Five early impressions of the Mike Leach era at Mississippi State
It's still a little more than three weeks before new Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach makes his debut with the Bulldogs. Still, while he hasn't yet coached a game in maroon and white, the last eight months since his hiring back in January have afforded the opportunity to draw some early conclusions about what we can expect during Leach's tenure at MSU. Could some of this change with time? Certainly. But as of now, here are five early impressions of the Leach era at Mississippi State:
1. First recruiting class suggests that under Leach, it's a new day in Mississippi State quarterback/wide receiver recruiting.
Mississippi State currently has 16 commits in the Class of 2021 and of those 16, four of them are either a quarterback or a receiver that can boast of a four-star ranking by at least one outlet. Quarterback Sawyer Robertson and receivers Theodore Knox, Malik Nabers and Brandon Buckhaulter are all Sports Illustrated All-American candidates and stand as headliners of MSU's current group. That's not to even mention another pair of highly-thought-of players in the class, receiver Jacobi Moore and SI All-American candidate quarterback Daniel Greek. Of those six names, half (Robertson, Knox and Greek) are from the state of Texas. That's certainly an indication of the Leach effect, given his background in the Lone Star State. It stands to reason that in the future, more quarterbacks and wide receivers will be itching to play for Leach if he can do as he's done throughout his career and get his Air Raid offense up and running in Starkville. Think about it. If you were a high-profile wide receiver or quarterback, wouldn't it draw your attention to possibly both play in the Southeastern Conference, AND be in an offense that's throwing the football somewhere around 50 times a game?
2. Leach and staff don't seem to put much stock in the past.
When MSU outside receivers coach Steve Spurrier, Jr., was speaking with reporters a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that, as for his unit, they don't talk a lot about last year and what happened in the past. It seems like that might end up being a common theme throughout the staff. Take Leach for example. It's no surprise that graduate transfer quarterback K.J. Costello is ahead in the race to be the starting signal caller for the Bulldogs, but behind Costello, it appears sophomore Garrett Shrader is battling with true freshman Will Rogers just to be No. 2 on the depth chart. If Leach gave any credence at all to what happened last year, it seems like Shrader would be a bit ahead of Rogers. Remember last fall? Shrader was diving for first downs and helicoptering through the air after being hit, putting his body on the line and earning the respect of the Mississippi State fanbase. Now Shrader's future might still very well be bright, but it does at least seem like when Leach came in, the reset button was hit on Shrader. To be fair, it's tough to argue with this approach. In sports, your best chance to win doesn't come based off of what you did yesterday. It's all about who can get the job done today. Perhaps that's the same person. Or maybe it's not. Not looking at the past allows for a clean slate to make the best decision for the present and it appears that's what Leach and his staff does.
3. Perhaps surprisingly, Leach appears to be maybe a little more tight-lipped on some things than you might expect.
Mike Leach isn't exactly known for having much restraint. It kind of seems like he's always willing to share his opinion whenever asked. So it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn it appears he could be a little more tight-lipped on some issues than you possibly expected – namely injuries. It's to be expected that Leach wouldn't address who might be battling COVID-19 issues. No one around the country is publicizing names of players with positive tests. But this past weekend, Leach was asked how his team was from a health standpoint, meaning possible bumps, bruises, broken bones, etc. His response? "We don't talk about that either." You'll possibly recall former MSU head coach Joe Moorhead wasn't exactly forthcoming on the injury front himself. Everything was always either an upper-body or lower-body injury. However, in most cases, it was at least known who was hurt. Now maybe Leach will do something similar during the season. But in preseason camp, he's not tipping his hand. To be totally fair, it's absolutely Leach's prerogative on what to reveal on the injury front. It might be frustrating for fans to not know exactly what's going on sometimes, but from a coaching standpoint, does it ever really benefit a team to reveal injury information that opponents might could then use to better prepare?
4. It appears Leach has done a solid job navigating team through trying times.
It's never 100 percent known what has been said or what has happened behind closed doors, but it certainly appears that Leach has done a solid job of navigating the Bulldogs through some trying times and potentially divisive issues the last few months. Yes, there have been some bumps in the road since Leach's hiring – namely his much-publicized Tweet of the meme earlier this year that ruffled some feathers – but by and large, Leach has done and said a lot of the right things over the course of the coronavirus pandemic and all the rest that has gone on since March. Star running back Kylin Hill praised Leach for having his back when Hill threatened to sit out the season if the state of Mississippi's flag wasn't changed. Leach himself went to the state capitol with other Mississippi State coaches and administrators to advocate for the flag change. Last Thursday, after MSU players didn't practice and instead used the evening to stage a peaceful protest promoting social justice, Leach Tweeted a message backing his guys and voiced his support two days later in a press setting. Again, no one except the players and staff know this for sure, but it appears Leach has done an admirable job of backing his players and supporting what matters to them. All indications to this point are it has helped unite the Bulldogs.
5. There are still plenty of things we don't know.
Will Leach's arrival help Mississippi State's receivers finally shine? Will Costello be a star under Leach? Can Hill adapt to being as much of a receiver as a running back? Basically, can Leach's Air Raid offense work playing SEC opponents week in and week out? On the recruiting trail, while it appears things might go well with offensive guys, how will Mississippi State fare trying to attract defensive talent under Leach? The fact of the matter is, no one knows the answers to any of these questions yet. And there are plenty of others that need answering too as real football starts getting played and the Leach era really cranks up.
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