Former Texas Tech HC hired on staff…

[OopsICroomedmypants]

I say this with genuine curiosity, but what makes you so excited about this portal class?

On paper, it’s #40 nationally and #16 in the conference per 247. Then, when looking at the individuals, I see a lot of kids that were fairly highly rated out of HS, but very few that did much at their last collegiate stop. In other words, a lot more potential than production

Either way, we’ll find out in September

That's what teams with losing records have to do. Sign potential. If we can turn the ship around this season. Recruiting and the portal will pick up. You have to have money AND a winning program to consistently get the proven players in the portal.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Chester was a freshman all SEC at guard/center LSU staff moved him to tackle last fall where he didn’t perform as well.

Yes. He ultimately lost his job, right?

 

[OopsICroomedmypants]

I don’t think many hate him, we just recognize he has produced terrible results so far. One league win (against the worst team in the league) is not very impressive.

MSU pulled a rookie defensive coordinator for Lebby. It's a miracle we got Arnett back. I'll start the clock on Lebby this year since he's been playing with half a team. I think the guy can coach offense as good as anybody. Let's just get a defense that can hold somebody below 30 and we can win more.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

MSU pulled a rookie defensive coordinator for Lebby. It's a miracle we got Arnett back. I'll start the clock on Lebby this year since he's been playing with half a team. I think the guy can coach offense as good as anybody. Let's just get a defense that can hold somebody below 30 and we can win more.

So you're just going to disregard the last two seasons? That's certainly a unique approach.

 

[Baddog11]

Between this hire and Bartoo talking up Arnett and Phillip Montgomery on Out of Bounds.... Saban talking up KT. I have a full wool coat! Let's go!

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

More eyes with experience on the offensive product can not be a bad thing. Can be debated how big deal it is, but it has to be a positive.

 

[Bulldawg77]

Yes. He ultimately lost his job, right?

At tackle. He’s not asked to play tackle here. The point is he hasn’t lost the talent to play guard. Your doing your damndest to discredit the kid and the roster

 

[Seinfeld]

On3 has it ranked in the top 20. I love what we added in the DL and secondary. I’m a fan of the young OL we added and the guys who will start and play.

Yeah, I still can't wrap my head around exactly what On3 is doing with its portal ranking systems. My first eyebrow raise was actually in basketball when I think it was DCD that mentioned that Jans had a Top 15 portal class a couple of months ago. Upon review, it didn't take long to realize that On3 gives out 4* transfer ratings like grandparents give out werther's originals.

As far as football goes, they seem to be a lot more detailed and organized as far as the individual ratings go, but the team rankings are hard to understand. I mean, we're ahead of OM by their score in spite of OM having a 4-0 lead for 4* transfers and a much higher avg rating for the class. I guess it's because On3's rankings are looking more closely at the difference between an individual team's incoming vs outgoing classes rather than solely score of the incoming class. From that perspective, we definitely seem to have improved.

 

[Seinfeld]

That's what teams with losing records have to do. Sign potential. If we can turn the ship around this season. Recruiting and the portal will pick up. You have to have money AND a winning program to consistently get the proven players in the portal.

I don't argue with any of this, but I'll maintain that it's tough to get too overly excited about a transfer class that is still #16 out of 16 SEC teams at the end of the day.

If this is the year that we finally figure out how to get guys like this in and convince them to hang around for a couple years so that we can actually develop them, though, by all means... I'll start looking at these types of classes differently

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

At tackle. He’s not asked to play tackle here. The point is he hasn’t lost the talent to play guard. Your doing your damndest to discredit the kid and the roster

The bottom line is he lost his job at both positions. That’s a fact. I’m sorry your feelings are hurt.

 

[Bulldawg77]

The bottom line is he lost his job at both positions. That’s a fact. I’m sorry your feelings are hurt.

Look bud. My feeling aren’t hurt. You want to shite on a kid who worked his *** off to start in the SEC and did as freshman at LSU, that’s pretty dumb. He didn’t lose his job at guard they moved him to tackle because they, being LSU staff, thought he could play tackle. He struggled there but he didnt lose his job at guards they just moved him around. Be better dude

 

[patdog]

At tackle. He’s not asked to play tackle here. The point is he hasn’t lost the talent to play guard. Your doing your damndest to discredit the kid and the roster

If he was good enough to play guard or center for LSU last year, he would have been moved. Back in a minute. FR all-conference is a crapshoot. It often comes down to who got playing time because the starter was injured or his team sucked. The FR all-sec Qb last year was some guy named Cutter Boley at Kentucky. You think we’re ever going to hear from him again?

 

[Bulldawg77]

If he was good enough to play guard or center for LSU last year, he would have been moved. Back in a minute. FR all-conference is a crapshoot. It often comes down to who got playing time because the starter was injured or his team sucked. The FR all-sec Qb last year was some guy named Cutter Boley at Kentucky. You think we’re ever going to hear from him again?

Well he was a four star rated QB and will be the starting QB at Arizona state. So a good chance we will hear from him again .

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Look bud. My feeling aren’t hurt. You want to shite on a kid who worked his *** off to start in the SEC and did as freshman at LSU, that’s pretty dumb. He didn’t lose his job at guard they moved him to tackle because they, being LSU staff, thought he could play tackle. He struggled there but he didnt lose his job at guards they just moved him around. Be better dude

You seem pretty emotional. None of my posts are personal shots at DJ—they're about evaluating our offensive line, so relax.

DJ didn't hold onto the G job. LSU moved him there to compete, but ultimately felt Mubenga gave them a better option at guard. Rather than keep Chester there, they started cross-training him at T because they were trying to get their best five linemen on the field.

That experiment didn't stick. Once it became clear T wasn't his best fit, LSU still didn't move him back into the starting G position. If they believed he was the better G, they had every opportunity to put him back there. Instead, they continued elsewhere, which says a lot about how they viewed the competition.

Look, I get it. You've got Rosebowl on speed dial and are getting fed that this is the best OL we've ever had. I genuinely hope that's true.

 

[Bulldawg77]

You seem pretty emotional. None of my posts are personal shots at DJ—they're about evaluating our offensive line, so relax.

DJ didn't hold onto the guard job. LSU moved him there to compete, but ultimately felt Mubenga gave them a better option at guard. Rather than keep Chester there, they started cross-training him at tackle because they were trying to get their best five linemen on the field.

That experiment didn't stick. Once it became clear tackle wasn't his best fit, LSU still didn't move him back into the starting guard spot. If they believed he was the better guard, they had every opportunity to put him back there. Instead, they continued elsewhere, which says a lot about how they viewed the competition.

Look, I get it. You've got Rosebowl on speed dial and are getting fed that this is the best OL we've ever had. I genuinely hope that's true.

Nice work with AI on your response. And. No. let’s just say me and Rosebowl don’t see eye to eye on anything.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Nice work with AI on your response. And. No. let’s just say me and Rosebowl don’t see eye to eye on anything.

So, you agree on Chester's role at LSU. Got it.

 

[patdog]

Well he was a four star rated QB and will be the starting QB at Arizona state. So a good chance we will hear from him again .

That’s a pretty weak looking qb room at asu. And he still hasn’t won the starting job yet. Regardless, I’m almost certain he was nowhere near the best FR QB in the SEC last year.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

Maybe I'm behind the times, but what does a senior offensive consultant do?

Hopefully tell the head coach not to "go fast" when he was a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter!

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

You say that but we old timers remember Jackie’s latter-era coaching staffs with three head coaches as assistant coaches…

Besides too much salt is bad for you… **

2003 Former head coaches on staff - Ron Cooper, Rockey Felker, Curley Hallman, John Blake, Steve Campbell.
All that experience resulted in 2-10

 

[Bulldawg77]

So, you agree on Chester's role at LSU. Got it.

Do we really have fans this much out of touch.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Do we really have fans this much out of touch.

You're sticking with the ad hominem argument and avoiding the points. Interesting strategy.

 

[Bulldawg77]

You're sticking with the ad hominem argument and avoiding the points. Interesting strategy.

Points. Ok baseball guy. I’m not the one who couldn’t make an argument without consulting AI. You have done everything you can to try and discredit a player for …wait for it Mississippi State. A kid who has started games in the SEC. A four star HS recruit who had we signed out of HS and who has been first team freshman all SEC and returning this year, another year older..our fans
Would be foaming at the mouth. Nope not baseball guy. He’s consulting AI to try and discredit a kid.
This thread was about us adding more coaches. I chimed in about the improvement of coaching staff, I talked about the increase in talent level. You, come on here say we ain’t got nun talent … we ain’t got nun good coaches. You then you double down and discredit a kid who has played and who has played well in the SEC. How, by using AI.
I get it you and others don’t like Lebby. I’m not pro Lebby or anti Lebby he has to win bottom line. I’m pro Mississippi state football . Heres my deal; this season is about to start and I just can’t understand why some of you all cannot see that he as the HC along with the AD have done exactly what we asked him to do this offseason. Increase talent level, done! Sure we would have liked to have closed the deal on a few more players but Any school could say that , we have increased the coaching staff and salary pool. Done! Hell I bet most of you all couldn’t name most the coaches. We have increased our NIL, I hope each and everyone on here does give.
Finally. We have got to stop tearing down this program internally. Go to games support the program give to NIL. See that we are trying to turn things around. Stop being part of the problem and be part of the solution!

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Wow. I must admit such an emotional and evidence-based argument, with carefully reasoned responses, has changed my mind.

As you revealed, Lebby has assembled one of the nation’s top OL transfer portal classes, loaded with players with impressive resumes and accolades.

The sheer gene’s page'esque caliber of your posts has left me with no choice but to agree and concede the fact that we’re going to be one of the best OL in the nation next season.

 

[FlotownDawg]

Sweet Jeebus. If you put it that way….

I’ll never forget Ron Cooper clamping his own butt cheeks. What a time to be alive that was.

I think that was the game that Oregon came to Starkville and led 28-0 after the first quarter and about two thirds of the fans left. I'll never forget the ESPN broadcast showing people streaming out of the exits at the end of the first quarter. That was Jackie's last year I think, and we were horrible.

 

[patdog]

I think that was the game that Oregon came to Starkville and led 28-0 after the first quarter and about two thirds of the fans left. I'll never forget the ESPN broadcast showing people streaming out of the exits at the end of the first quarter. That was Jackie's last year I think, and we were horrible.

That was the worst quarter of football I’ve seen in my life.

 

[o_Hot Rock]

Didn't Chester lose his starting job, with his playing time dropping off significantly afterward?

As for McVay, he hasn't lived up to the hype so far. Has he even made a start?

Our offensive line may look better on paper than last year's, but that's a pretty low bar to clear. It's hard to imagine it being any worse.

Most of the optimism surrounding this group seems to be rooted in projection. I sincerely hope they develop into the unit many expect them to be, but that expectation still requires a considerable amount of faith.

And, based on what we've seen so far, a Lebby-coached team hasn't done much to earn that level of confidence.

Chester started as a true FR at center for LSU. Yes, he moved positions to tackle and still played games last year as a backup but lots of guys don’t even get to play until year three and some make the NFL.

He will not be a tackle for us but a guard and backup center. That’s depth and experience from a former 4 star HS. WHAT the 17 you looking for?

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Chester started as a true FR at center for LSU. Yes, he moved positions to tackle and still played games last year as a backup but lots of guys don’t even get to play until year three and some make the NFL.

He will not be a tackle for us but a guard and backup center. That’s depth and experience from a former 4 star HS. WHAT the 17 you looking for?

You're right. He's clearly a top pick in next years draft.

 

[Darryl Steight]

You're sticking with the ad hominem argument and avoiding the points. Interesting strategy.

I typically like your posts, but you are working really extra hard to convince everyone we suck.

Not sure I understand the endgame here. It's a little early to make a final decision on Chester, I think, since he hasn't played a snap for us here. I'm not ready to hate him just yet, if that's what you are after.

 

[Bulldawg77]

I typically like your posts, but you are working really extra hard to convince everyone we suck.

Not sure I understand the endgame here. It's a little early to make a final decision on Chester, I think, since he hasn't played a snap for us here. I'm not ready to hate him just yet, if that's what you are after.

He’s a troll. We have a very large number of posters that are going out of their way to discredit Lebby, the players and the program. It’s really beyond my comprehension how fans of Mississippi State and on a fan message board continue to try and run down the coaches, the players,and the administration

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

He’s a troll. We have a very large number of posters that are going out of their way to discredit Lebby, the players and the program. It’s really beyond my comprehension how fans of Mississippi State and on a fan message board continue to try and run down the coaches, the players,and the administration

And if Lebby proves them wrong then you can do some cartwheels on here. It’s put up or shut up time for him and the staff with many so let the season play out and we will see who’s right. Otherwise give it a 17ing rest.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

I typically like your posts, but you are working really extra hard to convince everyone we suck.

This is the last I’ll say on it, in this thread.

I’m not trying to convince everyone we suck.

My point is simply that I think our portal class is underwhelming (the rankings seem to agree FWIW). This lady can’t seem to separate that opinion from saying the program is doomed. His evidence is that one player made Freshman All-SEC and another (who’s yet to start) was a 4* recruit in HS. My response is that, so far, neither has lived up to that hype.

As Pat pointed out, Freshman All-SEC sometimes reflects opportunity as much as performance. The bigger issue to me is that he lost his starting job. Then the guy who beat him out transferred, seemingly giving him a clear path to win it back, yet he transferred too. That at least suggest the coaching staff at LSU didn’t see him as the answer.

I hope I’m 1000% wrong. I’d love for Lebby to prove me wrong, win big, and become the next Saban here. We can’t keep changing coaches every few years while OM continues to do what they’ve been doing. That’s a losing formula for us. We all should be hoping he figures it out. I just haven’t seen a lot to make me believe he will.

I’ll give Lebby credit for getting rid of Hutzler. That guy sucked. If we can be marginally better on defense, we might win 1-2 more games than last season. That would be a move in the right direction, obviously.

What this lady doesn’t seem to understand is that acknowledging legit concerns isn’t the same as rooting against the program. That mindset is straight out of gene’s page circa 2002-2003 where any criticism was treated as disloyalty.

 

[Awwhellnaw]

Lazy hire. Only bringing him in because he is a former player*****

 

[o_Hot Rock]

You're right. He's clearly a top pick in next years draft.

doing nothing but trolling now.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

doing nothing but trolling now.

Well she's obviously shown that any sort of discussion over concern is hurting the program, so I went with that.

If you're too emotionally attached to be objective then that's on you.

 

[o_Hot Rock]

If you're too emotionally attached to be objective then that's on you.

Emotionally attached? Are you nuts? I am simply saying he is damn good prospect and you leaped to top draft pick. You must be drunk, trolling or stupid. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt by saying you are trolling but with your 2nd emotional comment I am leaning toward drunk or stupid.

 

[Right_Field_Heckler]

Emotionally attached? Are you nuts? I am simply saying he is damn good prospect and you leaped to top draft pick. You must be drunk, trolling or stupid. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt by saying you are trolling but with your 2nd emotional comment I am leaning toward drunk or stupid.

I was obviously being sarcastic, ma'am.

You're defending the guy that says any sort of discussion on concerns for our portal class is being hurtful to MSU, genius.

Yes, I consider that being emotional. Please keep up...or don't.