Week 10 Thread

[Former Coach]

State is in a situation that I don't know if there is a good answer. As someone said earlier KT being hurt isn't an excuse. It's real. If he's healthy they are probably 7-2 right now. But, he's not the only injury. We were down 6-8 defensive starters from the first of the year Saturday off of a defense that outside of 3-5 players isn't very good. It's easy to say a change has to be made. State is losing fan support which turns to fewer ticket sales and less NIL money donations. And it will only get worse with drop offs there. At the same time who do you go to. You have to find a NAME Power 5 head coach, but who would come here, that's one of the reasons we have Lebby now. My first thought was throw the bank at Utah's coach, but they play in a different league, not the SEC. Kyle Whittingham who had so much success winning 177 games at Utah over 20 years is struggling in the Big 10. It's just a different game in what I would say is the Power 2 (SEC, Big 10) Charles Huff has been mentioned but we would be a stepping stone job for him. Lebby has shown improvement from what he inherited when he got to 

State. If you keep him he has to fire the OL coach. That's where it starts for the offense. He has proven he can get skill guys. He has to find KT's replacement and your not going to find that in the portal. No SEC level starting QB is going to transfer to be a backup. I think Saturday will be make or brake. If somehow State miraculously beats Auburn the  Tenn Tech I think he gets one more year. With a loss I thin he's done.

[Bulldogs4]

It is a conundrum. I learn toward not burning down the program yet again. Do that and that will make 6 head coaches in nine years. We see where the coaching carousel has gotten Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee (to a certain extent) and even LSU.

Every time you kick a coach to the curb it seems to get worse. Like throwing darts blindfolded. A program like State needs more stability at the HC position and have some patience to ride the downs with the ups. 
 

I do think he needs a shake up with the OL coach. Defense with Arnett looks good going forward.

S&C coach may need a makeover to ensure our players are in the best possible condition. 

[Dawg83]

I think State’s administration absolutely does not want to make a change and they’ve given Lebby every ounce of patience they possibly can. But it gets harder with every humiliating loss.

 

I think they believed we would beat Vandy and maybe Auburn and it would become a non issue. Then the first half on Saturday happened and I think Lebby totally lost any remaining support he had at that point.

 

I just don’t think there’s another school in the conference that would run it back for Year 4 with a coach that’s probably going to have a 3-22 SEC record after Black Friday. To me, State retaining him would be an admission to the fans that you shouldn’t have any kind of high hopes or expectations as a State fan, and that subpar results are acceptable. So if that’s the case, no one should be surprised when attendance remains terrible and they have a brutal time selling season tickets or getting NIL donations as long as Lebby is here.

Edited Monday at 06:31 PM by Dawg83

[Vott]

3 hours ago, Former Coach said:

State is in a situation that I don't know if there is a good answer. As someone said earlier KT being hurt isn't an excuse. It's real. If he's healthy they are probably 7-2 right now. But, he's not the only injury. We were down 6-8 defensive starters from the first of the year Saturday off of a defense that outside of 3-5 players isn't very good. It's easy to say a change has to be made. State is losing fan support which turns to fewer ticket sales and less NIL money donations. And it will only get worse with drop offs there. At the same time who do you go to. You have to find a NAME Power 5 head coach, but who would come here, that's one of the reasons we have Lebby now. My first thought was throw the bank at Utah's coach, but they play in a different league, not the SEC. Kyle Whittingham who had so much success winning 177 games at Utah over 20 years is struggling in the Big 10. It's just a different game in what I would say is the Power 2 (SEC, Big 10) Charles Huff has been mentioned but we would be a stepping stone job for him. Lebby has shown improvement from what he inherited when he got to 

State. If you keep him he has to fire the OL coach. That's where it starts for the offense. He has proven he can get skill guys. He has to find KT's replacement and your not going to find that in the portal. No SEC level starting QB is going to transfer to be a backup. I think Saturday will be make or brake. If somehow State miraculously beats Auburn the  Tenn Tech I think he gets one more year. With a loss I thin he's done.

I can see Tennessee Tech hanging with the Bulldogs. FCS or not 9-1 is pretty good

[maroontide06]

1 hour ago, Dawg83 said:

I think State’s administration absolutely does not want to make a change and they’ve given Lebby every ounce of patience they possibly can. But it gets harder with every humiliating loss.

 

I think they believed we would beat Vandy and maybe Auburn and it would become a non issue. Then the first half on Saturday happened and I think Lebby totally lost any remaining support he had at that point.

 

I just don’t think there’s another school in the conference that would run it back for Year 4 with a coach that’s probably going to have a 3-22 SEC record after Black Friday. To me, State retaining him would be an admission to the fans that you shouldn’t have any kind of high hopes or expectations as a State fan, and that subpar results are acceptable. So if that’s the case, no one should be surprised when attendance remains terrible and they have a brutal time selling season tickets or getting NIL donations as long as Lebby is here.

Lebby's not beating Auburn and he's certainly not beating Ole Miss.  If the chalk holds on his pending 3-22 SEC record, he will have the 2nd worst SEC winning percentage ever.  How in the heck is that valid for employment retention?

[coastball]

19 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

Lebby's not beating Auburn and he's certainly not beating Ole Miss.  If the chalk holds on his pending 3-22 SEC record, he will have the 2nd worst SEC winning percentage ever.  How in the heck is that valid for employment retention?

He's gone I promise

[pancho]

19 minutes ago, coastball said:

He's gone I promise

after the season?

[MSTSatchmo]

2 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

I think State’s administration absolutely does not want to make a change and they’ve given Lebby every ounce of patience they possibly can. But it gets harder with every humiliating loss.

 

I think they believed we would beat Vandy and maybe Auburn and it would become a non issue. Then the first half on Saturday happened and I think Lebby totally lost any remaining support he had at that point.

 

I just don’t think there’s another school in the conference that would run it back for Year 4 with a coach that’s probably going to have a 3-22 SEC record after Black Friday. To me, State retaining him would be an admission to the fans that you shouldn’t have any kind of high hopes or expectations as a State fan, and that subpar results are acceptable. So if that’s the case, no one should be surprised when attendance remains terrible and they have a brutal time selling season tickets or getting NIL donations as long as Lebby is here.

I agree that the ones calling the shots did not expect to lose to Vandy.  Six wins with the QB situation, and they didn’t expect to have to make a big decision.   I was told prior to last weekend “the people that matter” say he’s not being fired.  Some people are more interested in “hanging out” with the head coach than the team being even halfway competitive.  
 

It will all come down to NIL support now.   Those “people that matter” will find out the others matter more than they think. 

[Bulldogs4]

I get both sides. If he is fired, then here we go again. Just a revolving door of head coaches.

If he is retained then you have a ton of frustrated fans who are tired of losing and who will be okay with losing some more with a new coach because what is the difference if you lose with your current coach or you lose with a new coach? 

[rebmus]

4 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

I get both sides. If he is fired, then here we go again. Just a revolving door of head coaches.

If he is retained then you have a ton of frustrated fans who are tired of losing and who will be okay with losing some more with a new coach because what is the difference if you lose with your current coach or you lose with a new coach? 

It’s a very tough decision for the AD.

I’d wager he has feelers out on who would be interested IF Lebby is let go. 
 

If the fans quit showing up for games and/or quit donating near as much… he really has no choice.

 

It’s an SEC HC gig so it comes with prestige and obviously better pay than most jobs in college. On the other hand, the number of different HCs at MSU in so few years will likely make many candidates think twice about taking it. 
 

Roll the dice on a lower level HC, get a P4 OC OR DC wanting a head coach shot? 
Bring back Dan Mullen? 
 

IF the AD doesn’t make the right decision, his seat gets very hot too.

 

 

[s1nglewing]

3 hours ago, rebmus said:

It’s a very tough decision for the AD.

I’d wager he has feelers out on who would be interested IF Lebby is let go. 
 

If the fans quit showing up for games and/or quit donating near as much… he really has no choice.

 

It’s an SEC HC gig so it comes with prestige and obviously better pay than most jobs in college. On the other hand, the number of different HCs at MSU in so few years will likely make many candidates think twice about taking it. 
 

Roll the dice on a lower level HC, get a P4 OC OR DC wanting a head coach shot? 
Bring back Dan Mullen? 
 

IF the AD doesn’t make the right decision, his seat gets very hot too.

 

 

Honestly, MSU isn't a better draw for a coach than Vanderbilt. 

[coastball]

16 hours ago, pancho said:

after the season?

I think they will wait until after the Egg Bowl blowout

[pancho]

9 minutes ago, coastball said:

I think they will wait until after the Egg Bowl blowout

how confident are you in this?    50%, 75%, 94%, 100%?

[Former Coach]

18 hours ago, coastball said:

He's gone I promise

On Bo Bounds yesterday Steve R thinks he will be back. He said at beginning of the year he said 5 wins or less and he would be gone, but taking into account the toe injury and how good State looked prior to KT's there was a great deal of improvement. Also said KT loves Lebby's offense, wants to play in Lebby's offense and loves Lebby. So there's that.

[coastball]

4 hours ago, pancho said:

how confident are you in this?    50%, 75%, 94%, 100%?

I think if the ship is still sinking by the Egg Bowl then 75%

[pancho]

It appears lebby is flipping Olinemen and talking of more portal cash to aid next years team.   There is no way he ship isn't sinking this year and they better hope they can at least beat Tenn Tech.  I am not convinced of it myself.

[maroontide06]

14 minutes ago, pancho said:

It appears lebby is flipping Olinemen and talking of more portal cash to aid next years team.   There is no way he ship isn't sinking this year and they better hope they can at least beat Tenn Tech.  I am not convinced of it myself.

One OL flip won't move the needle one way or the other.  State has got to work on climbing out of the 3 star hole and onto some higher ground.  Pre-portal days you could be 3 star heavy and develop since those players were going to be around for a while.  That doesn't work today.

[maroontide06]

Maybe they think "3 Stripe Life" = "3 Star Life".  It would be absolutely horrible if that were actually true. LOL

[Dawg83]

21 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

I get both sides. If he is fired, then here we go again. Just a revolving door of head coaches.

If he is retained then you have a ton of frustrated fans who are tired of losing and who will be okay with losing some more with a new coach because what is the difference if you lose with your current coach or you lose with a new coach? 

I think this whole deal is pretty important for Selmon’s legacy. I get the sense that he is viewed favorably by most State people, and I generally like him too. But whatever ends up happening with State football, it needs to work out. If he makes a change, he needs to make a good hire. If he decides to ride it out with Lebby, then by gosh Lebby better prove him right.

 

Nobody will care that Selmon is a great fundraiser that has boosted State’s NIL position considerably from what it was 3-4 years ago, if he is the AD that can’t get football fixed.

[Dawg83]

2 hours ago, coastball said:

I think if the ship is still sinking by the Egg Bowl then 75%

I think there is a world where Auburn handles State and the last two games are led by interim coach Phil Montgomery.

 

I’m not banking on it but I think it’s in the realm of possibility.

Edited 7 hours ago by Dawg83

[Dawg83]

7 hours ago, maroontide06 said:

One OL flip won't move the needle one way or the other.  State has got to work on climbing out of the 3 star hole and onto some higher ground.  Pre-portal days you could be 3 star heavy and develop since those players were going to be around for a while.  That doesn't work today.

Update: The 3 star OL already flipped back to Colorado.

 

LOL