Jeff Lebby weighs in on Mississippi State Early Signing Day
By day’s end, first year head coach Jeff Lebby will have his first national early signing day under his belt at the helm of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He weighed in on the short turnaround from being hired, his new staff’s performance and how much NIL meant to this class on Wednesday.
Lebby’s quick turnaround
As it stands, Mississippi State is just a few solid signings away from a top-25 recruiting class within one month of hiring Lebby – a miraculous circumstance given where recruiting was when Lebby took over.
“It’s been fast, but it’s been good,” said Lebby. “I’ve told everybody that I’ll take every bit of it. Again, it’s been humbling – just all the support and everything that’s gone into getting us to this point, this morning. Just getting these guys signed has been really, really good.”
The QB Room
The quarterback room was something that Lebby knew he needed to overhaul when he came to MSU, and he did just that this cycle adding Baylor transfer Blake Shapen and On3 four-star prospect Michael Van Buren.
Lebby mentioned that Shapen was “our kind of guy” in the press conference, further backing up the thought that he will be QB1 when the team takes the field for Spring ball in the coming months. As for Van Buren, Lebby made no secret of what kind of weapon he could be in the future.
“I expect big things from Mike (Van Buren),” said Lebby. “(He’s a guy that) at some point has a chance to be the face of our program.”
Junior College Recruiting
Lebby and his new staff also made it a point to hit the Ju-Co window harder than the previous Mississippi State staff and signed three players from East Mississippi Community College – a team just down the road in Scooba, Mississippi, that just played for a national championship.
“Those three guys play the game the way we want it to be played,” said Lebby, “and you watch them, you see that immediately. So, we need to do a great job in the junior colleges in our state. There are great players here, always have been, and so for us to be back involved on that side of it is going to be really important moving forward.”
NIL Space
Lebby entered the room sporting a Bulldog Initiative sweatshirt in support of Mississippi State’s NIL collective, and made sure to mention that he embraces this new side of recruiting. In fact, it’s one of the biggest selling points to him.
“It’s a big part of college football right now, and for our guys, being able to put some money in their pocket, them taking advantage of the NIL piece of it is important while making sure you get guys that are about the right things,” said Lebby. “I think you can go find both. We believe that we’re going to put a football team together that’s one, taken care of through the NIL space and two, being about the right things, and to me, you still go back to people and betting on people knowing that NIL is a big piece of it, but also knowing that at the end of the day, go with people, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
What’s left for Lebby?
The skipper did say that he and his staff still have some work to do, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Lebby said that adding more depth in the defensive backfield is an immediate priority, along with finding a potent edge rusher. Those additions will most likely be made through the transfer portal.
Several key recruits will announce their decision in January, such as On3 four-star prospects Braylon Burnside and Daniel Hill. The transfer portal window is also still wide open, especially with bowl games wrapping up. It sounds like Lebby and his staff are still on the hunt for more additions to the class. Don’t blink, spring ball will be here before we know it.
