What is the Athletic Department Going to Do To Get this Program Back on Track?

It's easy to praise leadership when everything is going well. It's easy to ride the wave of prosperity & soak in the applause, but that's not leadership. Leadership is what you do to rally the troops when things aren't going well.

We went 4-5 years under Mullen by selling out every game. The fan base was hopeful that we were building something special & rising to a sustainable level of success & competing for championships in a way that the program had never seen.

Now what? What do you do now that everyone with a brain realizes that no matter what we do or how successful we are, there is a glass ceiling to our success? Due to state population, Mississippi kids desiring to go out of state, & in state recruits being bought by Auburn & other schools right out from under us with no consequences, that this program simply doesn't have the "juice" to become any better than what we saw under Mullen.

What do you do?

Two things sell tickets: winning & hope.....

You know what doesn't sell tickets? that the best you can hope for is a 100th straight trip to Gator Bowl. That doesn't galvanize a fan base or sell tickets.

So, that's why you see an empty stadium & that's why you see apathy.

What do you do? What will the leaders of Mississippi State University do to prevent the football program from falling into the pit that we saw in the Croom era?

What will they do to get butts in the seats next Saturday vs Kentucky when no one believes in the product or direction of the program?

Again, it's easy to lead from the front. But what about now?

My eyes are on this athletic department right now. This is where we find out what type of leadership we really have.

Does the MSU fan base have enough pride in this program & this state to stand the 17 up right & do everything we can or do we just accept our lot in life as a 2nd rate institution & program?

I honestly wish we had a coach or players that would shit talk, if you want to get a fanbase riled up you can start saying passive aggressive things about the other team like Kentucky did to us last year before they whipped us. Get your boys confident and maybe a little energy will go into the fanbase and get them hyped up for the coming football game(s)

This is a shorterm solution for a long term issue, but you got to start somewhere. Anything that will build just a little energy won't hurt.

Beat Kentucky next week. Beat Tennessee and Arkansas on the road. Be competitive with LSU and Auburn.

Also, only play night games in September. Yesterday would have been miserable when if we'd won handily.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

It's easy to praise leadership when everything is going well. It's easy to ride the wave of prosperity & soak in the applause, but that's not leadership. Leadership is what you do to rally the troops when things aren't going well.

We went 4-5 years under Mullen by selling out every game. The fan base was hopeful that we were building something special & rising to a sustainable level of success & competing for championships in a way that the program had never seen.

Now what? What do you do now that everyone with a brain realizes that no matter what we do or how successful we are, there is a glass ceiling to our success? Due to state population, Mississippi kids desiring to go out of state, & in state recruits being bought by Auburn & other schools right out from under us with no consequences, that this program simply doesn't have the "juice" to become any better than what we saw under Mullen.

What do you do?

Two things sell tickets: winning & hope.....

You know what doesn't sell tickets? that the best you can hope for is a 100th straight trip to Gator Bowl. That doesn't galvanize a fan base or sell tickets.

So, that's why you see an empty stadium & that's why you see apathy.

What do you do? What will the leaders of Mississippi State University do to prevent the football program from falling into the pit that we saw in the Croom era?

What will they do to get butts in the seats next Saturday vs Kentucky when no one believes in the product or direction of the program?

Again, it's easy to lead from the front. But what about now?

My eyes are on this athletic department right now. This is where we find out what type of leadership we really have.

Does the MSU fan base have enough pride in this program & this state to stand the 17 up right & do everything we can or do we just accept our lot in life as a 2nd rate institution & program?

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I think you need to adjust your view of things. Ask yourself what are we really playing for in this era of college football? And you may be able to answer a lot of your own questions.

The biggest issue outside of just the overall state of college football that we can?t change is our fans don?t like the style of football we are trying to play offensively. JoMo is playing a style I would expect from Ole Miss not us. We have lost our mindset of instilling our physical will on you that brought us to number 1 ranking.

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Originally Posted by Coursesuper

I think you need to adjust your view of things. Ask yourself what are we really playing for in this era of college football? And you may be able to answer a lot of your own questions.

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You may be correct & that's an answer that college football authorities will have to address over the coming years. The sport simply can't prosper under the current model. It will slowly fade to irrelevance.

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Originally Posted by Quaoarsking

Beat Kentucky next week. Beat Tennessee and Arkansas on the road. Be competitive with LSU and Auburn.

Also, only play night games in September. Yesterday would have been miserable when if we'd won handily.

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We're a very soft team..... Kentucky is going to route us, but Tennessee and Arkansas will be competitive. We don't have man eaters on the DL, we don't have head hunters in the secondary, we have a starting QB that can't take a hit (but we have a future with the Shredder..... he's fearless) we don't have an OL pancaking anyone (last year, Jenkins imposed his will on everyone that lined up in front of him). It looks more like a ballerina act at times.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

You may be correct & that's an answer that college football authorities will have to address over the coming years. The sport simply can't prosper under the current model. It will slowly fade to irrelevance.

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It's not going to fade it's going to split, and schools like ours are going to be on the short end of the stick. Playoff will expand to much money for it not too, but the pool playing to get in will shrink significantly.

Win the next 3 games and LSU will be a madhouse. If Tommy is healthy Auburn is very winnable. If not, Joe better coach it like he did last year...

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Originally Posted by Coursesuper

It's not going to fade it's going to split, and schools like ours are going to be on the short end of the stick. Playoff will expand to much money for it not too, but the pool playing to get in will shrink significantly.

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Well the good need for us is we are one of 4 schools to be ranked no 1 since the playoff started!

The athletic department leadership needs to control what they do better.

1 The first game can't be the cluster that it is every year. They 50K people are going to show up and make the same mistakes every year and fix the same mistakes every year.

2 Market the team better. Especially with more video content. We are essentially only getting one highlight video a week and press conferences. Have a how like Ole Miss has with the Season. Stop making excuses as to why we can't or shouldn't. If it's a laziness issue light a fire under some asses. If it's money invest more money into it and staff it better.

3 Gear Davis Wade better for the heat.

4 Lower ticket prices.

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Originally Posted by WinningIsRelentless

The biggest issue outside of just the overall state of college football that we can?t change is our fans don?t like the style of football we are trying to play offensively. JoMo is playing a style I would expect from Ole Miss not us. We have lost our mindset of instilling our physical will on you that brought us to number 1 ranking.

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It's doesn't have to split though. They just have to adjust some recruiting rules & scholarship allotments. That fixes 60% of the issue

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

The athletic department leadership needs to control what they do better.

1 The first game can't be the cluster that it is every year. They 50K people are going to show up and make the same mistakes every year and fix the same mistakes every year.

2 Market the team better. Especially with more video content. We are essentially only getting one highlight video a week and press conferences. Have a how like Ole Miss has with the Season. Stop making excuses as to why we can't or shouldn't. If it's a laziness issue light a fire under some asses. If it's money invest more money into it and staff it better.

3 Gear Davis Wade better for the heat.

4 Lower ticket prices.

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Agree with all. They have to update DWS. It's just an inadequate facility for what they are asking of fans. If we're gonna do this 11:00 AM thing & 100 degree games, then you've got to invest money in creating a facility that can handle that

I'm sure they'll invest 20 mil in new indoor track soon though

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Originally Posted by WinningIsRelentless

Well the good need for us is we are one of 4 schools to be ranked no 1 since the playoff started!

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Hate to tell you but the only place that holds any relevance is with MState people, no one outside of the alumni and fan base cares about that. This will be about who sells advertising and turns on tv's. I hope that was tongue in cheek.

Sidenote: I’m fearful College football could soon be going the way of Nascar in some places.

Building too large of stadia while price gouging out the casual fan (whether from ticket prices to making the whole trip entirely) and not having an experience that being home in ac watching on TV can beat. It’s a thought but there may not be 60K people in this country that can justify 7-8 trips to MSU for an experience that is comparably worse when the team is losing to the experience of sitting in cool a/c at home. Some people question whether taking a family of 4 and spending $150 on hotels, $150 on tickets, $25-50 on gas, $100 on food for a weekend is worth it to sit in the heat and watch your school play sub-optimally. Then turn around and do that 6 more times.

Most people would rather save their money for one or two trips that stick out as likely to be a fun time for the whole family than justify paying that money 7x a year to leave disappointed or worse, bored with the opponent we chose to play.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

You may be correct & that's an answer that college football authorities will have to address over the coming years. The sport simply can't prosper under the current model. It will slowly fade to irrelevance.

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There are ways that college football can prosper. It's just that only certain schools can prosper.

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Originally Posted by dantheman4248

Sidenote: I’m fearful College football could soon be going the way of Nascar in some places.

Building too large of stadia while price gouging out the casual fan (whether from ticket prices to making the whole trip entirely) and not having an experience that being home in ac watching on TV can beat. It’s a thought but there may not be 60K people in this country that can justify 7-8 trips to MSU for an experience that is comparably worse when the team is losing to the experience of sitting in cool a/c at home. Some people question whether taking a family of 4 and spending $150 on hotels, $150 on tickets, $25-50 on gas, $100 on food for a weekend is worth it to sit in the heat and watch your school play sub-optimally. Then turn around and do that 6 more times.

Most people would rather save their money for one or two trips that stick out as likely to be a fun time for the whole family than justify paying that money 7x a year to leave disappointed or worse, bored with the opponent we chose to play.

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Yep

You are basing things after a lost way too much Shotgun, things aren't as bad as you speak nor they as good as we might like. But oveall Msu is growing and getting better every year, it's not always about football, it's about our University. You are pretty much saying we need change starting the President, Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. And don't say you didn't, go read what you are posting. To think where Msu is today compared to 5 years ago, 10 years ago, how about 25 and 50 years ago, you need to show more support and get out of the "we aren't worthy" attitude.

To all the fans who show up to the games, I salute you and thank you for your support. For you folks who live to far away or simple can't afford to give or attend, I surely understand and wish you well and thanks for loving the University. For you "oh the sky is falling" and never attend nor give, shut up and quite bitching, folks like y'all make things worse for ones who truly love and give their support not just to our athletic programs but to our University, after all, This Is Our State!

We need fan support Saturday, hope DWS is loud and rocking as this will be the biggest game of this year so for.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

It's easy to praise leadership when everything is going well. It's easy to ride the wave of prosperity & soak in the applause, but that's not leadership. Leadership is what you do to rally the troops when things aren't going well.

We went 4-5 years under Mullen by selling out every game. The fan base was hopeful that we were building something special & rising to a sustainable level of success & competing for championships in a way that the program had never seen.

Now what? What do you do now that everyone with a brain realizes that no matter what we do or how successful we are, there is a glass ceiling to our success? Due to state population, Mississippi kids desiring to go out of state, & in state recruits being bought by Auburn & other schools right out from under us with no consequences, that this program simply doesn't have the "juice" to become any better than what we saw under Mullen.

What do you do?

Two things sell tickets: winning & hope.....

You know what doesn't sell tickets? that the best you can hope for is a 100th straight trip to Gator Bowl. That doesn't galvanize a fan base or sell tickets.

So, that's why you see an empty stadium & that's why you see apathy.

What do you do? What will the leaders of Mississippi State University do to prevent the football program from falling into the pit that we saw in the Croom era?

What will they do to get butts in the seats next Saturday vs Kentucky when no one believes in the product or direction of the program?

Again, it's easy to lead from the front. But what about now?

My eyes are on this athletic department right now. This is where we find out what type of leadership we really have.

Does the MSU fan base have enough pride in this program & this state to stand the 17 up right & do everything we can or do we just accept our lot in life as a 2nd rate institution & program?

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The program isn't off track.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

You may be correct & that's an answer that college football authorities will have to address over the coming years. The sport simply can't prosper under the current model. It will slowly fade to irrelevance.

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This I agree with. Until you make the sport more competitive and fair. For example, there is no reason we should have 85 players. Reduce them by 15. Change the caps on recruiting so teams can keep the 70.

Change the play offs. Because the competition will be better.

Reduce the games played to 2 OOC increase the playoffs to top 12.

Move the first games 3 weeks later than current start weekend.