CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dan Mullen had a vision for Mississippi State.
The head coach took over the university’s football program before the 2009 season and brought a new attitude to the team, the athletic department and the fanbase. Everyone associated with MSU football was excited about the future. Mullen needed everyone to buy in.
“We’ve had…a bunch of players to come in that work their tail off and believe in our program and what we do,” Mullen said. “Because of that, we’ve been able to have a lot of success.”
Mullen has led the Bulldogs to a school record six-straight bowl games. The latest takes place at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when MSU (8-4) takes on North Carolina State (7-5) in the Belk Bowl in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
The biggest key to success, according to Scott Stricklin, athletic director at MSU, is getting everyone involved: players, administration and fans.
“I think it’s not just the administration, it’s students, it’s faculty, Dr. (Mark) Keenum and everybody,” Stricklin said. “We want to be good at everything and when I say good, I don’t just mean winning games. We want to do a great job with educating our athletes and supporting the mission of the university. We’ve got a lot of good people to work with. Dan’s a guy that you want to support his leadership and it’s been very beneficial to us, from result of a graduation standpoint and also from a win/loss standpoint.”
MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum was hired shortly after Mullen and he got onboard with the football team, and the whole athletic department for that matter. Mullen has the support of the administration and the fans.
But it’s the players and coaches that win games. In Mullen’s first year, the Bulldogs went 5-7 and narrowly missed out on a bowl game. Since then, MSU has not been denied a bowl game.
Co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach John Hevesy followed Mullen to MSU from Florida and has been with him ever since. He has seen the program progress in the right way, including being ranked No. 1 for five-straight weeks during the 2014 season. Hevesy gives a lot of credit to the players who were on the 2009 team, including former Caledonia High School standout Derek Sherrod, J.C. Brignone, Tobias Smith and Quentin Saulsberry.
“They set the standard for that — how to compete, how to play, how to practice and how to do everything,” Hevesy said. “It’s kind of trickled down.”
Mullen has never brought in one of the top recruiting classes, but he finds underrated players that were passed over by some of the bigger schools in the Southeastern Conference.
One of those being quarterback Dak Prescott. The Haughton, Louisiana, native was a three-star quarterback, but chose the Bulldogs over LSU, among others.
He has broken 38 school records and is one of the best players to ever play football for MSU. He is excited about what the future holds for the Bulldogs.
“It’s brighter all the way around,” Prescott said. “Players are better than when I first got here until now. Bringing in better and younger guys and guys are developing more and it’s only brighter, the future.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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