What Jeff Lebby said at second SEC Media Days

ATLANTA – SEC Media Days signals the unofficial beginning of football season as team prepare for a tough schedule ahead.

Mississippi State is heading into year two under head coach Jeff Lebby and he’s working to improve the Bulldogs from a 2-10 record a season ago. To do that, the coach had to turn over his roster and get new and better players into the mix.

Lebby spoke about that and more with the local media on Wednesday morning prior to his time at the main stage.

Q: This is year two for you at SEC Media Days. How does this year feel compared to the last?

JL: “I think for me it is, man, it’s privileged to be here. Try to keep great perspective about that. And we are, we’re, we’re 15 days away from record day. So excited about that part of it, more than anything, to be able to get back on the grass with our guys.”

Q: You have guys that have been around most of the team this summer. What’s the feedback you’re getting on the summer the players have had?

JL: “I think there’s been a lot of hard work and there’s been a lot of different situations that have created a team, and you put them through some strain and some toughness throughout the summer to create that. And you know, you look at it, 80% of our roster in year one or two of being a part of the program. And I think, as we’ve gotten into it, guys that have been here that are year two understand what it needs to look like. And then guys that are new guys, man, they’ve picked up to it really well. There has been great buy in, there’s been great consistency, and excited about getting on the grass more.”

Q: This year’s team is essentially your roster, right?

JL: “Yeah, and we needed that. For us, from a roster standpoint, we had to get it flipped. We’re nowhere close to where we need to be, but we’re going to have the ability to go practice in fall camp the way we need to, very similar to how we practice in spring ball.”

Q: What’s it like having Blake Shapen back this year?

JL: “As hard as it was going through, what we went through, being year two in the offense and being able to come back, man, I think he’s got a chance to have a great year. He’s been an unbelievable leader for us, his consistency, his buy in the way he’s worked, what he’s done with his body being 212, pounds for the first time ever, he’s had great buy in to understand and the biggest thing for him to staying healthy. We got to do a great job of keeping him upright, keeping him clean. But excited about having him back.”

Q: How different is it having him back for this year after having a year in the system?

JL: “It’s a huge advantage. And again, inside this system, regardless of where I’ve been, who I’ve coached, you look at the quarterback in year two of the system, and it’s been a huge, huge jump. Through four games last year, we didn’t do what we needed to do while he was the starter. But you look at him statistically and from a production standpoint, the guy was playing pretty clean football, and he’ll build on that in a great way. I’m excited about that.”

Q: When you were here last year, did you have any idea that the season would go the way that it did?

JL: “That’s never the expectation as I’m looking at it. That’s not the lens I’m looking through for us. So, I think the great thing today is we’re all in, and everything’s pointing towards August 30.”

Q: What do you envision for Isaac Smith’s role this season?

JL: “He’s got great position flexibility, and we’re going to be able to line him up in a bunch of different positions to create an advantage. I think that’s something that is exciting for him, also exciting for us, because the fact that we can put a lot on him and expecting big things from him, but he’s expecting big things from himself and that’s why he’s here. Everything you love about the game of football, that’s Isaac Smith, and there’s, there’s not a better spokesperson for our team, for our defense, than him.”

Q: Why did you feel like Brenen Thompson was a good guy to bring to Media Days?

JL: “I think he set the standard of how you should operate inside of the building as a transfer. There’s not a better teammate. There’s not a guy that spends more time, that’s more accountable, that’s just serious about being great at everything that he does. He’s got this really mature personality. He’s an old soul, and this guy has done an unbelievable job of being a great teammate, and he has really set the expectation for transfers and what it’s supposed to look like.”

Q: Can this offense bring out a lot in him you think?

JL: “Yeah, I absolutely think when you go back and you watch the tape from last year, he’s open a lot, and when I had him two years ago, he was banged up, but when we had him, he had production when he was able to play. So, I’m excited about the opportunity he’s got. He’s got a chance to have great year.”

Q: What do you think your team has to focus on getting better going into training camp?

JL: “There’s a ton that we have to go get better at. I think defensively, as we’ve looked at it, in the defensive line room, and then at the linebacker position, we’ve created some depth there. We’ve got to continue to create depth at those positions. We’re not where we need to be, but I am excited about the ability to practice the way we need to practice. Finding ways to tackle enough during fall camp will be important so we can become better tacklers while being on the right side of that line, and being healthy as we get into to going to Hattiesburg, That’s a big part of the defense, creating negatives, creating sacks, all the negative plays that we want to fight to create, will be a huge point of emphasis for us.

“Offensively, it’s getting this offensive line connected – five different guys being one. I think we did a really good job of creating some additions in the spring portal, in the O line and tied in, and that’s going to be the biggest emphasis on offense. Is getting these five guys up front, playing the best five, finding the right five, and then getting them ready to roll.”

Q: Do you feel significantly better about the offensive line at this point than you did in the spring?

JL: “Without a doubt. The additions in that room are going to be able to create the ability to move some guys inside that need to be inside instead of playing tackle. It’s a position right now where we’ve got guys that we’ve added have played a ton of football, and I think that’s the most exciting part about it. Three of the guys that we brought in, three of the five were starters, every down players at their prior spots. So again, these are guys that know how to play, that have played and who made us better.”

Q: Where do you want to see your team take it to the next level this year?

JL: “Defensively for us, we want to play the way we need to play to be able to play winning football. I think that’s a huge piece of it, creating turnovers, creating negative plays, getting the ball back to the offense. That’s where we need to make a huge jump. We had to change the roster and flip the roster. I think we’re in a much better place today than we were a year ago today, and excited about that opportunity.”

Q: What are you selling to recruits despite the record?

JL: “I think people that watched the game, that know the game, saw a football team that had great belief and saw a football team that had great energy, that had passion, that played for each other and played for their coaches. And to me, that speaks to what’s going on inside the building. The result was not what we want, wasn’t the expectation. But if you know football and you watch you can tell that it’s a group of guys that believe, and so people want to be a part of that. There’s great belief, passion, toughness, confidence inside the program right now.”

Q: How different does it feel in the locker room?

JL: “I think the biggest difference is we’ve added so many pieces that have played in other places, that have had some success and that have the ability to play winning football for us. So, as we’ve added those guys, I think we got the right people too. You know, I talked about this in recruiting, whether transfers or high school players, at the end of the day, they’ve got to be good enough. But then you want to take the right people, and people matter. So for us, changing the entire receiver room that has helped us tremendously, and it’s helped the locker room. I think we’re in a much better place as a team today than we were a year ago, which is going to be something that’s important for some of the preseason and going into the season.”

Q: What can we expect from Stonka Burnside moving to defense?

JL: “Moving Stonka to safety has been really good. He’s, he’s incredibly green at the position, and there’s a lot of newness for him, but the talent and the want to is there. We’ve got to continue to bring him along the right way, to set him up for success and give him opportunity to go have success. But excited about where he’s at the long game for Stonka. He’s got a chance to be incredibly special on that side of the ball.”

Q: How do you in the staff spend the next couple of weeks before camp?

JL: “We’ll be in a full staff meeting on Monday, be back rolling, and we’ll be getting ready for practice. We did a lot of prep through the first couple weeks of June. We’ve got some special projects that we’ll work on, some advanced scouting with opponent scouting, that we’ll look at for a couple of days, and then get ready to roll.”

Q: What do you think about the momentum of the program with the IPF announcement and the funding?

JL: “I think there’s great momentum inside our walls. You look at what Zac (Selmon) and his team have been able to accomplish, from a fundraising standpoint, shattering records after the year that we’ve had and all the things that have gone on. There’s been this incredible amount of support. With the new indoor being announced, the facility upgrades being under the lights, week two with our season opener, our home opener, I should say, will be exciting. So there’s great things happening inside the program. So again, for me, all things are pointing to August 30.”

Q: What’s the biggest way you’ve grown as a coach the last year?

JL: “I think making sure that I created some additions from a staffing standpoint. There’s incredibly capable people on both sides of the ball that can coach at a really high level. I do think people that have lived it and had to learn real life experience and being inside our conference matters, and so for us, with the additions that we’ve had from a staffing standpoint, I think are great. Coleman (Hutzler) has done an unbelievable job with the unit and creating buy in and belief, and that that room is, from a staff standpoint, man, those guys are speaking the same language and there is, there’s just a great amount of experience in that room compared to a year ago today, which I think is going to be incredibly helpful.”

Q: How important is that first game at Southern Miss?

JL: “For us getting started the way we need to start is going to be a huge part of it. It being an in-state game, I think is great. There’s ton of familiarity with both rosters and staffs as well. So I think it’ll be a great opportunity for us to go kick it off and start the way we need to start before we come home the next week week to enter home for the next four weeks.”

Q: What’s Blake Shapen’s role in mentoring the younger quarterbacks?

JL: “I think you could see a lot about Blake when things happen the way they did for him last year, and how he took (Michael Van Buren) and how he tried to coach him and help him and mentor him and pull him along, that showed exactly who Blake is. He’s done the exact same thing as he’s leading that room right now. He’s trying to create the best room he possibly can.

“That’s the fight for us every single day in that room. The room right now, from a quarterback standpoint, is it got a chance to be as good of a room as I’ve ever had. With that being said, there’s great leadership in that room, and we’ve got a guy that’s lived it, done it, and is going to be a fifth-year senior in year two of the offense. And again, excited about that.”

Q: What are some examples of the improved culture that you’ve had this year?

JL: “The team has become closer. I don’t know about culture. We’re setting a culture every single day and how we do what we do. I think the team is closer. I don’t think there’s quite as many individuals inside the locker room is maybe there was, and you’ve got to go through what we went through and be able to address the situation and move on from people that you need to move on from, and then add the people that you need to add to be able to get to this point. And we’re at that point, and that’s why I feel better about it again. I think the team is closer today than it was a year ago.”

Q: What makes a great coach?

JL: “You got to be able to inspire. You got to be able to take young people places they can’t take themselves. That’s number one. You also got to be able to teach. You have to be a teacher as you’re coaching. And those two things, to me, are the most important and we’ve got that inside our program. We got guys that know how to inspire that know how to get guys to do things that are uncomfortable and make it comfortable  and then finding ways to teach your scheme to be able to get them to play at a really high level and go execute.”

Q: How much of the culture is about the young guys building that new vision?

JL: “Had a had a guy come in and talk to the team after one of the workouts last week, and he talked about the best teams he’s ever been a part of, and this is a guy that coaches for the Texans. The teams that he’s been a part of, the very best are ones that are player led, not player ran, but player led.

“There’s great accountability with themselves, and then there’s great accountability with each other, and it was just great to hear, because that’s all I talked about, and we didn’t have a conversation beforehand, as he got up there in front of the guys to talk about that. And so again, for us, that’s what it’s going to be about, and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”

Q: It’s been a couple of years since the Golden Egg was back in Starkville, how is that weighing on the minds of the team?

JL: “I think it’s pretty well documented what that game means. That’ll be a huge one on that Friday morning and Thanksgiving weekend, there will there be a lot of buzz and a lot of excitement about it and again, it’s pretty well documented that one means does.”