STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s defense is one year older.
After cobbling together a unit that defied expectations and finished fifth in the Southeastern Conference in total defense a season ago, the Bulldogs under the direction of defensive coordinator Zach Arnett remain optimistic about improvement through the early stages of spring ball.
Having endured a season under the new-ish regime, there’s fewer questions and more purpose to each movement during practices these days. Spring sessions are now geared toward teaching and improvement rather than explaining where players ought to be on the field.
“We know what to do now,” third-year sophomore cornerback Martin Emerson said. “Just need to keep elevating, getting better and better.”
With 14 underclassmen on last season’s two-deep, MSU is chock full of experienced pieces. Emerson, who anchored a leaky secondary a season ago, is now going through his first spring camp after COVID-19 canceled last year’s. Alongside safeties Shawn Preston Jr., Fred Peters and Collin Duncan, he headlines a much deeper group on MSU’s back end.
Second-year freshman Emmanuel Forbes, who finished second in the FBS with two interception returns for a touchdown last year, is also back in the fold opposite Emerson, while classmate Decamerion Richardson stands to see more time at cornerback as well.
“I feel like he’s most definitely going to step up this year. We’re going to need him to step up,” Emerson said of Richardson. “He’s coming into himself.”
Of course, not all of those pieces were here a season ago. Former UCF defensive lineman Randy Charlton joined the Bulldogs over the offseason and fills an immediate need in the trenches. Defensive line coach Jeff Phelps said Tuesday Charlton had been working on at defensive tackle given his combination of size and athleticism.
Former Texas defensive back and one-time five-star recruit Jalen Green is also in the mix this spring after transferring to MSU during the winter. A versatile piece, it’s unclear whether Green sticks at Bulldog — MSU’s hybrid safety/linebacker role — or at safety, but early returns suggest he’ll be an important part of this season’s unit.
“I think with Jalen it’s going to be the same routine answer I’ve been giving,” MSU defensive coordinator Zach Arnett said last week. “We’re going to try him out at a number of spots and see where he best fits and helps us, where he’s most natural.”
Personnel aside, Arnett’s return to Starkville is a coup in itself. Signing a lucrative extension that pays him just north of $1 million annually, he was a popular pick to fill some of college football’s most noble defensive coordinator openings (hello, Texas and LSU). Instead, he became one of just three defensive coordinators since 2007 to return to MSU after his first season.
Generally gruff and frank with his words, Arnett spoke candidly with reporters last week as to where the Bulldogs’ defense stands. Rather than celebrate past statistics or overachievement, he felt personally responsible that the unit didn’t live up to standards set under previous regimes.
“What I learned from the season is I’ve got to be a heck of a lot better coach because we didn’t achieve all of our goals,” Arnett said. “You spend the offseason studying the film and seeing all the bad calls you made and the mistakes maybe on how you taught something.”
Now armed with a group of returners that includes seven starters from a season ago, Arnett’s youthful, yet experienced bunch stand to be among the SEC’s best units. But for now, the Bulldogs are still looking toward improvement during a spring session they so desperately missed a year ago.
“Anytime you didn’t play well enough on defense means you didn’t do a good enough job coaching it,” Arnett continued. “So every single one of us on the staff, that’s the message from coach (Mike) Leach.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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