“Effort, physicality, execution.”
Mississippi State wide receiver Brenen Thompson has only been in Starkville for a few months, but he’s bought into the vision in Year 2 under head coach Jeff Lebby.
Thompson, quarterback Blake Shapen and linebacker Issac Smith joined Lebby for SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday, all sporting a calm confidence in the program after a disappointing 2-10 campaign a year ago.
The offseason brought change with transfers and new recruits, but it also brought new energy to make the most of the new season.
“Coming into the building, you can tell the energy level is way higher,” quarterback Blake Shapen said. “Even from just going in the lunchroom, to dinner, or whatever it may be, everybody’s energetic. Going to workouts, it’s the little things in the locker room. It’s energetic. I feel like last year, at times, it was a little bit dead in some areas, and this year, I can just tell it’s a different level of energy.”
Lebby echoed the values Thompson spoke of: effort, physicality, execution, but he didn’t feel a need for a culture change. For him, it’s about putting together a team that personifies the values he brought in a year ago, and this year his team feels more like, well, a team.
“I think there’s been a lot of hard work, and a lot of different situations that have created a team, and you put them through some training and some toughness throughout the summer to create that,” Lebby said. “And you look at it, 80% of our roster is in year one or two of being part of the program, and I think as we’ve gotten into it, guys that have been here understand what it needs to look like, and then guys that are new, they’ve picked up to it really well. There’s been great buy-in and great consistency, and we’re excited about getting on the grass.”
“I feel like this team really embraces the blue-collar mindset, the hard work and everything about that,” Thompson said, echoing his coach’s emphasis on work ethic. “I obviously knew coming off of a losing season last year, that this team would have a little bit more of an edge to it, and I embraced that. I was excited to join that.”
The Bulldogs came to Atlanta with a chip on their shoulder, one that they’ve carried since the end of the 2024 season. The team finished with the fewest wins in a season since 2003, the last year under head coach Jackie Sherrill.
The roster experienced some serious turnover in the transfer portal, with 30 players departing and 34 coming in, along with 27 freshman recruits. The guys from last year who stayed did so with the intention of building and leaving last year behind them. Thompson recognized that vibe as a new arrival.
“Definitely a team with a sharp edge,” Thompson said of his first impression upon arrival. “Obviously, coming from a 2-10 season, nobody’s happy from that. I feel like we play with a different mindset this year, everybody’s kind of got a different chip on their shoulder, and we’re excited to get to the new season.”
Focused on Southern Miss
The Bulldogs are two weeks away from fall camp and the beginning of full practices, and Lebby has meetings with his coaching staff scheduled for next week to begin planning for the start of the new season, which kicks off the season against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg Aug. 30.
Beyond the in-state ramifications, the Golden Eagles appear to be a team on the rise, bringing in new head coach Charles Huff as well as many of his players from the 2024 Sun Belt champion Marshall team he built. It’s the first of several difficult nonconference tests, and it’s not one the Bulldogs can afford to look past despite a strong record against the Golden Eagles.
“I think it’s huge, we’ve got to go win that first game,” Shapen said. “I think that’s the biggest deal for us is focusing on being 1-0 each week, we’re focused on Southern Miss right now and that’s the biggest task at hand. We’ve got to go make a statement in that first game.”
The Bulldogs finished dead last in the SEC in 2024, going 0-8 through their conference schedule with their only wins coming against Eastern Kentucky and UMass.
Shapen was asked about predictions that the Bulldogs will finish last again in 2025, but the quarterback said he didn’t give them much thought. He’s more interested in the team’s ability to write its own story.
“We don’t look into that much, it is what it is,” Shapen said. “They’re going to have predictions every year, whether you’re one or last, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to go out and win games, you’ve got to prove yourself every week. Those predictions, I don’t look at them.”
Lebby is looking to move forward in his second year at the helm. The 2024 season going off the rails was “never the expectation,” but the team reset and worked on itself in the spring. He’s got his leaders back on offense and defense to help turn things around, and now he’s focused on Aug. 30 when the Bulldogs take the field again.
“We’re not trying to create a new culture,” Lebby said. “We’re going to be exactly true to who we are supposed to be, what we’re creating. I think the difference in the team today compared to a year ago today, besides the physical parts of it, we are closer as a football program and as a football team. The only way you do that is you spend time, and you have to take the right people. I’ve continued to talk about that. Protect the locker room, protect the pig by taking the right people. That’s what it’s all about. Again, I think from a culture standpoint, that is the buzzword. I think the people inside our building love being there. They love each other, they embrace the hard and are ready to go chase it.”
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