I know the story is still being written, but I got to wondering about this question tonight. What have been the big keys to our (and even Ole Miss's) success? And what could other schools with similar obstacles (Purdue, Washington State, Iowa State, etc.) mimic to generate similar success in their respective conferences?
What can other small schools in big conferences learn from our success?
- Thread starter WayboDawg
- Start date
From my own point of view, it all started with making a big quality hire by both schools (Dan Mullen/Hugh Freeze) at the right moment in time. Both guys were passionate and hungry to go to work and turn the tide for their programs. In the case for Dan Mullen, he brought a fire and a drive that re-energized the MSU fan base and we the fans ate it up. Soon we had sellout crowds and were actually looking competitive on the field against top SEC competition. Getting an athletic director with a clue, and a new President who bleeds maroon and white made for the perfect combination of administration with a like-minded vision for the university.
TCU comes to mind, they are a few years ahead of us in program building because they didn't go backwards between coaching hires by hiring a Croom. But they have pretty much done what we are trying to accomplish. Brand new stadium, most years a top 12 to 20 team, an occasional undefeated season or in the NC picture til late in the year. Baylor is another one that comes to mind as marching a similar path.
Being in a fertile recruiting ground helps -- a school like Washington State is going to struggle, even when they hire an elite coach like Mike Leach and he gets and ideal system QB like Connor Halliday. There just aren't many athletes to go around in the rural Pacific NW, and most of them go to Oregon or UW or Boise State -- not to Pullman, WA, which makes Starkville look like a big, cosmopolitan metropolis.