Year two of the Jeff Lebby era at Mississippi State will be a pivotal one for the program. After a 2-10 record in his debut season as an SEC head coach, Lebby is looking to turn the page and move the Bulldogs in a positive direction.
But there is a glaring challenge to those efforts — a remarkably tough schedule. The relatively new football frontman, however, is viewing the challenges ahead as opportunities rather than obstacles.
“For us, it’s all about opportunity. I think I had a great awareness of what the league was when I was able to get the job. That part of it wasn’t going to change,” Lebby said during his floor speech at SEC Media Days. “For me and our guys, we understand what the gauntlet looks like. That’s exciting. What a great challenge, what a great opportunity. Our guys will be excited to go chase it.”
ESPN has Mississippi State’s schedule ranked as the sixth-toughest nationally, and for good reason. The Bulldogs’ home slate includes matchups against Arizona State, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, and Ole Miss. Notable road matchups will be against Florida, Arkansas, and Missouri. An opening day contest against a revamped Southern Miss in enemy territory could also get interesting. Nonetheless, Lebby is confident that his team will be prepared for the tall task ahead.
“I think about how we’ve created some momentum inside of our building by signing a really good high school class, by signing a really good portal class, addressing the needs that we had to address to change the outcome this fall. That’s all we’ve talked about, our plan and our process to change the outcome,” Lebby said.”I think about all the new guys that are part of our football team and part of our roster.
“The thing that excites me the most is their consistency, their buy-in. Inside our walls right now, we have great belief, we have great hope, we have great energy. Our guys are incredibly intent on getting better and changing the outcome this fall.”
Last year, Mississippi State’s defense was the worst in the conference by an alarming margin. The maroon and white surrendered over 34 points per game — 10 more than the second-to-worst performer — and 456 yards per contest. Stopping an opponent’s rushing game, particularly, was defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler’s largest struggle.
Offensively, things were better, but not enough to mask an inability to prevent production on the other side of the ball. Mississippi State ranked No. 14 in scoring, averaging 25.8 points per game, and No. 13 in yards per game, averaging 377.2. A week-four injury to starting quarterback Blake Shapen also threw a wrench in things, though freshman Michael Van Buren was a solid replacement but he’s now playing for conference rival LSU.
Putting it succinctly, expectations in Starkville are that last year’s results should be a one-time outcome, and Lebby is well aware that change in the right direction must be accomplished in year two. Looking to turn the page, Lebby retained Shapen as his starting signal-caller, talented running back Davon Booth, and SEC-leading tackler Isaac Smith to anchor a roster made up of many new faces.
Lebby acknowledged at the annual SEC preseason extravaganza that 80% of his players are in their first or second year within the program. To help mold and shape a mostly new collection of guys, many of whom came via the transfer portal and are expected to have a day-one impact on the field, Lebby also added a collection of seasoned veterans to his coaching staff.
Headlining the new members of the staff are Paul Rhoads, who spent seven years as Iowa State’s head coach, and Mike MacIntyre, a defensive mind with more than 30 years of coaching experience. Vincent Dancy, a former head man at Mississippi Valley State, and Phil Loadholt, who most recently served as Deion Sanders’ offensive line guru at Colorado, were also brought in during the offseason. Three of the four newcomers will look to boost Hutzler’s defense.
“With [the new assistants], Coach Hutzler has done an unbelievable job on the defensive side, creating that belief and buy-i,n while we’ve done an unbelievable job, in my opinion, of supplementing the staff, having the ability to go hire three former head coaches,” Lebby said. “[They] have a great amount of experience to be able to help in the room.”
Lebby assured Bulldog fans that he and his supporting cast have been putting in the work needed to flip the script and that his team will continue to stick their heads down and devote themselves to fielding a much-improved product by the time week one rolls around. With 45 days remaining until the Bulldogs face the Golden Eagles in what is expected to be a packed M.M. Roberts Stadium, Lebby’s goal is to work hard and get better each day.
“Everything for us points to August 30,” Lebby remarked. “As we move forward, we think about fall camp, how we change the
outcome. We change the outcome by the way we practice and how we do what we do.”
