Football: worst recruiting class in recent memory?

[TheBannerM]

State’s 2026 recruiting class is currently sitting at #47 nationally. It has zero 4 stars and only two (!!) MS high school commitments from a pretty good in-state crop. This is shaping up as the worst class in a very long time.

Have in-state recruits completely turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Has Lebby given up on the state?

 

[Dawgbite]

We’re investing all our money in baseball and the two basketballs. As we should. If we invested five times the NIL we have available, we still would be be middle of the pack in the SEC Football.

 

[TheBannerM]

We’re investing all our money in baseball and the two basketballs. As we should. If we invested five times the NIL we have available, we still would be be middle of the pack in the SEC Football.

NGL, middle of the pack in the SEC sounds pretty awesome.

 

[Dawgbite]

NGL, middle of the pack in the SEC sounds pretty awesome.

Write a bigger check and then convince everyone else to write a bigger check. It’s not that hard to figure out what needs done, it’s the doing that gets difficult.

 

[patdog]

We’re investing all our money in baseball and the two basketballs. As we should. If we invested five times the NIL we have available, we still would be be middle of the pack in the SEC Football.

Yeah. I think we’ve made the decision to give up on football and focus on baseball, basketball & maybe a few of the minor sports. Which may be the right decision, at least short term.

 

[onewoof]

NGL, middle of the pack in the SEC sounds pretty awesome.

A $20M 7 and 5 Texas Bowl season. Makes sense.

Light the cash on fire, who cares. Or just find several folks that need to launder cash like a few other SEC schools do.

 

[Yeti]

We finished about where we always have …mid 20s last recruiting season. It’s a long way to signing day

 

[Howiefeltersnstch]

What 4 star high school kid wants to sign with a schitshow ? Lebby gonna have to coach them up and get a few more wins. Maybe then he can try to sell showtime again. Maybe they will get lucky this weekend. Last weekend was not bad. Any other time we would be hearing half of yall saying " stars dont matter". Personally I think they do but ya know

 

[aTotal360]

It’s a long way to signing day

Yup. Things can change quickly if we win some games and gain positive momentum. Another 2-3 win season and we are cooked for several years to come.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Once reality sets in, a lot of these MS guys will be glad to be at MSU. Right now, they all think they are invincible and have a bunch of options.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

I’m fine with giving rev sharing a few years to play out with football and the baseball emphasis now

 

[ETK99]

State’s 2026 recruiting class is currently sitting at #47 nationally. It has zero 4 stars and only two (!!) MS high school commitments from a pretty good in-state crop. This is shaping up as the worst class in a very long time.

Have in-state recruits completely turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Has Lebby given up on the state?

Portal Portal Portal and some solid HS kids is fine.

 

[aTotal360]

Once reality sets in, a lot of these MS guys will be glad to be at MSU. Right now, they all think they are invincible and have a bunch of options.

The problem will be landing game changers. I don't think we will ever get that highly recruited DT again. I can't imagine a situation where we get a Simmons or Jones again.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

I don’t give a $#!+ anymore about football recruiting.
It’s all about the $$ and who can pay the most and that is total BS!
The NCAA and the lawyers and a lot of AD’s who are getting rich have ruined college football.

 

[onewoof]

I’m fine with giving rev sharing a few years to play out with football and the baseball emphasis now

I think that's the plan

 

[Maroon13]

I think the state has given up on..... the HC that has the persona of a 8th grade pe coach.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

The problem will be landing game changers. I don't think we will ever get that highly recruited DT again. I can't imagine a situation where we get a Simmons or Jones again.

We haven’t really had that guy in MS lately either. Like it or not, we are DIRECTLY tied to the state of MS.

 

[patdog]

What 4 star high school kid wants to sign with a schitshow ? Lebby gonna have to coach them up and get a few more wins. Maybe then he can try to sell showtime again. Maybe they will get lucky this weekend. Last weekend was not bad. Any other time we would be hearing half of yall saying " stars dont matter". Personally I think they do but ya know

Stars matter more now than they ever did. We used to be able to be a development program and “coach them up.” But now if we get 1 decent year out of them they’ll be in the portal looking for the best deal. And our coaching staff looks completely inept and clueless of how to run a program.

 

[Called3rdstrikedawg]

We finished about where we always have …mid 20s last recruiting season. It’s a long way to signing day

We need to do what Boise State is doing. Vandy had some success last year. Tulane has beaten a few P4 teams in the past few years. Memphis has too. There are other examples but teams are winning games with less talent. It would help if the SEC didn't target State as cannon fodder for the Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and A&M while certain other teams get Kentucky, Vandy, South Carolina, Auburn and Arkansas on their schedule. Not much doubt which team is going to struggle.

 

[HotMop]

NGL, middle of the pack in the SEC sounds pretty awesome.

Middle of the bottom sounds awesome as well. Oh well.

 

[Called3rdstrikedawg]

Remember when baseball finished the SEC 14 and 13 in back to back seasons one year after finishing 1st in the World!
We got no where to go BUT UP in Football! When winning 1 conference game is an improvement over the previous season, you got BIGGER football problems than just recruiting!
we replaced Arnett for sucking and sucked a lot worse with his replacement! Wake me up when State actually hires a real Head Coach who can actually scheme to be able to win as many conference games as you lose!

 

[GloryDawg]

Theres still five months. Give them time. Too be honest i don't really care about high school. It's all about the portal. Those high school guys will not make two years.

 

[patdog]

Those high school guys will not make two years.

For one reason or the other. Still, I’d rather be in a position to pay players we want to keep than cutting ones that clearly can’t play at this level.

 

[Dawgg]

We still have a football team?

 

[Ranchdawg]

Theres still five months. Give them time. Too be honest i don't really care about high school. It's all about the portal. Those high school guys will not make two years.

Why bid the price up now? Hold back and save the money until right before signing day.

 

[Baddog11]

Made a no name hire. Nobody even knows who Jeff Lebbie is heading into year 2. He might as well be mute

 

[patdog]

Your post must have woke someone up. We now have a 4* and 3 in state commits. WR from Grenada with several mid level P4 offers. Good size.

 

[HailStout]

Your post must have woke someone up. We now have a 4* and 3 in state commits. WR from Grenada with several mid level P4 offers. Good size.

a

 

[TheBannerM]

State’s 2026 recruiting class is currently sitting at #47 nationally. It has zero 4 stars and only two (!!) MS high school commitments from a pretty good in-state crop. This is shaping up as the worst class in a very long time.

Have in-state recruits completely turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Has Lebby given up on the state?

Update: Lebby picked up 4 MS HS commitments today, two of whom are now our highest rated recruits. The other two aren’t even rated .

 

[MTNDawg.sixpack]

We just had a kid go to weekends at State and Tennessee back to back. He likely wont play for either, but his bias was toward State until he went for the recruiting weekends. He said it was extremely unorganized, which shocked him, and Tennessee’s weekend was executed flawlessly. That may not be every kid’s experience, but no amount of checks are going to overcome that impression.

 

[TheBannerM]

We just had a kid go to weekends at State and Tennessee back to back. He likely wont play for either, but his bias was toward State until he went for the recruiting weekends. He said it was extremely unorganized, which shocked him, and Tennessee’s weekend was executed flawlessly. That may not be every kid’s experience, but no amount of checks are going to overcome that impression.

Oof. That sucks to hear. I had the impression that at the very least Lebby had his **** together. I guess we’ll get the scoop from Rosebowl after Lebby’s fired.

 

[TheBannerM]

Update: Lebby picked up 4 MS HS commitments today, two of whom are now our highest rated recruits. The other two aren’t even rated .

And we just picked up another unranked player from Alabama. Lebby is really putting a dent in Troy and South Alabama’s recruiting class.

 

[onewoof]

And we just picked up another unranked player from Alabama. Lebby is really putting a dent in Troy and South Alabama’s recruiting class.

We are DONE losing to the MAC y'all

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Stars matter more now than they ever did. We used to be able to be a development program and “coach them up.” But now if we get 1 decent year out of them they’ll be in the portal looking for the best deal. And our coaching staff looks completely inept and clueless of how to run a program.

Most MS players aren’t ready to play as freshmen, so the likelihood they’ll leave before their junior years is low, at least for a better program. And then, like you say, we are paying to keep guys, rather than get guys.

I think even our worst coaches over the years realized where the majority of our talent should come from. However, the portal and NIL has taken away our ability to get the secondary players from surrounding states. They are definitely looking to transfer home as soon as possible.

That’s why we have to lean into JUCOs even more, and be very strategic about our portal targets.

 

[Howiefeltersnstch]

Looks like they are picking up steam with the crootin. If those 4 guys that are unranked get ranked and some guys rankings improve we will be right there in the mid 20s. And JUCO rarely is successful other than just a body to fill a spot. It ain't the 70s anymore. Very few hidden gems anymore

 

[patdog]

Looks like they are picking up steam with the crootin. If those 4 guys that are unranked get ranked and some guys rankings improve we will be right there in the mid 20s. And JUCO rarely is successful other than just a body to fill a spot. It ain't the 70s anymore. Very few hidden gems anymore

Well yeah, if everyone we’ve got committed’s rankings improve our team ranking should improve too.

 

[Darryl Steight]

The problem will be landing game changers. I don't think we will ever get that highly recruited DT again. I can't imagine a situation where we get a Simmons or Jones again.

Forget Simmons/Jones/Cox... I would take a Willie Evans, Titus Brown or Edward Smith right now.

 

[The Peeper]

Have in-state recruits completely turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Has Lebby given up on the state?

A related question, have MSU fans turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Cheap ticket offers in lower level with parking passes seem to say that.
You could even add the 5 previous seasons of results before that ( Leach 19-16 overall 11-14 conference, Moorhead (14-12 overall 7-9 conference) Arnett 4-6, Knox 1-1, Lebby 2-10 overall 0-8 conference. That's a 7 season record of 40-45 overall and 19-39 in conference. That's mediocre results at best and the cost to fans of mediocrity goes up every season, not sustainable.

 

[golferdog]

A related question, have MSU fans turned their backs on Mississippi State after two poor seasons? Cheap ticket offers in lower level with parking passes seem to say that.
You could even add the 5 previous seasons of results before that ( Leach 19-16 overall 11-14 conference, Moorhead (14-12 overall 7-9 conference) Arnett 4-6, Knox 1-1, Lebby 2-10 overall 0-8 conference. That's a 7 season record of 40-45 overall and 19-39 in conference. That's mediocre results at best and the cost to fans of mediocrity goes up every season, not sustainable.

People aren't going to waste time and $$$ going to games for a terrible football team. There are plenty of other things to do. Quite frankly it's just embarrassing right now. Until they start beating average P4 teams again, what's there to get excited about?

 

[Baddog11]

I know elementary pe teachers who are smarter, more vocal, and more organized than Jeff “heavy” Lebbies. Sell the recruits on this being his last year and a home run hire coming up next. So they should want to be on board for that.