On Lebby

[Bulldawg77]

12 wins since '23, and only 2 of those in conference and by a grand total of 7 points , you're pretty much correct even when you weren't trying to be

MIs management of roster by Leach Emerick Dudek and the ZA staff, lack of NIL involvement and investment from cohen and fans from day one. Lack of NIL funds in portal 23/24 kept us from making inroads and getting higher level coaches and players. These are not excuses these a facts. The average fan and message board negative warriors don’t want look at these facts they just want to be negative while also not investing in the program.
The 24/25 portal class was the first time we had actual Nil to get to the table. The 25/26 portal was the first time we could actually compete. We have closed the gap on talent within our conference as well as an increase in football investment.

 

[Bulldawg77]

-You keep harping on the terrible roster he inherited, he inherited a 5 win team from the year before, what happened to it to go from 5 wins to 2 and those 2 were against mighty E. KY and the worst team in the country in the previous decade, UMASS.

-Pittsburgh went 7-6 in 2024 (3-5 in conference) and that win over Pitt was a 2 point win in 6 OT's in a bowl game no less. Toledo finished 8-5

Are you serious right now?? We lost a **** ton of players (mostly Slomo recruits) from that 23 team going into 24. This is where some of you all just lose me. Yall think just because we won 5 games in 23 we should have been better in 24. No. That 23 team has a few players but were poorly coached. Another point is the talent was so bad in 24 add it the injuries and you get 2-20

 

[The Peeper]

Are you serious right now?? We lost a **** ton of players (mostly Slomo recruits) from that 23 team going into 24. This is where some of you all just lose me. Yall think just because we won 5 games in 23 we should have been better in 24. No. That 23 team has a few players but were poorly coached. Another point is the talent was so bad in 24 add it the injuries and you get 2-20

Why couldn't Lebby retain them? You'll say NIL I know but they got on campus w/ NIL, but he couldn't keep them?

 

[The Peeper]

MIs management of roster by Leach Emerick Dudek and the ZA staff, lack of NIL involvement and investment from cohen and fans from day one. Lack of NIL funds in portal 23/24 kept us from making inroads and getting higher level coaches and players. These are not excuses these a facts. The average fan and message board negative warriors don’t want look at these facts they just want to be negative while also not investing in the program.
The 24/25 portal class was the first time we had actual Nil to get to the table. The 25/26 portal was the first time we could actually compete. We have closed the gap on talent within our conference as well as an increase in football investment.

Ok Mrs Lebby, go take the kids to school now................

 

[Bulldawg77]

Why couldn't Lebby retain them? You'll say NIL I know but they got on campus w/ NIL, but he couldn't keep them?

I swear man. The lack of knowledge is mind blowing . It wasn’t transfers it was graduates… sure will left and Zavion left but the decams and others graduated. The Nil piece in 23/24 was adding players from portal

 

[Bulldawg77]

Ok Mrs Lebby, go take the kids to school now................

What an idiotic statement. I’m not trying to defend Lebby here. I’m trying to state the facts of how the program was left. Do I like Leb. Yes I do. But I’m also a realist and understand what he inherited and the mess that was left. He had to win 7 this year that’s been told to him and staff.

 

[Dawgbite]

You never hire a coach to keep a recruiting class. The real problem was Keenum dragging his feet on hiring an athletic director when he knew Cohen was at least a candidate to leave and he knew there were rumors of health issues with Leach. We can gripe and complain about all the stupid things Mississippi State has done over the years, but it all starts at the top.

I’m not a Keenum fan but there is no way Leach’ s death was even in any realm of possibilities he could have foreseen. You’re looking at the entire fiasco through the rear view mirror He may have known that Leach had heart issues but what male over 60 doesn’t.

 

[Dawgbite]

Libby needs fired for no other reason than it’s May, in the middle of what possibly could be an historic baseball season and there is a three page thread on why or when he should be fired.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

I’m not sure you , the average fan understands the roster situation and lack of NIL we had in 2024. It’s was a borderline mid MAC talent team. Toledo also beat Pitt in 24 just as a reference. Matt Campbell lost to UNI FCS team his first year at ISU. Jackie lost to Memphis and ULM, Dan lost to South AL and Houston.
the program was in the ******* it was a total rebuild

Yeah, other programs have lost games too. Ok.

None of the examples you cited were anything close to absolute beatdown Toledo put on us. Mullen lost to South Alabama because we missed a 20 yard field goal. It was bad, but fluky. If Toledo had beaten Lebby like that, we would be able to get over it.

We all know our roster and NIL weren't up to SEC standards in 2024, but I whole heartedly reject the notion that it was so bad that a mid-level MAC team should come into Starkville and completely humiliated and obliterate us. Again, a close fluky loss would be one thing, but that's not how that game went.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

What an idiotic statement. I’m not trying to defend Lebby here. I’m trying to state the facts of how the program was left. Do I like Leb. Yes I do. But I’m also a realist and understand what he inherited and the mess that was left. He had to win 7 this year that’s been told to him and staff.

If he goes 5-7 this fall, every argument that his defenders made this past November will still apply, and the same posters will be demanding to keep him again.

7-5 means starting out 4-0 (that's 3 upset wins) and then also beating Vanderbilt and Auburn, who will probably be favored over us too. The Lebby defenders will say that bar was too high to ask him to pull off 5 upsets in 1 year and that we should be happy with 2 or 3.

 

[patdog]

I’m not a Keenum fan but there is no way Leach’ s death was even in any realm of possibilities he could have foreseen. You’re looking at the entire fiasco through the rear view mirror He may have known that Leach had heart issues but what male over 60 doesn’t.

Dude, there were rumors floating around about his health for months. A lot of people knew something pretty bad was wrong.

 

[Rsbrsb1010]

My biggest worry is if he’s fired mid year and Arnett is named interim, we might retain him if the team gets a couple upset wins. If Arnett beats Ole Miss we might take the interim tag off of him.

 

[BulldogLegacy]

Since 2000, there have been a total of 73 non-interim head SEC football coaches.

One coach, in the history of the entire conference over the past 25 years, has ever been retained for a 3rd year after going 1-15 or worse in conference play in his first two seasons. This was Bobby Johnson at Vanderbilt, retained after starting off 1-15 in 2002/2003. Greg McElroy said this stat on the radio this week.

I saw someone that posted Josh Pate’s coaching grades like Lebby gets a B. He gets an F with a freaking capital letter. We convinced ourselves that since he beat Arkansas, who was 2-10 with an interim coach and gave us 200 yards in penalties, that were on the up swing.

We got punked by Wake Forest to make his record 7-18, 1-15. We fired Moorhead for 15-12, fired Arnett for 5-7.

If he doesn’t go 7-5 or better, he has to go.

I think he'll be gone if he goes less than 6-6. If he does get fired, some of these posters are going to look like idiots when Lebby ends up being a great OC somewhere else and then ends up being a good head coach.

 

[85Bears]

I think he'll be gone if he goes less than 6-6. If he does get fired, some of these posters are going to look like idiots when Lebby ends up being a great OC somewhere else and then ends up being a good head coach.

That was my biggest fear of Croom and Jomo being let go, they would go elsewhere and quickly win a NC****

 

[Bulldawg77]

Yeah, other programs have lost games too. Ok.

None of the examples you cited were anything close to absolute beatdown Toledo put on us. Mullen lost to South Alabama because we missed a 20 yard field goal. It was bad, but fluky. If Toledo had beaten Lebby like that, we would be able to get over it.

We all know our roster and NIL weren't up to SEC standards in 2024, but I whole heartedly reject the notion that it was so bad that a mid-level MAC team should come into Starkville and completely humiliated and obliterate us. Again, a close fluky loss would be one thing, but that's not how that game went.

Our roster in 2024 was mid level Sun belt bad. Add injuries at it was worse than that. Just for comparison sake and reiterate how bad our roster was that year. Toledo has had 5 players invited to the nfl combine last two years. We have had two… just this year. Yep zero in 24 and only traore was on the 24 team. Both Jax state and WKU had players attend the 24 combine.

 

[Pookieray]

-You keep harping on the terrible roster he inherited, he inherited a 5 win team from the year before, what happened to it to go from 5 wins to 2 and those 2 were against mighty E. KY and the worst team in the country in the previous decade, UMASS.

-Pittsburgh went 7-6 in 2024 (3-5 in conference) and that win over Pitt was a 2 point win in 6 OT's in a bowl game no less. Toledo finished 8-5

well what happened was every player that had any ability at all jumped ship after that 5 win season. they only stayed because they assumed or were told we would keep the same offense in tact. Lebby was hired towards the end of the portal closure and took what was available. it's been difficult to get it turned completely around in what i see as his first year (last season) and i was glad to see the improvement from the 2024 season. this has always been the year in my mind that will show if he's got what it takes to get us to where we need to be.

 

[Out of Bounds]

None of this stuff happens in a vacuum. If we had hired Lebby instead of Arnett and he went 7-18, he'd be gone now. We didn't. The adminstration believed continuity was more important than a real coaching search. And then we allowed Arnett to blow up the offense, inexplicably.

Two of our previous three coaches were fired after two season or less and the third one died. Like it or not, we have the reputation of being a hard place to win at. Couple that with the reputation of being not very patient and good luck hiring a competent coach. Fans like to say coaches would crawl over broken glass to coach an SEC team, but every coaching search we hear about coaches who turn us down (Chadwell, Fritz, etc.). Hiring coaches to State has always been a crapshoot and our poor choices have made it tougher.

Our previous poor choices were quickly rectified (Moorhead, Arnett), however we are now in a situation of putting up with incompetence just to show the next coach we're not a bunch of psychopaths.

It takes being a psychopath to win in the SEC in fball. Unfortunately, MSU is not there, yet.

 

[Out of Bounds]

This is it. We couldn't fire Lebby last year. We in all honesty probably shouldn't fire him this year no matter what. We will fire him though if he regresses and we will be right back where we were when we fired Arnett. We now have the rep for a quick trigger, and that is NOT good for a place like MSU.

This is nonsense & a losing mentality.

 

[85Bears]

This is nonsense & a losing mentality.

It is, perception doesn’t mean jack, it’s a dollars and cents bottom line now. Nobody cares. Buy a roster, hire a competent coach who can evaluate talent and run a program. It’s not rocket science.

 

[L4Dawg]

This is nonsense & a losing mentality.

The losing mentality is doing what we have been doing, which is having a quick trigger with coaches. It's what losers do.

 

[TheBannerM]

It takes being a psychopath to win in the SEC in fball. Unfortunately, MSU is not there, yet.

If it were up to you, we'd be getting ready to fire Barry Odom instead of Jeff Lebby.

 

[TheBannerM]

It is, perception doesn’t mean jack, it’s a dollars and cents bottom line now. Nobody cares. Buy a roster, hire a competent coach who can evaluate talent and run a program. It’s not rocket science.

It's like y'all forget everytime we need a coach how hard it is to hire someone. We NEVER hire the top guy on the hot board because we offer the job and they turn us down. Like it or not, State has a reputation as a hard job. It's easy to say "loser mentality" when you're not the one hiring.

 

[85Bears]

It's like y'all forget everytime we need a coach how hard it is to hire someone. We NEVER hire the top guy on the hot board because we offer the job and they turn us down. Like it or not, State has a reputation as a hard job. It's easy to say "loser mentality" when you're not the one hiring.

hanging on to a loser will do more damage than firing a loser. A bad reputation isn’t going to change by hanging on to a failing coach. pony up the money and hire a solid g5 or d2 coach. Of course a top p4 coach isn’t coming here.

 

[patdog]

well what happened was every player that had any ability at all jumped ship after that 5 win season. they only stayed because they assumed or were told we would keep the same offense in tact. Lebby was hired towards the end of the portal closure and took what was available. it's been difficult to get it turned completely around in what i see as his first year (last season) and i was glad to see the improvement from the 2024 season. this has always been the year in my mind that will show if he's got what it takes to get us to where we need to be.

Lebby was hired Nov 26. 2 weeks before the winter portal opened & several months before the spring portal opened.

 

[MagnoliaHunter]

Just exactly how many more multi-millionaires does ole Miss have than State?
They have been able to buy the coaching talent and the player talent. The sports media loves them but thinks it is impossible to win at State. They think we need to accept our lot and know our place !

I heard somewhere, maybe here, that there are two espn higher ups who are umiss grads. Is that true? If so that could explain all the love umiss gets on espn.

 

[85Bears]

I heard somewhere, maybe here, that there are two espn higher ups who are umiss grads. Is that true? If so that could explain all the love umiss gets on espn.

Just a wild guess here, but it could be Ole Miss making the playoffs and State being 2-22 in the sec has something to do with the “love” shown by espn

 

[blacklistedbully]

If things start bad, then just pull the trigger. It's possible Lebby has learned from his past mistakes. I hope that's the case and he gets off to a strong start and posts a season we can take pride in. But if there is any stumble in September.....then we have 2+ years of data to pull from in making the decision.

If he's under .500 at any point before November, it's time to move on.

View attachment 1282958

Interesting take. But I am curious why, if we go into the game @LSU 3-2 (in other words good enough to keep his job at that point), then lose @LSU & to Ok, he gets fired. Why would those 2 losses, both likely even if we are playing well, be the reason to fire, when 3-2 going into LSU would be acceptable?

 

[MagnoliaHunter]

Just a wild guess here, but it could be Ole Miss making the playoffs and State being 2-22 in the sec has something to do with the “love” shown by espn

While that is true, it has been going on for years.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Interesting take. But I am curious why, if we go into the game @LSU 3-2 (in other words good enough to keep his job at that point), then lose @LSU & to Ok, he gets fired. Why would those 2 losses, both likely even if we are playing well, be the reason to fire, when 3-2 going into LSU would be acceptable?

Being 3-2 and then 3-4 would probably mean we are 1-4 in the conference, on a three or four game losing streak, with possibly three of those losses at home, in year three of his tenure, with Texas coming up. There would be zero enthusiasm for the rest of the season, even with some potentially winnable games in the latter third. I'll agree that if we went from 3-0 to 3-4 that he probably would not get fired at that point. However we would almost assuredly be 3-5 a week later and if we held on to him even then he would need to win three of the last four to get to six wins.

Lebby's best path for survival is to start 4-0 knowing that we are nearly certain to drop four straight in October, and then fight like hell to make sure he beats either Vandy or Auburn along with TT to get to 6-6.

 

[The Peeper]

The losing mentality is doing what we have been doing, which is having a quick trigger with coaches. It's what losers do.

So, winners sit around patiently waiting for good things to happen years down the road and watch season ticket sales go down and fan apathy set in?
BS, talk about a "losing mentality", not in this day and age of NIL and transfers do you do that. Reminds me of Kevin Bacon in Animal House getting paddled and replying "Thank You Sir may I have another"?

 

[L4Dawg]

So, winners sit around patiently waiting for good things to happen years down the road and watch season ticket sales go down and fan apathy set in?
BS, talk about a "losing mentality", not in this day and age of NIL and transfers do you do that. Reminds me of Kevin Bacon in Animal House getting paddled and replying "Thank You Sir may I have another"?View attachment 1285707

No, but they generally don’t fire people after one or two year. That is what we have done with the last two we fired. Have to go a bit longer this time.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

The losing mentality is doing what we have been doing, which is having a quick trigger with coaches. It's what losers do.

LOL you got punked by Bo

 

[Baddog11]

I’m not a Keenum fan but there is no way Leach’ s death was even in any realm of possibilities he could have foreseen. You’re looking at the entire fiasco through the rear view mirror He may have known that Leach had heart issues but what male over 60 doesn’t.

The problem with this theory is that because of his cough and voice during the last 3 postgame interviews, the fans and media guys knew something was wrong and even alerted the team doctor that he needed to be checked out. Questions were definitely being asked about his coughing and hacking as it continued to get worse in the end.

 

[Baddog11]

The losing mentality is doing what we have been doing, which is having a quick trigger with coaches. It's what losers do.

The opposite is true. We’ve had the longest fuse in sec history. No other team has kept a coach after doing so bad in the history of the sec except Vandy when they kept Bobby Johnson after he started out with the same record as Lebby. Giving him extra time didn’t work out for Vandy.

 

[Bulldawg77]

Lebby has to win this year and it’s got to be 7 or more. We have increased our budget increased our NIL increased our financial support. We have increased our coaching staff and our talent level. It’s win this year he knows it Selmon knows it and fans know it.
As fans we need to support Mississippi state football. We have to show investment on our side as well if we have to make a change. Personally I feel based on what I have observed this offseason and spring we are a 7 to 8 win team. Still have to get it done on Saturdays but I’m encouraged by what we have.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Lebby has to win this year and it’s got to be 7 or more. We have increased our budget increased our NIL increased our financial support. We have increased our coaching staff and our talent level. It’s win this year he knows it Selmon knows it and fans know it.
As fans we need to support Mississippi state football. We have to show investment on our side as well if we have to make a change. Personally I feel based on what I have observed this offseason and spring we are a 7 to 8 win team. Still have to get it done on Saturdays but I’m encouraged by what we have.

Strongly disagree that Lebby would be fired if he goes 6-6, and even at 5-7, the same arguments that led to him being retained this past year will all still apply.

There won't be a single message board poster who supported bringing Lebby back for 2026 who will change their mind unless he goes 4-8 or worse, and even then most of them will qualify it with "OK, fine, we can fire him but the next guy isn't going to be any better!"

 

[Bulldawg77]

Strongly disagree that Lebby would be fired if he goes 6-6, and even at 5-7, the same arguments that led to him being retained this past year will all still apply.

There won't be a single message board poster who supported bringing Lebby back for 2026 who will change their mind unless he goes 4-8 or worse, and even then most of them will qualify it with "OK, fine, we can fire him but the next guy isn't going to be any better!"

Incorrect. 7 wins or he’s fired. We can committed to football and 5 or 6 wins isn’t what this investment should be getting.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Incorrect. 7 wins or he’s fired. We can committed to football and 5 or 6 wins isn’t what this investment should be getting.

Time will tell. Or it probably won't because he'll be fired at the end of September after starting 1-3.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Incorrect. 7 wins or he’s fired. We can committed to football and 5 or 6 wins isn’t what this investment should be getting.

If our AD is setting a sheer W bar, then he’s worse than I thought. Records don’t tell the whole story.

But I agree we’ve made an investment. You see, the problem here isn’t just wins. The problem is that we made a BAD INVESTMENT.

We hired a bad AD, who hired a bad coach. And it’s made worse because he has convinced a poor fanbase to invest in these poor decisions.

Even if we do fire Lenny, we can’t get back the money we’ve spent.

 

[Bulldawg77]

If our AD is setting a sheer W bar, then he’s worse than I thought. Records don’t tell the whole story.

But I agree we’ve made an investment. You see, the problem here isn’t just wins. The problem is that we made a BAD INVESTMENT.

We hired a bad AD, who hired a bad coach. And it’s made worse because he has convinced a poor fanbase to invest in these poor decisions.

Even if we do fire Lenny, we can’t get back the money we’ve spent.

You know what goat. You might be the only state person) I won’t call you a fan) that doesn’t like our AD. The only thing you hold on to with that dislike is the logo. He’s done a hell of a good job. You can ***** about the Lebby hire. But due to our lack of NIL in 23/24 our coaching candidate pool wasn’t very deep. And if Lebby doesn’t work out. We have the funds and finally a strong NIL Selmon will make a good hire.