Notes, quotes and a thought to two…..
A good friend of mine once told me that if I’m going to write anything about Mississippi State or Ole Miss that I should probably think about it a while and then go on and write something else and save myself a whole lot of trouble.
by Robbie Robertson
Well, I’m not that smart but maybe I’ve gotten a little wiser over the years. But I did have some thoughts on some of our college football programs in the state. So here we go.
Mississippi State
Well the Bulldogs certainly ended the season with a bang to say the least and was probably the most talked-about college football program in America for at least a day.
After winning the Armed Service Bowl against Tulsa, a nasty fight broke out between the two schools. The fight made the rounds and even ended up on the nightly news. Let’s just say that it wasn’t pleasant to watch and certainly wasn’t a good look for the university or the football program. There are even pundits who think that head coach Mike Leach and Athletics Director John Cohen should be fired.
I don’t know if I would go that far, but I think a stern talk from university president Mark Keenum is certainly in order.
When asked about the incident, Leach said he would tell his team “not to do that again.” The national media wanted something else from Leach.
The truth of the matter is things like this are often handled internally. I suspect after reviewing the tapes and consulting with Keenum and Cohen, there will be some internal punishment for those still with the program. I bet some of those young men will have to do some severe punishment that includes them getting up way too early and doing whatever sadistic thing the strength coach can think of for them to do.
As a Mississippi State graduate, my wife and son have given me a pretty hard time about it.
The bottom line is, you hate to see things like that happen but they do happen. Football is a physical game. As coaches, you push kids to be physical and to play as a team. That means if you go after one of us, you go after all of us. I’m not condoning what went on, but I understand how it happens. And it was a pretty chippy game, starting with some pushing and shoving during pre-game. Just like hockey and baseball, fights are going to happen and sometimes they get ugly. It doesn’t mean there is a lack of discipline in the program.
And I guess I’m getting old like Leach when would probably say “don’t do that again.”
On another note, Leach finished off his first season with two straight wins, both of them were somewhat of a surprise. The Bulldogs struggled at times in the Air Raid but played better toward the end. I still can’t say if I like the Air Raid or not. I still think you have to be able to run the ball to win football games. And the Bulldogs won the last two games because they were able to run the football.
I’ll be interested to see how it looks next year with some fresh recruits coming in and a spring to work on things.
Ole Miss
I don’t have many thoughts on the Rebels but I’ll share what I have.
I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I was impressed with what coach Lane Kiffin did with his offense this season.
The Rebels were really good on offense and could score points with the best of them. They were good enough to record on DVR and go back to see what we could steal for our offense.
They managed to beat a really good Indiana team in the Outback Bowl and give blooming onions to all of their fans.
Kiffin has proven himself as a solid recruiter and has brought in a good class. I don’t necessarily approve of his “Merry Flipmas” shirt but that’s part of it.
It seems Kiffin has the Rebels going in the right direction and brings a lot of energy. That success put his name in a lot of stories on coaching searches. That’s just natural but he probably needs to stay put for a little bit before he moves on.
Southern Miss
The big news out of Hattiesburg these days begins and ends with Will Hall as the new head coach.
I believe this is an absolute home run for USM. Hall is a Mississippi guy with deep roots in the state. He grew up in Amory and he played at Northwest Community College where he won a national championship. He’s won at every level he’s been at. He even won as an offensive coordinator at Tulane and that’s no easy task.
He’s got his work cut out for him at USM but it seems like he’s off to a good start with his first recruiting class. I believe with time that Hall will bring USM back to where they were during the Jeff Bower days. The only bad part of that is that Hall won’t be there long. If he turns around USM quickly, he will be a hot commodity on the national coaching scene.
Jackson State
Normally, Jackson State is not on my radar screen when it comes to football but how can the Tigers not be.
JSU made perhaps the biggest hire of any college when they hired Deon Sanders to be their new head coach. Sanders has never been a head coach at the college level but it already proving himself to be up to the task. There’s not a living room he will go into where he won’t be able to make a young recruit think about coming to play for him. After all, he is one of the best defensive backs I’ve ever seen and has multiple Super Bowl rings. He’s already landed some big recruits and will be a force in the SWAC.
We know he can recruit. What I’ll be interested to see is how can he coach. I like what I hear so far but talk is cheap and wins are hard to come by. I’ll be interested to see what his final product looks like. And he’s another one that if he does what I think he can do, he won’t be long for Mississippi either. If he wins big at JSU, someone will lure him away with more money and better facilities.
As a group, this may be the most fun collection of college coaches of any state in the country. Good or bad, they are going to be fun to watch in 2021.
Robbie is sports editor for The Appeal. You can email him at rrobertson12811@yahoo.com.
