Here's what I think most of you who are on Ray's case do not understand. Games are won and lost due to the players on the court. There is only so much a coach can control when it comes to the game. He can draw up the best play in the right situation, but if the players don't execute the play, it won't work.

I'm not sure there was a worse situation for a coach to walk into than the one Rick Ray inherited at Mississippi State given the dumpster fire that Rick Stansbury left behind. The only one that is close and may actually have been worse was what Scott Drew went into at Baylor. Guess what. Scott Drew didn't have a winning season till his 5th year at Baylor. When he got the program built back up and started getting the players, Baylor started winning. Scott Drew is a heck of a coach, but coaches can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

Situations like this take time to recover from. This is why an established mid major coach did not want this job. They knew it would be a while before this team could win, and they weren't going to risk their careers by taking on this dumpster fire.