2026 Mississippi State Football Coaching Turnover Tracker 2.0

[Tater]

Then you and I have heard the same. I've cobbled together that Brian Hadad apparently said something on a podcast that one of the potential staff changes would surprise a lot of people and I guess everyone ran with it that he meant Bumphis.

That would make sense. Part of why I'm trying to track this thread to drown out noise / dumbass rumors.

I haven't been given DL name yet, but have heard the same on Holocek as you put in the other thread. Waiting for confirmation that Hutzler is out before making a DC hot board that could turn into wishcasting.

[Coach34]

Watching our D in person it was easy to see we lack talent still. It is a little improved but overall its just not there.

We cant tackle in space. Mississippi's WR's kept making us miss tackles while our fast WR's were unable to make them miss
Our LB's play hard but they are slow. Not much help to us in underneath coverage
Jones is a top notch cover guy- but the rest are not. 4 is toast on a plate and while Manning and Smith are solid- they arent AA's either. 15 is nothing to write home about either

When you are good at one part of defense- either against the run or the pass- you can scheme your way into hiding what you arent good at. When you are good at neither- scheme is now irrelevant. It's just try and guess what they are gonna do and hope they can defend it to not give up the big play. We were able to slow the run Friday- but in doing so we had to take chances on the back end and well, as we saw- they just abused us. Had we backed up the safeties to help over the top- they would have run wild on us

[Coursesuper]

Watching our D in person it was easy to see we lack talent still. It is a little improved but overall its just not there.

We cant tackle in space. Mississippi's WR's kept making us miss tackles while our fast WR's were unable to make them miss
Our LB's play hard but they are slow. Not much help to us in underneath coverage
Jones is a top notch cover guy- but the rest are not. 4 is toast on a plate and while Manning and Smith are solid- they arent AA's either. 15 is nothing to write home about either

When you are good at one part of defense- either against the run or the pass- you can scheme your way into hiding what you arent good at. When you are good at neither- scheme is now irrelevant. It's just try and guess what they are gonna do and hope they can defend it to not give up the big play. We were able to slow the run Friday- but in doing so we had to take chances on the back end and well, as we saw- they just abused us. Had we backed up the safeties to help over the top- they would have run wild on us

Yeah, we were pretty much drop 3 all day, and they found the mismatch everytime, they were motioning into the matchup they were looking for and it payed off.

[StarkVegasSteve]

That would make sense. Part of why I'm trying to track this thread to drown out noise / dumbass rumors.

I haven't been given DL name yet, but have heard the same on Holocek as you put in the other thread. Waiting for confirmation that Hutzler is out before making a DC hot board that could turn into wishcasting.

Same. I have no confirmation on WHEN Hutzler will be out. Just that he will be out unless we have an 11th hour change. On DL, like I posted in another thread, Pernell McPhee is the name I have continually heard. I actually heard his name a lot last offseason which is why I was quite confident that Turner was being transitioned off the field.

[Maroon Glasses]

Watching our D in person it was easy to see we lack talent still. It is a little improved but overall its just not there.

We cant tackle in space. Mississippi's WR's kept making us miss tackles while our fast WR's were unable to make them miss
Our LB's play hard but they are slow. Not much help to us in underneath coverage
Jones is a top notch cover guy- but the rest are not. 4 is toast on a plate and while Manning and Smith are solid- they arent AA's either. 15 is nothing to write home about either

When you are good at one part of defense- either against the run or the pass- you can scheme your way into hiding what you arent good at. When you are good at neither- scheme is now irrelevant. It's just try and guess what they are gonna do and hope they can defend it to not give up the big play. We were able to slow the run Friday- but in doing so we had to take chances on the back end and well, as we saw- they just abused us. Had we backed up the safeties to help over the top- they would have run wild on us

This is the type of breakdown I like to read.

Nice post, coach. We sold out to stop the run and did for the most part. Or atleast the big explosive runs. But they killed us over the top. Actually should have been worse than the final outcome. Chambliss missed a few and they had some big drops. If that doesn't happen they might score 60 on our secondary. 40 against Brumfield.

[Tater]

Same. I have no confirmation on WHEN Hutzler will be out. Just that he will be out unless we have an 11th hour change. On DL, like I posted in another thread, Pernell McPhee is the name I have continually heard. I actually heard his name a lot last offseason which is why I was quite confident that Turner was being transitioned off the field.

I'd love it. If I or anyone else double confirms then I'll list him on the first post as the potential replacement.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'd love it. If I or anyone else double confirms then I'll list him on the first post as the potential replacement.

I feel confident enough at this point to say he won't return. When Robertson won't shoot it down, that tends to solidify it in my mind. The stuff I have heard has also just been way too consistent with the messaging.

[Coach34]

I feel confident enough at this point to say he won't return.

Yep. He doesnt want to do it but knows he wont have any Crootin money if he doesnt. A new DC is happening

[BlackSailsDawg]

I'm fine either way.

[confucius say]

Don't know if he would take the demotion, but moving Hutz to special teams where his background is makes sense.
I doubt he would find a job better than our ST coach right now anyway.

[Tater]

I feel confident enough at this point to say he won't return. When Robertson won't shoot it down, that tends to solidify it in my mind. The stuff I have heard has also just been way too consistent with the messaging.

I changed up how I'm presenting the table a bit and not gonna sit here and ascribe folks to their rumor. Maybe on DC Hot board when we get there or a name just has overwhelming legs. Lots of different names and I don't think we have a clear plan we're sharing yet.

[KB21]

Is Jeff meeting with the media today?

[Maverick91]

Ok Tater, you're decently connected as well so maybe you've heard it in your circles. But where the hell was the Bumphis job being in jeopardy coming from? I haven't heard that from anyone I spoke to. I saw either On3 or GP saying that he was going to be let go. WR has been the least of our issues. And although Lebby did recruit Thompson and Evans, Chad got Craver and Coleman. I also think our WRs play pretty well. Their routes are pretty crisp and they know how to get separation.

I do wish they were better at blocking but that also might be a size issue.

[KB21]

So, with the Womack flip, the elephant in the room is this. Are we getting DJ Durkin?

[TrapGame]

So, with the Womack flip, the elephant in the room is this. Are we getting DJ Durkin?

There is a buzz but I don't know if it's legit or just wishful thinking.

[StarkVegasSteve]

So, with the Womack flip, the elephant in the room is this. Are we getting DJ Durkin?

No. His situation is still iffy. Womack wanted to come here. He likes Lebby and he likes Barnes, who may be the only defensive staffer to say. Womack committing isn't a decision on the DC one way or the other. We needed him, we probably overpaid a tad, but we got him.

[KB21]

No. His situation is still iffy. Womack wanted to come here. He likes Lebby and he likes Barnes, who may be the only defensive staffer to say. Womack committing isn't a decision on the DC one way or the other. We needed him, we probably overpaid a tad, but we got him.

Got you! That's interesting for the other rumor at play then. Matt Barnes was a GA for Muschamp at Florida.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Got you! That's interesting for the other rumor at play then. Matt Barnes was a GA for Muschamp at Florida.

I've asked a few people this morning and, while I'm waiting for one more to get back to me, the others have said that the Muschamp thing was nothing more than us calling and gauging interest. I do know that we'd have to keep Hutzler on in some form or fashion, probably STC. That's been confirmed by everyone I've asked about it. It would be a non starter for Will to come if he was straight up replacing Hutzler and putting him out of a job.

[Cowbeller]

I've asked a few people this morning and, while I'm waiting for one more to get back to me, the others have said that the Muschamp thing was nothing more than us calling and gauging interest. I do know that we'd have to keep Hutzler on in some form or fashion, probably STC. That's been confirmed by everyone I've asked about it. It would be a non starter for Will to come if he was straight up replacing Hutzler and putting him out of a job.

Has anyone gauged if he is willing to step back?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Has anyone gauged if he is willing to step back?

I don't know if we have or not. Last year the rumors were he'd be happy to do that and stay on staff as a recruiter, because the guy recruited pretty damn good out of the portal. But no clue on this year.