Will Rogers says he has to take leadership in new offense 'by the horns'

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison04/19/23

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With the unfortunate passing of Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, the Bulldogs were forced to bring in a new coaching staff and transition from the Air Raid. Now, quarterback Will Rogers knows that he has to grab the offense by the horns.

Rogers explained that being the leader of this offense means that he needs to understand the new system better than anyone.

“Yeah, I think I kind of have to take it by the horns, you know?” Will Rogers said. “Take the bull by the horns and obviously we’re all learning a new offense. We’re all learning a new scheme. So, I have to be the one up there before everybody else and I have to know the playbook.”

As Rogers explained, being the experienced starting quarterback means that he needs to lead by example.

“So, I mean, I can’t ask Zavion [Thomas] or Tulu [Griffin] to know this play if I don’t know the play. So, I try to lead by example. I want to see those guys, I want those guys to see me putting in hard work so that they know the standard that this offense wants to play to

More than just that, though, Will Rogers wants the entirety of the senior class to set the tone for the younger players.

Then, obviously, you said leadership but we have a big group of like seniors. I mean, I don’t know how many it is but you look around and Bookie [Nathaniel Watson], Jett [Johnson], [Jaden] Crumedy, Jordan Davis, I mean, Cole Smith, Woody [Jo’quavious Marks], you could go on and on, we have a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball together,” Rogers said.

“This is our fourth year together. So, I think that there’s a standard that we’re trying to uphold for the whole team, not just us seniors. I think there’s a standard that we’re trying to put out that we play hard, we play fast, we play physical here at Mississippi State.”

Will Rogers on where Mississippi State needs to improve

After the spring game, Will Rogers listed the places that Mississippi State is going to need to improve before the season.

“I thought we did some good things,” Rogers said. “I think there’s definitely things that we need to work on, whether it just be like fine little details of the receivers and I being on the same page vs. open-field coverage, closed-field coverage, whatever it might be.”