Yeah, I'll take things that aren't true for $2000, Alex.
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I mean it's true but it's a little like when we went from Templeton to Byrne. The boosters that had always called the shots, had their influence, and gotten what they wanted were told to cut the checks and shut up. Selmon has brought a lot of that back and quelled the boosters that did all that stuff. A lot of those guys moved to baseball and are now kind of being shut out there as well by the new staff.
No, I'm saying the part about Arnett "letting that happen again" as a defensive coordinator isn't true.
But even the other stuff isn't THE reason we're where we're at. As is the case with pretty much anything, several things can be true at once. Arnett wasn't ready to be a HC. He shouldn't have completely shifted the offense in year 1. We probably had some boosters out of line. But Leach deserves some blame too. His recruiting was quite abysmal.
Yep all of what you said is true. It was a litany of things that caused our downfall in such short order: Inability by the previous administration to embrace NIL, Leach's unwillingness to play a major part in recruiting at 21 of the 22 positions, Dave Emerick, Matt Dudek, Leach dying, Arnett not being ready to be a HC, overzealous boosters, shifting offensive philosophies in a spring, etc.
I've never understood the people that act like it was just one thing that went wrong that caused the spiral. It was a ton of decisions from July 1, 2021 to November 13, 2023
All that is true. Arnett's biggest downfall though was he stepped out of his skin and tried to be someone he's not. The players saw that he wasn't the same guy and they didn't believe in what he was doing. No belief leads to poor team chemistry and low execution success. Even the change in offense could have been overcome and been better had he stayed true to who he was as a person and coach. Arnett the DC would not have done some of things he did as a HC. Now if that was self inflicted or bad advice or both, I don't know the extent of all of that.
Look at our history of hiring assistants to be HC in our decades-long on-the-job training program, no matter who our incompetent "Powers to Be" were. The only successes in my 60 plus years of fandom have been Bob Tyler and Dan Mullen and yes, I count JoMo in the failure category. We get what we ask for and refuse to pay for. Those who repeat the failures of past history are doomed to repeat them or so they say.
To those of you who think morale is ok, you must not have bought season tickets for about 59 consecutive years, or for many years at all, as my long-suffering, but true maroon family just did last month. I know a lot of State fans in NE MS and don't know a single fan who has any hope for 2026 or in over his head Lebby, again.
I dare say there are many active and retired football coaches on this board, and most of y'all could have gone 7-18 and 1-15 in the last two years, found a decent LT in the portal, and developed players other than WR's. Y'all could probably have been just as successful for far less than $4 million per year. We have made many unprepared assistants millionaires and Lebby is continuing our poor trend.
Alot of times a coordinator is our best option to hire. It's not being cheap. Not many current HC's will not take our job. We had a guy turn us down to go to Houston last hiring cycle. Now we could get a Jimbo or some other out of work HC. Hiring Leach was an abnormality as he wanted to closer to the Keys and see what he could do against SEC defenses before it was over. But hiring him ended up turning into a program killer as we are living and trying to get out of.
As I said, this has been going on for decades. Look at Shira's record, and heck, we promoted him to AD after one of the worst winning % in State history. Felker, Croom, Arnett, and even before and the list goes on.
You and I don't agree on all opinions, but no doubt in my mind you could go 7-18 and 1-15 and maybe look more competent doing it. Bet you know where a couple of LT prospects were that had eligibility left also.
Monday morning QB, but we might be much more successful with an experienced, winning HC from a lower division than all these on-the-job training assistants in my lifetime. Saw my first game at age 8 in person at Scott Field in 1963, 10-10 against OM. Not many bright spots, except under Jackie and Leach, both former HCs.
As I said, Tyler and Mullen were exceptions to our awful hiring practices no matter who has been in charge. Rant over, and I will again sit until the end of every home game in 2026 as years pass.
It will all come out in the wash this Fall. There still a chance to get another lineman this summer
Cristobal got fired at FIU and had to be an asst for 5 years before getting another HC job.
Saban was a loser NFL coach that jumped at Bama
Leach finished ranked 7 times in 21 seasons. Only 2 times the last 11. Good coach but was never wanted at a top notch program
Retreads hit at about the same rate they miss. For every Lane Kiffin and David Cutcliffe there's a Kevin Sumlin and Tom Herman. You honestly just have to be desperate and willing enough to take the chance with a retread. You have to understand that the chances you crash and burn are equal to the chances you succeed at a high level. Ole Miss was desperate and willing enough to take that chance with Kiffin. We were desperate and willing enough to take that chance with Jackie. Both of those risks were wildly successful. Conversely, Auburn was desperate and willing enough to take the chance with Freeze. Kansas was desperate and willing enough to take the chance with Les Miles. Both of those were unmitigated disasters.
Where we getting another LT from this summer?