maroontide06 Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 48 minutes ago, Dawg83 said: I think if Lebby only goes 5-7 or 6-6 next year but State looks clearly better on offense then you won’t hear much complaining at all. I don’t think State’s ceiling in 2024 is that high because of how tough the schedule is but there are winnable games. Two gimme nonconference games and then Arizona State and Toledo in September will be tests (Toledo is 11-1 this year). SEC home schedule (Mizzou, A&M, Arkansas, Florida) has some games you can absolutely win but the road schedule (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Ole Miss) is a nightmare potentially, will definitely be underdogs in all four. I'm just curious to see how he attacks the portal and what kind of talent he can bring in. You're pretty much going to have to go all in with the portal to replace everything you are losing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 (edited) 21 minutes ago, maroontide06 said: I'm just curious to see how he attacks the portal and what kind of talent he can bring in. You're pretty much going to have to go all in with the portal to replace everything you are losing. I am willing to bet he will be a big portal guy every year regardless, not unlike Kiffin. But yeah, there are needs at every dang position. State started a ton of seniors this year. I expect a portal QB this year at the very least. Maybe Parson is ready to be the guy by 2025 but next year is probably too soon. I have already seen speculation about guys like Dillon Gabriel or KJ Jefferson as potential grad transfers. Edited November 27, 2023 by Dawg83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Coach Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 On 11/25/2023 at 10:56 PM, MSTSatchmo said: Back to Lebby at State, I guess he was higher in Selmon’s list than Fritz or even Elko? Selmon bragged about his connections. He better hope this hire is a hit, because State is his first AD job and it the first can make or break a career. From an almost always correct, reliable source inside, who text me at 12:30 Sunday morning that it was Lebby, Elko was given until a specific time Saturday night and was on verge of accepting then A&M called. Lebby was the top coordinator choice from the coordinator pool. I like the hire 1. He doesn't have to Googled to know who he is. 2. He has created excitement among fans. 3. Most importantly he has created excitement among the Players and recruits. Chadwell was a serious candidate but the buyout was to high, little over 20 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 Talking DC hires, I am not opposed to our old pal Juicy Geoff Collins. Didn’t work out for him as a head coach but he was a quality DC back in the day. If he can adapt to defending more modern offenses I wouldn’t hate if he came back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSTSatchmo Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 1 hour ago, Former Coach said: From an almost always correct, reliable source inside, who text me at 12:30 Sunday morning that it was Lebby, Elko was given until a specific time Saturday night and was on verge of accepting then A&M called. Lebby was the top coordinator choice from the coordinator pool. I like the hire 1. He doesn't have to Googled to know who he is. 2. He has created excitement among fans. 3. Most importantly he has created excitement among the Players and recruits. Chadwell was a serious candidate but the buyout was to high, little over 20 million. Interesting stuff. So, the push back from A&M fans over Stoops being hired led to Lebby being the coach at State instead of Elko. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 Players like playing time so the portal could be a good thing this year just based on the fact that we have so many seniors on the team and a lot of positions are going to be open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 1 hour ago, MSTSatchmo said: Interesting stuff. So, the push back from A&M fans over Stoops being hired led to Lebby being the coach at State instead of Elko. I’m not totally sure Elko would have come to State in the end. I don’t think State people involved with the search were expecting him. Lebby interviewed on Wednesday and I think from that point on he was the presumed favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastfootballfanman Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 Seeing Blake Baker's name pop up in discussion for Defensive Coordinator. He would be a good one in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) Lebby’s introduction was something else. State really went all out on the production value. Lebby seemed excited and very composed. Not that it matters but consider that a “win the press conference” kind of thing. Lol. Also, I can’t be the only one that noticed this when he was asked about Kiffin trolling him…. I think that beef between the two of them is still very much alive. He didn’t say anything overt, but if you read between the lines on his response I think they are definitely not buddies like Leach and Kiffin were. Lebby pretty clearly wants to win that game specifically. Edited November 28, 2023 by Dawg83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSTSatchmo Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Was there some bad blood between the two when Lebby left for Oklahoma? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, MSTSatchmo said: Was there some bad blood between the two when Lebby left for Oklahoma? It was there when he was still at Ole Miss. My understanding is that Lebby felt like he was the one running the program and Kiffin was spending too much time in Boca and not recruiting hard enough. Then there was the Randy Clements firing which did not sit well with Lebby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Coach Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 21 hours ago, MSTSatchmo said: Interesting stuff. So, the push back from A&M fans over Stoops being hired led to Lebby being the coach at State instead of Elko. Not gonna say 100%, but sounded as if Elko might have been 1A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Lebby is going to call plays but interestingly Demarco Murray has emerged as a very possible candidate to be State’s OC. I feel like he was playing in the NFL super recently but he’s actually been a RB coach for several years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Just spit out my drink when I saw this. WTH, Arkansas? https://x.com/petethamel/status/1729587776390135876?s=46&t=qMyKdBKcwkPr9bF7GCZ1-w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maroontide06 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 3 minutes ago, Dawg83 said: Just spit out my drink when I saw this. WTH, Arkansas? https://x.com/petethamel/status/1729587776390135876?s=46&t=qMyKdBKcwkPr9bF7GCZ1-w Wow! Are they crazy or desperate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pancho Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Petrino would be better than what they had this year but man oh man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebmus Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 State led the team on the field with a 4-wheeler. Will Petrino lead Arkansas on the field with a motorcycle? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Bumphis being retained by Lebby, not sure on anyone else. Also appears that none of the Oklahoma on field assistants are coming along. They promoted JJ Finley to co-OC just to keep him from going with Lebby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Coach Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 1 hour ago, Dawg83 said: Bumphis being retained by Lebby, not sure on anyone else. Also appears that none of the Oklahoma on field assistants are coming along. They promoted JJ Finley to co-OC just to keep him from going with Lebby. Turner being kept and OLine coach sounds like it will be Clements from N.Carolina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 2 hours ago, Former Coach said: Turner being kept and OLine coach sounds like it will be Clements from N.Carolina I’ve also seen Cody Kennedy from Arkansas mentioned as a possibility. Both he and Clements are Briles family connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastfootballfanman Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 16 minutes ago, Dawg83 said: I’ve also seen Cody Kennedy from Arkansas mentioned as a possibility. Both he and Clements are Briles family connections. I hope not with Kennedy. Not a huge fan of his from what I have seen of his offensive line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, coastfootballfanman said: I hope not with Kennedy. Not a huge fan of his from what I have seen of his offensive line He’s a tough nut to crack. Arkansas had an excellent run blocking OL when Briles was there and they ran for a ton of yards, but struggled with giving up sacks. This year was bad all around, but you also had the shift from Briles to the Enos disaster. So in essence Kennedy had two pretty good years there when paired with a Briles style offense and then was bad when it wasn’t there anymore. Edited November 29, 2023 by Dawg83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 State ended up hiring Jon Cooper from North Texas as its OL coach. Also rumored to be hiring Matt Holecek as QB coach. Both younger guys without a super long track record but have worked closely with Lebby at multiple stops. I think Bumphis and Turner are the only holdovers expected from the previous staff as of now. Tony Hughes might stick around in an off field capacity similar to Knox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Being reported now that Hughes won’t be back either. I’m assuming he’s close to retirement. Super duper human being, coached at darn near every school in the state at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maroontide06 Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 10 minutes ago, Dawg83 said: Being reported now that Hughes won’t be back either. I’m assuming he’s close to retirement. Super duper human being, coached at darn near every school in the state at some point. Maybe he was just ready to hang it up and I don't blame him. He's done good for State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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