Just here to say that we have money issues.. not coaching

[Quaoarsking]

Donate. Donate. Donate again. Call your rich buddy and get him to donate.

Until we change the culture of the fanbase towards NIL we will continue to be 5-6 wins. It can be done but it starts with us

It will be easier to get donations when we have a coach that our fans like and believe in.

Maybe Lebby can still be that guy if he wins the Egg Bowl, but outside of that, he's a lame duck and we'll have someone new in 2027.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

That's pure speculation Bruce. You don't know that Taylor would have made yards. He takes TFLs too. And that is due to what? The 3 star OL. Yes it does have to do with depth. You can not be serious in thinking that Smith and Whitson have not been missed. Did you know that Whitson has not played since the 2nd game but still leads our team in sacks? Do you think Smith doesn't set the edges better than Washington?

So yeah. Depth matters a hell of a whole lot.

Not saying depth doesn't matter. Of course it does. But it didn't matter in those 2 examples. Maybe KT isn't getting 5 yards but he's like not losing any on a direct snap off tackle QB run. maybe he gets 0 but it still puts the ball in the middle of the field in OUR possession. and I am not speculating in regards to the Texas game. If we punt the ball on our own 36 it takes them at least 5-6 extra minutes to score. They don't have time to come back at that point.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Whose responsibility is the offensive line and the defense? The guy with whom the buck stops.

Not only is Lebby a bad in game coach, he is a horrible talent evaluator. So forget about the money. It ain?t coming! Get a gimmicky established head coach who has won at the lower level or at even tougher places to win than State and hire a Stealth Jet to take the coaches and all the returning players to a remote island where they do nothing but practice for 300 days straight. It may be cheating but the Law has made cheating in football legal so cheat away!

It stops with the quality of players. Asking Saban to come in and spend next to nothing in comparison to all other SEC teams will still not result in taking a barley 3 star player and turning him into a 5 star. Especially in a year.

I'm all for cheating. I say take millions and invest it to build funds for recruiting.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Everybody has 3 star offensive linemen. And I mean EVERYBODY from Ohio State to Georgia!

There are only 32 5 star players rated 98 or higher) every year and rarely are more than 1 or 2 an Offensive Lineman.
There are between 200 and 250 4 star players (rated 89.5 to 97.9) every year. Probably 30-45 of those are offensive linemen and a third of that Left Tackles. We ain?t getting them.

I pointed this out the other day. In Auburn?s heyday, they redshirted entire classes of offensive linemen to where they had 7 seniors and juniors every single year on the line. It was a Pat Dye?s and Pie Vann?s way and it was successful.

Dude. Please don't make me post rosters on here. You are simply wrong. Those teams we lost to do not have 3 star offensive lines. They may have them on roster, but they are not starting but in rare cases.

Tennessee has a couple of 5 star guys and 6 4*s on the OL.

Tx has a couple of 5*s and 7 4*s

UGA has 14 4* Olmen.

If you think that doesn't matter, then hey.. fire everybody because dang it, our guys are as good as everybody elses.

[CadaverDawg]

The fans showed up for Lenny and gave max effort in some big games this year. Time after time those big crowds have left the stadium after losses where our coach blew leads. Did he help create the leads? Sure. But he failed to close them so after a while the fans will say, screw this.

Mullen asked for support, and our fans did it. The team won, and it was a reciprocal deal. Fans did the same with Lenny, and while close on a few, he hasn't delivered. That's on him.
That's like asking me to continue contributing my money to a fund that is bringing in negative returns year after year....eventually I'm going to say this Money is better spent in a shoebox in my closet.

* And I was going to edit "Lenny" to Lebby, but he doesn't deserve it. He's Lenny until he earns the proper spelling.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Not saying depth doesn't matter. Of course it does. But it didn't matter in those 2 examples. Maybe KT isn't getting 5 yards but he's like not losing any on a direct snap off tackle QB run. maybe he gets 0 but it still puts the ball in the middle of the field in OUR possession. and I am not speculating in regards to the Texas game. If we punt the ball on our own 36 it takes them at least 5-6 extra minutes to score. They don't have time to come back at that point.

Taylor took several TFLs. It's not a given.

[Quaoarsking]

* And I was going to edit "Lenny" to Lebby, but he doesn't deserve it. He's Lenny until he earns the proper spelling.

Reference to Of Mice and Men?

[BankerDog]

It?s simple. We care more about baseball than football or basketball. We are not all in. For football specific, I was told this by a long time booster and money guy this morning:

The problem in Starkville is the lack of football knowledge with a large amount of arrogance mixed on top of it. Opinions are built based on access and people being nice to folks. Knowledge without personality is run out of town. Funny how we always overvalue West Point, Louisville, and Starkville and undervalue more rural areas.

[CadaverDawg]

It?s simple. We care more about baseball than football or basketball. We are not all in. For football specific, I was told this by a long time booster and money guy this morning:

The problem in Starkville is the lack of football knowledge with a large amount of arrogance mixed on top of it. Opinions are built based on access and people being nice to folks. Knowledge without personality is run out of town. Funny how we always overvalue West Point, Louisville, and Starkville and undervalue more rural areas.

Well then that makes me want to leave this fan base, bc that's just dumb.

I'd rather shut down baseball and basketball and go all in on football. It's the only sport that matters

[BankerDog]

Also it?s the most Mississippi state thing to give KT the keys when Luke K is the hugest ranked QB prospect we have ever had on campus. Too bad he only knows 1/3 of the playbook.

[LC Dawg]

There is no doubt that more money will help but there are only so many SEC level OL and DL in the portal each year and it will always be difficult for us to outbid others for them. We are going to have to be very good at evaluating players in the portal and I think we need to focus on getting good lineman out of high school and develop them.
I don't know how much money we dedicate to recruiting and portal evaluation but I'm sure it's not enough.

[bulldawg28]

We have enough money to be a 8 win team this year. It's obviously not the money

[BlackSailsDawg]

The fans showed up for Lenny and gave max effort in some big games this year. Time after time those big crowds have left the stadium after losses where our coach blew leads. Did he help create the leads? Sure. But he failed to close them so after a while the fans will say, screw this.

Mullen asked for support, and our fans did it. The team won, and it was a reciprocal deal. Fans did the same with Lebby, and while close on a few, he hasn't delivered. That's on him.
That's like asking me to continue contributing my money to a fund that is bringing in negative returns year after year....eventually I'm going to say this Mo eh is better spent in a shoebox in my closet.

* And I was going to edit "Lenny" to Lebby, but he doesn't deserve it. He's Lenny until he earns the proper spelling.

No, it's on us. You are literally suggesting that our lack of NIL is his problem and he should over come that just to get you in the stands. How can he over come that? developing players? That takes time. Not an off season. And our fans are under the impression that it's no big deal to do that.

So here is what your route takes us to. A revolving door in coaching with not stability in recruiting. No player is going to come here for less money and an unsure situation every year to 2 years. The problem becomes compounded by having to pay off coaches which cuts into our ability to hire a coaching staff.

If that's where you are, have at it. I will still be a state fan and wish for the best. But I will never expect more than what we are paying for in relation to other schools.

[BankerDog]

Well then that makes me want to leave this fan base, bc that's just dumb.

I'd rather shut down baseball and basketball and go all in on football. It's the only sport that matters

Look back at past decisions and you can tell we are not all in on our football program. Never have been outside of a few years with Mullen and Jackie. We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.

I mean we have a certain group of people on AD office that have been here too long. Reason why we had to bring Peterson, Will Friend, Bumphis, and Turner back. I mean what has Turner done besides ride off the success of Chris Jones? He hasn?t produced a DL in a long time. A lot of our issues on defense are him trying to play gap contain and not create penetration with his DL. Same guy told Will Echoles at OM he was never going to be a SEC DL. Kalvin Dinkins and Trevion Williams have not improved one bit since getting on campus three years ago with Turner.

Everyone wants to tag the line of ?hiring friends? our boosters do that in football with every damn hire. Amazing some of our best years are with guys people hated because they didn?t have access?Mullen/Leach/Jackie.

Maybe certain old heads need to look themselves in the mirror and realize it isn?t the same day and age as it use to be. And don?t give me the adage ?we don?t have money?. We have it. A lot more than people care to admit. It?s time for us to start going all in like the guys up north.

[bulldawg28]

Also it?s the most Mississippi state thing to give KT the keys when Luke K is the hugest ranked QB prospect we have ever had on campus. Too bad he only knows 1/3 of the playbook.

There's no way possible he's been here the entire year and only knows 1/3 of the playbook. It's not rocket science and you have the coach in your helmet for an extended period of time.

[BlackSailsDawg]

There is no doubt that more money will help but there are only so many SEC level OL and DL in the portal each year and it will always be difficult for us to outbid others for them. We are going to have to be very good at evaluating players in the portal and I think we need to focus on getting good lineman out of high school and develop them.
I don't know how much money we dedicate to recruiting and portal evaluation but I'm sure it's not enough.

Our fans are not willing to give a HC time to develop the program and players. We are under the misguided impression that we have the NIL dollars to flip the roster with a ready made team and if that does not happen, we fire everybody.

[BlackSailsDawg]

We have enough money to be a 8 win team this year. It's obviously not the money

No we didn't. Or we would be. What you saw was a staff getting every ounce of the players we have just to be in that situation.

[CadaverDawg]

No, it's on us. You are literally suggesting that our lack of NIL is his problem and he should over come that just to get you in the stands. How can he over come that? developing players? That takes time. Not an off season. And our fans are under the impression that it's no big deal to do that.

So here is what your route takes us to. A revolving door in coaching with not stability in recruiting. No player is going to come here for less money and an unsure situation every year to 2 years. The problem becomes compounded by having to pay off coaches which cuts into our ability to hire a coaching staff.

If that's where you are, have at it. I will still be a state fan and wish for the best. But I will never expect more than what we are paying for in relation to other schools.

I think you're confusing me for another poster. I didn't say it was a NIL issue or anything else. I'm fine with giving him time but you can't expect people to keep showing up for a garbage product, especially when those games we clearly had enough talent to win bc we led all of them late, but Lebby blew it.

Hell, Kiffin is taking Ole Miss to the playoffs and is still bitching about bad crowds, yet State fans are supposed to "pack the house" for garbage week in a week out? Sounds beautiful and delightful, but far from reality in my opinion.

[bulldawg28]

No we didn't. Or we would be. What you saw was a staff getting every ounce of the players we have just to be in that situation.

Money was not the reason we lost to Florida, TN, or Texas. Everything was there to win. Poor coaching and situational football lost those 3.

[Quaoarsking]

No we didn't. Or we would be. What you saw was a staff getting every ounce of the players we have just to be in that situation.

It's just delusional and cultish to say that actually we weren't good enough to compete with a 3-9 Florida team, and that actually the fact that Lebby was able to screw it up and cost us the win is a testament to how good of a coach he actually is.

Any reasonably competent coach would have beaten Florida this year with the amount of NIL funding we had. Lebby almost did it himself but his decisions (including the one at the end, but also earlier ones) cost the team the win.