What is Mississippi State's greatest on-field accomplishment under Zach Selmon?
- Thread starter TheBannerM
- Start date
It would involve Women's Soccer and Women's Softball.
LT had a few. Won the West in football. Went to the final four in basketball. But the hiring of Croom killed all the good will from those two accomplishments.
NIJA had none
Grasshopper had none.
Cohen had a NC in Baseball.
Selmon still up in the air.
NIJA had none
Grasshopper had none.
Cohen had a NC in Baseball.
Selmon still up in the air.
It's his athletic department. It's his job to make sure everyone is getting the resources they need. He shouldn't get a pass or not get credit for things happening with coaches from the previous administration.
Ninja.. What??? He hired Mullen. And the football success can be attributed to Byrne and that hire. Byrne actual developed and modernized States brand. Byrne hired cohen. Again, I attribute the 2013 World Series to the hire. I will forever be grateful for that guy.
Selmon 17d the brand. Some will say he didn't. Also he hired Lebby. But he hired Oak. So...you can attribute any future baseball success to Selmon.
Selmon 17d the brand. Some will say he didn't. Also he hired Lebby. But he hired Oak. So...you can attribute any future baseball success to Selmon.
Football went 10-3 under Stricklin and went to the CWS Finals.
Byrne saved our baseball program from oblivion by having the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Polk and hire a baseball coach that could modernize the program out of the 1980s. That took real girados to defy a legend like that and Foglesong deserves credit for backing him up.
I think that’s fair. I just would say most of the sports with coaches he inherited have mostly maintained the status quo.
"What is Mississippi State's greatest on-field accomplishment under Zach Selmon?"
The $4 MILLION worth of LED Disco Lights for sure shining on "the field" has to be it**, that we only turned on for an actual night game once I believe (AZ St?) Our first game this fall is listed as a night but starts at 6:30 so it won't be dark till 8:45, then only other night for sure is Mizzou on Sept 26 and time doesn't change till Nov 1 this year so it won't be dark early then either. Two others are possible later starts, or maybe not.................
The $4 MILLION worth of LED Disco Lights for sure shining on "the field" has to be it**, that we only turned on for an actual night game once I believe (AZ St?) Our first game this fall is listed as a night but starts at 6:30 so it won't be dark till 8:45, then only other night for sure is Mizzou on Sept 26 and time doesn't change till Nov 1 this year so it won't be dark early then either. Two others are possible later starts, or maybe not.................
Softball winning against Oklahoma in the supers in what was one of the greatest college sports upsets of all time.
Co-Pilot say:
If Selmon adds one major football rebound or a national title, he likely becomes the most complete AD in Mississippi State history.
ETA: Who had Strickland as "balanced excellence". When I tell you these AI's aren't anything to worry about and hallucinate, you should pay attention.
| Category | Selmon | Cohen | Stricklin | Byrne |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time period | 2023–present | 2016–2022 | 2010–2016 | 2008–2010 |
| National championships | 0 | 1 (Baseball 2021) | 0 | 0 |
| Football success | Weak so far | Mixed/declining | Peak era (No. 1 ranking) | Start of turnaround |
| Basketball | Improving (men & women) | Solid | Strong foundation | Limited |
| Olympic sports | Strongest depth (current) | Moderate | Strong | Limited |
| SEC championships | Emerging (soccer, golf) | Some | Some | Minimal |
| Facilities/fundraising | Record-setting | Major baseball project | Strong | Moderate |
| Overall impact | Rising | Peak moment | Balanced excellence | Foundational |
Final Ranking (All-Around Athletic Success)
1) Scott Stricklin
- Best holistic athletic era + football peak
- Built multiple elite programs simultaneously
2) John Cohen
- Slightly behind due to inconsistency—but:
- Only AD with a national championship
3) Zac Selmon (current trajectory)
- Could surpass both if:
- Football stabilizes
- A national title emerges
- Currently delivering top-tier depth across all sports
4) Greg Byrne
- Lower direct results, but high strategic impact via hires
Bottom Line
- Selmon is off to a very strong start, especially in non-revenue sports and fundraising, arguably matching or exceeding the depth of previous eras already.
- However, he has not yet matched the defining achievementsof predecessors:
- Stricklin → elite football era
- Cohen → national championship
If Selmon adds one major football rebound or a national title, he likely becomes the most complete AD in Mississippi State history.ETA: Who had Strickland as "balanced excellence". When I tell you these AI's aren't anything to worry about and hallucinate, you should pay attention.
100%, every bit of it. Our branding had never been better than it was from 2009-2015 or so. Stricklin held onto it pretty good because he understood it too. And while I do support Cohen more than others, branding/fundraising wasn't his forte and while he didn't tank the brand, he ALLOWED some outside voices to enter in and start eroding it. Then Selmon has gone all in trying to keep those folks happy because all he's worried about is fundraising, so we're barreling toward a full re-brand which is 17ing ignorant.
All ADs have a strength, whether it's hiring/firing, fundraising, branding, etc. The key is to hire out your weaknesses. Stricklin, Cohen and Selmon never did that.
I honestly wish Cohen had just stayed the baseball coach. He'd have likely won a title. And I honestly think we need that hard-nosed edge. While I like OC, he kinda reminds me of Polk where I think we'll see a lot of regional hosts but maybe not a title. Oh well, that's fine. But back to Cohen's coach hiring, which was allegedly his strength, he often overthought that too. We like to give him credit for Lemonis and the title, but I also think that was just some incredibly good fortune and maybe the Dead One's offering us up a gift after the many bad decisions we made later on. If not for COVID, we might compete for the title in 2020, but 2021 we wouldn't have had Rowdy/TA and the slide starts earlier. Hell we even got a little favor with the wins over Texas with backup players and revenge on Vandy. And just think about the twistedass path it took to get us there, Cannizaro bringing in TA, then Lemonis/Foxhall with Bednar, etc. Nobody could have predicted that.......it just happened.
Our athletics world has been shlt ever since then, beginning that next week with NIL.
We can evolve our branding, but we really need to get back to those Byrne/early Stricklin era principles. And then assess what each sports program does and doesn't do well and hire accordingly.
i guess cohen-burger gets credit for the men's sec tennis championships in 2018 and 2019.
How can anyone rank Scott Stricklin as "Strong Foundation" for basketball? Left to his own devises the man hired RICK RAY.Co-Pilot say:
Category Selmon Cohen Stricklin Byrne Time period 2023–present 2016–2022 2010–2016 2008–2010 National championships 0 1 (Baseball 2021) 0 0 Football success Weak so far Mixed/declining Peak era (No. 1 ranking) Start of turnaround Basketball Improving (men & women) Solid Strong foundation Limited Olympic sports Strongest depth (current) Moderate Strong Limited SEC championships Emerging (soccer, golf) Some Some Minimal Facilities/fundraising Record-setting Major baseball project Strong Moderate Overall impact Rising Peak moment Balanced excellence Foundational
Final Ranking (All-Around Athletic Success)
1) Scott Stricklin
- Best holistic athletic era + football peak
- Built multiple elite programs simultaneously
2) John Cohen
- Slightly behind due to inconsistency—but:
- Only AD with a national championship
3) Zac Selmon (current trajectory)
- Could surpass both if:
- Football stabilizes
- A national title emerges
- Currently delivering top-tier depth across all sports
4) Greg Byrne
- Lower direct results, but high strategic impact via hires
- Selmon is off to a very strong start, especially in non-revenue sports and fundraising, arguably matching or exceeding the depth of previous eras already.
- However, he has not yet matched the defining achievementsof predecessors:
- Stricklin → elite football era
- Cohen → national championship
ETA: Who had Strickland as "balanced excellence". When I tell you these AI's aren't anything to worry about and hallucinate, you should pay attention.
And no, hiring Vic does not negate that hire. Nor does being gifted Ben Howland by Adidas.
The hiring of Croom was massive and major newsworthy across the country. Everyone thought it was a grand slam hire.
We found out pretty soon thereafter why bama passed on him but for MS State, it was huge when it happened.
A train wreck for the most part except for beating bama and Florida and winning a bowl game.