Game week has finally arrived for Mississippi State as the Bulldogs enter their second season under head coach Jeff Lebby. On Monday, Lebby held his weekly press conference at the Seal Complex to discuss Saturday’s opener at Southern Miss among other topics:
Q: In your coaching career, have you ever entered Week 1 thinking you’ve done everything possible to be ready?
Lebby: I haven’t. I can’t imagine what that would feel like. Plenty of work to be done. Our guys are really excited about the opportunity at hand. We got a great challenge in front of us, in-state opponent is looking completely different just from a personnel standpoint than they did a year ago. Excited about the opportunity.
Q: Looking at the offensive line depth chart, there are some interesting listings there. Your thoughts?
Lebby: We’ve continued to talk about just those 5-8 guys being able to play winning football for us. You’re going to see guys at different positions. We have multiple guys who will play multiple spots inside of this Week 1 as we, again, try to get to where we’ve got eight guys who can go play winning football. Those guys have been worked in a great way, done some really good things. We’re going to need to play eight guys through the season at least to do what we want to do.
Q: How confident do you feel about what Southern Miss will look like on Saturday?
Lebby: I think there are some unknowns, I really do. You think about it from a personnel standpoint there are some differences. But I expect to see six or maybe starters from Southern Miss coming from Marshall. You’d think there would be some carryover. People study themselves non-stop but in Week 1 it’s always a little up in the air. Offensively, their offensive coordinator, and how that situation is set up for them and not calling it last year, you got to go back a couple of years to watch that tape. Have great familiarity, understand his identity and what he wants to do. But until you get out there and see it, there is some unknown.
Q: How different is it for you entering the second season compared to last year?
Lebby: There’s a lot of differences. I think just the understanding of how we’re going to do what we do, how we travel and what that looks like, the hotel routine, the pre-game meal routine, our clap session, all the routines that help us get done what we’re trying to get done on Saturday. All those things are now Year 2. That’s a great help, a great benefit for our entire staff and obviously all the guys who have returned. So that part has been good.
Q: Being a Power 4 school going on the road to play a G5 school, your thoughts on that?
Lebby: Excited about the opportunity. I think the people inside our state are excited about it, as well, seeing somebody from an opponent standpoint that is in-state as we get ready to go on the road. For our guys, it’s about focusing incredibly small. And making the most of every day and understanding we have one opportunity Saturday morning at 11 and need to go play really well.
Q: How conscious do you have to be about something crazy happening on Saturday?
Lebby: You try to not chase ghosts, but at the end of the day, there’s some unknowns out there. So you’re trying to prepare for everything as we get ready for it, not knowing exactly what it will look like on the other side of the ball. The way you do that is make it really simple on both sides of the ball so the guys can adjust and go play free and fast depending on what you’re going to get.
Q: You have talked a lot about the talent at receiver and running back on this team. Does that change your play calling on offense?
Lebby: Absolutely it does. Making sure the ball gets in the right guys’ hands. To me, that’s my job offensively, to make sure the right people are touching the football. We have the opportunity to spread it to a number of different guys. We have to get those guys the ball early and often. That’s probably the funnest part.
Q: How is the team from a health standpoint?
Lebby: Knock on wood, we’re in a pretty good spot right now. As we’ve come out of camp as we’ve gotten a couple of guys back as of this morning that’s been really good for us. We need to have a great week of work as these guys have gotten back. But we’re in a pretty good spot.
Q: We’ve discussed often the depth at running back. Is it more about playing the hot hand or sticking with a rotation there to keep them fresh?
Lebby: It’s a mix. I think it goes back to making sure the right guys are touching the football. As you get into the flow of the game, there is at times when one guy may have the hot hand and you ride that guy at the end of it. You also want to have the ability to make sure it’s not just one guy that gets too loaded down with carries. So splitting those will be huge for us. We need to be able to play with fresh, fast bodies. We got depth at that position, which is good.
Q: How big is it to have a guy like Isaac Smith going into your second year to depend on his leadership?
Lebby: Again, I talked about it at the beginning of fall camp, talked about it at (SEC) Media Days. For him, that’s a guy tjat loves Mississippi State and loves playing football. He loves playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played. That’s huge for us, we need that. We need it in a bad way. He’ll continue to provide great leadership on that side of the football as we move forward.
Q: What has Phil Loadholt brought to the offensive line from a development standpoint?
Lebby: I think how he coaches those guys every single day – the detail, the toughness, the edge and the physicality, and getting guys to play the position the way he played it and the way it needs to be played to give us a chance to go win. That has been fun to see. There has this great amount of familiarity with me and him. I knew exactly I was getting and he knew exactly what he was getting. It’s been great for us to be back together.
Q: How excited are you about the defensive line?
Lebby: We’ve gotten a bunch of guys back over the last four to five days in that room. We’re healthy in that room right now and that’s exciting. I think we have the ability to roll guys. Going to continue to talk about fresh and fast bodies and we are going to need that in a big way and that will be a big part of Saturday morning. Excited to see those guys cut loose.
Q: What has Blake Shapen meant for this program over the past several months?
Lebby: I’d be up here for a little while if I talked about all of it. I couldn’t be more proud of the guy and how he has responded. As he went through what he went through a year ago, to see him today, his leadership. He’s a guy that walks into this building every day the exact same. You know exactly what you’re going to get. There is a lot of noise for young people, especially at that position. For him to have the ability to block it out and focus on his job, there has been this incredible growth in Year 2 in the offense. I’m excited for a ton of our guys. I am excited for our football team, our program and our fans. I’m excited that Blake to go out there and play.
Q: What have you seen from the defensive side of the ball and the talk about their togetherness?
Lebby: The immediacy of noticing it for me is in walk throughs. Their urgency in how they communicate, align, how they talk, how everybody is getting the rep. To me, when you watch our defense walk through there is a great sense of urgency and there’s this great sense of togetherness. That’s been fun for me to watch, fun to see. We have to continue to build on that. They have really taken to Coach Hutz’s (Coleman Hutzler) edge and passion, how he coaches and runs around every minute of every single day. There has been buy-in in that. Excited about that unit being able to go play well on Saturday morning.
Q: What have you seen from Albert Reese at left tackle?
Lebby: We talked about it a little bit ago. We’re going to roll with that position. There will be multiple guys play at that spot. We will have a couple of guys inside game play who have played a bunch of football that we feel can handle that. We’re fighting every single day to make sure we’re playing the right guys at the right positions. That’s why they call us coach. As we get closer, we’ll dial into exactly what that rotation will look like on Saturday.
Q: What do you want to see out of your team on Saturday that would make you happy?
Lebby: I want to see us play with effort, incredible physicality, and go execute and play clean. We’ve talked about it. That’s how we will win and that’s playing winning football. I want to have the ability to get off that field and be 1-0 and go play clean. That will be huge for us – pre-snap penalties, taking care of the football, hidden yards in special teams. That will be a big piece of it.