Plus Mississippi generally produces way more defensive blue chips than offensive blue chips. We will continue to recruit well on defense, it's in our blood.

It's just a perfect fit, the one position that we simply could not recruit, Wide Receiver, will now have 4 stars lining up to join the team and 8 man rotation, especially after a year of Leach running his offense here with an NFL QB, we will start to see this pay dividends immediately. Then QB and OL, same story. Defensively, all we have to do is point to the NFL. We have something to sell at every position now and this is HUGE. This is where the jump in recruiting rankings will come from, we will sign at least 4-5 offensive 4/5 stars every year, while continuing to bring in another 3-5 defensive 4 stars every year. That puts us in the top 20.

3. We are JUCO U. All the best JUCO's are right here in Mississippi, year in and year out there are a handful of NFL players in the Mississippi JUCO system, and we will continue to bring in a large chunk of those because we have proven that we will put you in the NFL. We have had 6 JUCO players drafted in just the last 3 years, that is huge. We are set up to continue to take advantage of the JUCO system, and even more than ever now, JUCO WR's will be begging to come in and join our 8 man rotation and catch 50+ balls, we could get the #1 JUCO WR in the country just about every year.

4. The new transfer rule is going to really help us, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 4 and 5 star WR's across the country that are sitting behind older guys for their first year or two, will become restless and decide to transfer since they don't have to sit a year. This will happen, A LOT, and who do you think will be the #1 school these blue chips WR's will want to transfer to? Mississippi State and Mike Leach where they are all but guaranteed to get 40+ receptions in their first year. I do not think people understand how huge this will be. 2 years from now, we will have built a receiving corp that has more blue chips than we have signed in the past 20 years combined.

5. We are starting to recruit nationally, and this trend will continue. For the most part, we will use Mississippi as our defensive recruiting stronghold, Mississippi has all the talent we need on that side of the ball to take the next step. Offensively, MS just doesn't produce the kind of talent that we need, but that's OK, we have a head coach that has name recognition from Samoa to Hawaii, from Seattle to Miami, from Southern California to Atlanta, and from West Texas to East Texas. Southern California and East Texas make up over 50% of all of Leach's signees through his 18 years of recruiting classes. 240 of the 418 guys he has signed were from Southern California or East Texas, which happen to be 2 of the top 3 recruiting hot beds in the country. He has connections that run deep, and we will sign big time guys from both Southern California and East Texas year in and year out. The third national recruiting hotbed? South Florida, where Leach resides for half of the year, and has made many connections.


Everything is set up for us to take the next step. We are in a perfect position, the best position MSU has ever been in, right this moment. We have a head coach that took 2 cellar dwellers, the 2 most remote P5 schools, and went to 16 bowl games in 18 years. Listen to this, and this is all coming in depth in a later post, but over the last 5 recruiting cycles(2016-2020), Washington State only had 1 top 300 player within 250 miles of their campus, ONE. Texas Tech only had 5 top 300 players within 250 miles of their campus, FIVE. Mississippi State has had 175 top 300 players within 250 miles of campus, ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

https://imgur.com/8mgp7zQ
3192

Guess which 2 schools have the smallest population density within 250 miles of campus? Washington State and Texas Tech, and it's not close. Leach has done everything with literally the 2 worst P5 programs to Coach in the country. He has to go into someone else's backyard, 500+ miles away, and convince them to move out to the middle of freaking nowhere, to play in the PAC12 or Big12. Yet he went to 16 bowls in 18 seasons. What is he gonna do at a place that has blue chips growing on trees, in all directions, and the opportunity to play in the SEC and close enough to home for Momma to come to the games? We are set up, the foundation is laid, now we literally have the perfect coach for us step in, and turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Long story short, keep on keepin on. We are on the tracks and rolling, only thing that can stop us is a derailment. Things are about get really fun.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/5696060-3x2-940x627.jpg

[Bdawg]

I will add that I hope our new defense and DC is legit. But great post devious.

[tribaldawg]

I agree that it had everything to do with a new era but that era was the Dan Mullen era.

[msbulldog]

First, you have to define the next step. For me, I think the next step would be averaging 8 regular season wins with an average recruiting ranking in the 18-22 range over the next 5 years, moving us up from a top 25 program to a top 20 program. OK, so how do we get there? I think the answer is a lot more simple than what you may have been looking for...

Keep the foot on the gas and stay between the lines. In other words, I think we are set up right now to take the next step, we just can't let up, and can't have any scandals and/or NCAA troubles. We did the hard work over the last 10 years, now all we have to do is continue to build on it. Here is why I think we are on track to take the next step over the next 5 years:

1. Recruiting has solidified. Gone are the days where we finish with a recruiting class in the 35-45 range every few years. We are starting to stack top 25 after top 25 class. The first half of last decade, and Mullen's first 5 classes(2010-2014), we finished with an average recruiting ranking of #33.5, the second half of the last decade(2015-2020) we used the success from the previous 5 years of bowl games and consistency to take the next step in recruiting, finishing with an average recruiting ranking of #24.5, and 9 spots better than we were over the 5 years before that. That's a big jump, and I think we will see another similar bump into the top 15-20 over the next 5 years, which may be our recruiting ceiling until we take the next step, which is competing for championships on a semi regular basis(every 3 years or so).

2. We have something to sell on both sides of the field. Dan Mullen's offense worked, but limited us from being able to recruit blue chip skill players. Sure, we would get some 4 star Running Backs every couple of years and sure we would get some bruising 4 star dual threat QB's just about every year, but that was the ceiling under Dan, the best we could do. No blue chip WR in their right mind would want to come play for Dan Mullen's MSU, wouldn't admit it back then but it's true. Over the last decade we have had ZERO wide receivers drafted, ZERO. We simply had nothing to sell to WR, and never would under Dan, and you have to have NFL WR's to take the next step and take down the giants. Look at 2014, we had a QB that could throw, and 2 WR's that could ball, easily the best, most balanced offense of Dan's career.

Back to the point, we have something to sell at every position on both sides of the field...
-Wide Receivers- come play in the SEC for a coach that has had a top 5 passing offense for 7 straight seasons, and a offense that has an 8 man rotation at WR. Come play early and often, and rack up stats against the best defense in the country.
-Quarterbacks- come play in the SEC and lead the nation in just about every passing stat in the country. Plus, Dak will continue to be a plus for us in recruiting for the next decade. Add to that that after next years draft, where Costello will go in the 1st-2nd round, we will have had 2 straight Grad TR QB's drafted.
-Running Backs- come play in the SEC for an offense where the passing game opens up huge holes in a consistent 5 man box. Come prepare yourself in the NFL by leading the nation in receiving yards for a RB while also learning how to pass block, this is what the NFL offenses are moving towards, plus fewer carries in a loaded box means fresher legs when you get to the league. The latest 2021 NFL draft rankings have Max Borghi (Washington State RB) as the #3 RB in the draft, all because he has had the opportunity to prove that he can do it all, run, catch, and block. Also, they have Kylin Hill ranked as the #9 RB in the 2021 draft, and I think a year under Leach where he shows that he is a complete back and can be a receiving threat out of the backfield, he will easily become a top 5 RB in the draft. That's something to sell, 2 of the top 5 RB's in next years draft.
-Offensive Line: The NFL is moving more and more towards becoming an Air Raid league. This means pass blocking is at a premium, not big bruising run blocking. Leach's offense will prepare you for the NFL. Also, we have had an O-lineman drafted in each of the last 4 NFL drafts, and one in the top 3 rounds in each of the last 3 years.
-Defense: Pretty self explanatory here, we have defensive superstars all over the league, and in every position. We have had 21 defensive players drafted in the last decade, Ole Miss has had 23 players drafted, TOTAL. We send defensive players to the league, this is widely known and recruits itself. Plus Mississippi generally produces way more defensive blue chips than offensive blue chips. We will continue to recruit well on defense, it's in our blood.

It's just a perfect fit, the one position that we simply could not recruit, Wide Receiver, will now have 4 stars lining up to join the team and 8 man rotation, especially after a year of Leach running his offense here with an NFL QB, we will start to see this pay dividends immediately. Then QB and OL, same story. Defensively, all we have to do is point to the NFL. We have something to sell at every position now and this is HUGE. This is where the jump in recruiting rankings will come from, we will sign at least 4-5 offensive 4/5 stars every year, while continuing to bring in another 3-5 defensive 4 stars every year. That puts us in the top 20.

3. We are JUCO U. All the best JUCO's are right here in Mississippi, year in and year out there are a handful of NFL players in the Mississippi JUCO system, and we will continue to bring in a large chunk of those because we have proven that we will put you in the NFL. We have had 6 JUCO players drafted in just the last 3 years, that is huge. We are set up to continue to take advantage of the JUCO system, and even more than ever now, JUCO WR's will be begging to come in and join our 8 man rotation and catch 50+ balls, we could get the #1 JUCO WR in the country just about every year.

4. The new transfer rule is going to really help us, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 4 and 5 star WR's across the country that are sitting behind older guys for their first year or two, will become restless and decide to transfer since they don't have to sit a year. This will happen, A LOT, and who do you think will be the #1 school these blue chips WR's will want to transfer to? Mississippi State and Mike Leach where they are all but guaranteed to get 40+ receptions in their first year. I do not think people understand how huge this will be. 2 years from now, we will have built a receiving corp that has more blue chips than we have signed in the past 20 years combined.

5. We are starting to recruit nationally, and this trend will continue. For the most part, we will use Mississippi as our defensive recruiting stronghold, Mississippi has all the talent we need on that side of the ball to take the next step. Offensively, MS just doesn't produce the kind of talent that we need, but that's OK, we have a head coach that has name recognition from Samoa to Hawaii, from Seattle to Miami, from Southern California to Atlanta, and from West Texas to East Texas. Southern California and East Texas make up over 50% of all of Leach's signees through his 18 years of recruiting classes. 240 of the 418 guys he has signed were from Southern California or East Texas, which happen to be 2 of the top 3 recruiting hot beds in the country. He has connections that run deep, and we will sign big time guys from both Southern California and East Texas year in and year out. The third national recruiting hotbed? South Florida, where Leach resides for half of the year, and has made many connections.


Everything is set up for us to take the next step. We are in a perfect position, the best position MSU has ever been in, right this moment. We have a head coach that took 2 cellar dwellers, the 2 most remote P5 schools, and went to 16 bowl games in 18 years. Listen to this, and this is all coming in depth in a later post, but over the last 5 recruiting cycles(2016-2020), Washington State only had 1 top 300 player within 250 miles of their campus, ONE. Texas Tech only had 5 top 300 players within 250 miles of their campus, FIVE. Mississippi State has had 175 top 300 players within 250 miles of campus, ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

https://imgur.com/8mgp7zQ
3192

Guess which 2 schools have the smallest population density within 250 miles of campus? Washington State and Texas Tech, and it's not close. Leach has done everything with literally the 2 worst P5 programs to Coach in the country. He has to go into someone else's backyard, 500+ miles away, and convince them to move out to the middle of freaking nowhere, to play in the PAC12 or Big12. Yet he went to 16 bowls in 18 seasons. What is he gonna do at a place that has blue chips growing on trees, in all directions, and the opportunity to play in the SEC and close enough to home for Momma to come to the games? We are set up, the foundation is laid, now we literally have the perfect coach for us step in, and turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Long story short, keep on keepin on. We are on the tracks and rolling, only thing that can stop us is a derailment. Things are about get really fun.

Damn good post! Rep Given.

[viverlibre]

This is dead on.
I will say I think we compete for the West if he had stayed for the 2018 season, but we never achieved our potential with him as coach due to his job searching.

Imagine what we would have accomplished had he not completely zoned out for those few games?

[TUSK]

While working on another, far more extensive post, I ran across these stats when doing some research...

Since 2011-

Average recruiting ranking:

1. Auburn- #11
2. Ole Miss- #23
3. Miss State- #27


Total 5* signed:

1. Auburn- 11
2. Ole Miss- 9
3. Miss State- 3

Total 4* signed:

1. Auburn- 128
2. Ole Miss- 56
3. Miss State- 43

Total amount of NFL draft picks:

1. Auburn- 38
2. Miss State- 34
3. Ole Miss- 23

Overall win/loss record:

1. Auburn- (73-45) | 62% wins
2. Miss State- (70-47) | 60% wins
3. Ole Miss- (56-56) | 50% wins

If you add the 2010 Cam Newton national championship season to the win loss records (2010-2019), the numbers look like this.

Overall win/loss record(2010-2019):

1. Auburn- (87-45) | 66% wins
2. Miss State- (79-51) | 61% wins
3. Ole Miss- (60-64) | 48% wins

Bowl Game Appearances(since 2010):

1. MSU- 10
2. Auburn- 9
3. Ole Miss- 4


What do you take from this? Well you could interpret it a lot of ways, but personally this is what I see...

Around 2010 we entered a new era of college football. The Power 5 era. You could call it the CFP era but Power 5 fits better imo. This era was ushered in when the powers that be decided that the big 5 conferences would stand far above the rest of Division 1 football. Automatically, the teams in P5 conferences that were historically bad programs, got a shot in the arm because now they stand above all D1 programs that are not in the P5, which means better recruiting and more exposure. What really set it all in motion was the emergence of conference network channels, like the SEC Network, Big10 Network, PAC 12 Network and ACC Network. These ludicrous TV deals gave another, even stronger shot in the arm to P5 programs that were historically bad to mediocre. These deals are split evenly among conference members, which allowed the historically bad programs to get much closer and even compete with the athletic budgets of historical blue blood powers. At the same time, it pushed these historically bad programs, another several levels above all other non-P5 D1 football programs, creating a gap that G5 programs will never be able to close.

Mississippi State use these advantages of the new era to crawl out of the basement, and make a name for themselves in the college football landscape. They used the money and exposure of the new era of network deals to slowly, but steadily, become a top 25 program, something that 15 years ago would've seemed like nothing more than a dream.

Back to the idea, so what do the above numbers mean? They mean that in today's new era of College Football, Mississippi State's football program is much closer to Auburn than they are Ole Miss (in real results, like wins and draft picks). We have taken the next step, it was just so slow that we didn't realize it happening in real time. We have done it the right way and built something to last, and because of all this, we were able to hire one of the best football coaches in America, and are now starting to get the attention of P5 football prospects across the Southeast, and even country.

Mississippi State had 4 less draft picks and 3 less wins than Auburn in the last decade and new era of college football, that's 0.4 and 0.3 less draft picks and wins per season, respectively. This is with Auburn signing 139 4* and 5* players, and MSU only signing 46 4* and 5* players. That gap is so huge that it seems impossible that the results made from those players are essentially equal.

Mississippi State has had 11 more draft picks and 14 more wins (or 19 if looking back to 2010) than Ole Miss in the new era of CFB, that's 1.1 and 1.4(or 1.9 if looking back to 2010) more draft picks and wins per season, respectively.

The numbers don't lie folks. Right now, the present time, the time that matters, Mississippi State's Football program is head over heels better than Ole Miss's Football program, don't let them tell you otherwise. They had to cheat at a rate not seen since SMU's heyday, and that wasn't even enough to keep up with MSU's program.

But hey, Ole Miss had a higher average recruiting ranking over that period, and that's all that matters, right?? Who cares that Ole Miss actually finished with a losing record on the field in the last decade while MSU finished 28 games over .500?

MSU>>>Ole Miss

NUMBERS...DON'T...LIE...

I dunno why OM would even be in the conversation, honestly (other than giving em shit)...

A much more comparable analysis would be among MSU, A&M, and Aubie...

OM/Ark are as on as distant a planet as LSU/Bama among the teams in the SECW...

[dawgday166]

Hunch was looking to leave for FOUR+ years. Just think what could have been if he had done his JOB completely during the last half of his tenure. Not giving a crap and job hunting every November and December held us back from what we really could have been.

Won't disagree but will also add ... he's the main reason we achieved that. Taking the 2011 - 13 recruiting classes and producing a 10 win team that went to #1 was a phenomenal feat ... FWIW. He had his flaws but he can coach up players.

I would hazard to say Leach can do the same on the offensive side of the ball, and maybe better with WRs. If he and Arnett can do that on D side of ball we'll be pretty decent.

ETA: Now I'm not saying we don't have a pretty darn easy OOC for most part, but Mullen could coach up players. Still has a mental block tho against Smart & Saban.

[dawgday166]

I personally think Mullen was scared.

Something about that 2018 roster worried him & made him nervous that it wouldn't live up to expectations & thus cause people to be disgruntled & his career to regress.

The only other reason I can figure is that maybe there was something in his personal life that made him want/need to get out of Starkville. We'll never know

Naww .. I think he was gonna jump at the opportunity to go to a bluer blood while he had the chance. Those don't come along very often.

[TUSK]

Naww .. I think he was gonna jump at the opportunity to go to a bluer blood while he had the chance. Those don't come along very often.

This is correct. While his play calling was conservative, at times, I don't think CDM was "scared" of losing, per se... But he may have been concerned about getting beaten worse than was necessary.

Leach won't have that issue, IMO, however, he's gonna drop some games that Mullen wouldn't.

Note: the "data" side of me crunched some numbers and you cats stand a good chance of passing up A&M in SECW% this fall, with Aubie in sight.

[Todd4State]

Won't disagree but will also add ... he's the main reason we achieved that. Taking the 2011 - 13 recruiting classes and producing a 10 win team that went to #1 was a phenomenal feat ... FWIW. He had his flaws but he can coach up players.

I would hazard to say Leach can do the same on the offensive side of the ball, and maybe better with WRs. If he and Arnett can do that on D side of ball we'll be pretty decent.

ETA: Now I'm not saying we don't have a pretty darn easy OOC for most part, but Mullen could coach up players. Still has a mental block tho against Smart & Saban.

San Diego State's recruiting profile is similar to Washington State and Texas Tech although without question there is more talent there they're never going to compete with USC, UCLA, and etc. for high end prospects. They're essentially the equivalent of USM in California. And with players that weren't highly recruited and an offense that was Croom-esque they consistently won games, finished second in the country in PPG allowed, and were able to compete with and sometimes beat people like UCLA. While winning 10 games.

The only concern I have is that defense was Rocky Long's baby- he essentially the defensive version of Leach doing what he did at San Diego State and New Mexico- and there is question how much of it was Arnett and how much of it was Long? I have heard that Leach wanted Long to be our DC but he didn't want to do it and we did the closest thing possible. That said, Syracuse was pretty upset for a reason that we hired Arnett. Odds are he is legit and this is really not much different that us hiring Jeremy Pruitt or Kirby Smart to be our DC in that they would still be effective DC's despite that defense being Saban's baby.

[Todd4State]

This is correct. While his play calling was conservative, at times, I don't think CDM was "scared" of losing, per se... But he may have been concerned about getting beaten worse than was necessary.

Leach won't have that issue, IMO, however, he's gonna drop some games that Mullen wouldn't.

Note: the "data" side of me crunched some numbers and you cats stand a good chance of passing up A&M in SECW% this fall, with Aubie in sight.

He might. Every coach has a WTF loss on their resume at some point in time though. I'm hoping that a bigger talent gap between us and the Arkansas State's of the world relative to say Washington State and Boise State plus having a better defensive unit limits those. Dan definitely came close several times to losing to people like UAB and Louisiana Tech and in the 90's even we probably would have lost those games but the talent gap is different now for us.

[dawgday166]

This is correct. While his play calling was conservative, at times, I don't think CDM was "scared" of losing, per se... But he may have been concerned about getting beaten worse than was necessary.

Leach won't have that issue, IMO, however, he's gonna drop some games that Mullen wouldn't.

Note: the "data" side of me crunched some numbers and you cats stand a good chance of passing up A&M in SECW% this fall, with Aubie in sight.

Agree with this for most part. On Mullen I think you're right but would add he had a couple of chances against Saban and tightened up towards end of 2017 game and team came out too tight in 2014 game. Mullen kinda tightens up against Saban/Smart when he plays them and then team doesn't play loose. We played loose for 3 qtrs in 2017 but then he tightened up down the stretch.

I kinda agree on Leach may produce a few more WTF losses than Mullen ... Mullen tended to squeak those out for most part except for USA in 2016. On flip side tho ... Leach will probably produce a good bit more WTF wins too.

Not quite on board with us passing A&M this year. Don't know what numbers you running but we have a whole new staff, Covid wiped out spring practice and offense/defense installation, new QB, and we lost a good bit of experience off last year's team. Those things usually don't add up to exceptional years. Plus, A&M has been young but they mature now, lot of experience, and veteran QB (who I'm not sure just how good he can be ... he kinda up/down). We're gonna find out just how good Jimbo is this year (7's rep is on the line). I kinda side with 7 and think Jimbo will be pretty darn good this year.

AU ... they lose a good bit so we may can hang with them this year ... not sure yet tho.

[dawgday166]

San Diego State's recruiting profile is similar to Washington State and Texas Tech although without question there is more talent there they're never going to compete with USC, UCLA, and etc. for high end prospects. They're essentially the equivalent of USM in California. And with players that weren't highly recruited and an offense that was Croom-esque they consistently won games, finished second in the country in PPG allowed, and were able to compete with and sometimes beat people like UCLA. While winning 10 games.

The only concern I have is that defense was Rocky Long's baby- he essentially the defensive version of Leach doing what he did at San Diego State and New Mexico- and there is question how much of it was Arnett and how much of it was Long? I have heard that Leach wanted Long to be our DC but he didn't want to do it and we did the closest thing possible. That said, Syracuse was pretty upset for a reason that we hired Arnett. Odds are he is legit and this is really not much different that us hiring Jeremy Pruitt or Kirby Smart to be our DC in that they would still be effective DC's despite that defense being Saban's baby.

I wanna believe what you're saying and think it may be the case. However, the jury is still out on all that ... so I'm waiting to see.

[FISHDAWG]

This is correct. While his play calling was conservative, at times, I don't think CDM was "scared" of losing, per se... But he may have been concerned about getting beaten worse than was necessary.

Leach won't have that issue, IMO, however, he's gonna drop some games that Mullen wouldn't.

Note: the "data" side of me crunched some numbers and you cats stand a good chance of passing up A&M in SECW% this fall, with Aubie in sight.

I'll bet Leach wouldn't have lost to South Alabama by trying to run a 170 lb tailback between the tackles ... he will lose some head scratchers I'm sure, but that was REEAALLLLY BAAAD !

[BeardoMSU]

I'll bet Leach wouldn't have lost to South Alabama by trying to run a 170 lb tailback between the tackles ... he will lose some head scratchers I'm sure, but that was REEAALLLLY BAAAD !


Still cringe-worthy...

https://twitter.com/i/status/772155587731742722

[R2Dawg]

I'll bet Leach wouldn't have lost to South Alabama by trying to run a 170 lb tailback between the tackles ... he will lose some head scratchers I'm sure, but that was REEAALLLLY BAAAD !

Worst thing about USA loss was Fitz only getting a few snaps. Fitz plays we pound them in the ground, yet we got the L.

[Todd4State]

Worst thing about USA loss was Fitz only getting a few snaps. Fitz plays we pound them in the ground, yet we got the L.

I was about to say the same thing. Even worse:

1. He started Fitz and took him out after ONE series.

2. He named Fitz the starter on Sunday so you know there was no way it was "earned" in practice.

[TrapGame]

Worst thing about USA loss was Fitz only getting a few snaps. Fitz plays we pound them in the ground, yet we got the L.

But wasn't that Fitz's wake up call to get his shit together.

[Todd4State]

But wasn't that Fitz's wake up call to get his shit together.

When did he ever have his shit together?**

[TrapGame]

When did he ever have his shit together?**

True.

[dawgday166]

When did he ever have his shit together?**

Better than Kylin has had.

[NeuteredDawg]

Dead nuts on.

How do we take the next step?

How do we really start to compete for top recruits? Like the recruits that actually give you chance to win big?

Move the university out of state

[Ari Gold]

Little heads up... this may be brought up and talked about on Jox sports today... FYI

[ShotgunDawg]

Little heads up... this may be brought up and talked about on Jox sports today... FYI

What was said?