TAMPA, Fla. – Mississippi State football head coach Jeff Lebby doesn’t feel any added pressure to make another jump this season.
His first year with the Bulldogs ended with just two wins. Lebby improved in his second season, taking MSU to five wins and a bowl game. Entering his pivotal third year, Lebby said there isn’t any added weight to see that win total grow.
“This is the process,” Lebby said in a local media scrum at SEC Media Days on Thursday. “This is exactly what we planned on doing from the standpoint of taking that jump in year two, we plan on taking that jump in year three. We’re going to be exactly who we’re supposed to be.”
Lebby said he’s entering year three with the best roster he’s had since landing in Starkville. It’s a roster headlined by quarterback Kamario Taylor, who’ll take the keys to the offense after spending most of last season behind Blake Shapen.
The guys who’ll be protecting Taylor – who started the final two games of last season and left the Duke’s Mayo Bowl with a lower leg injury – are, in Lebby’s mind, the most improved unit on his roster. MSU’s offensive line returns three players who are projected to be starters, and poached two players, LJ Prudhomme and DJ Chester, from the portal who are projected to be the starting guards.
MSU was sacked 45 times last season, according to StatMuse, the fourth-worst mark in DI FBS.
“We’re going to take a huge jump there (the O-line),” Lebby said. “Having the ability to protect Kamario, and be able to run the football the way we want to run the football, will be a huge point of emphasis.”
Lebby said the depth in his secondary will be the biggest area of improvement on defense. MSU returns Kelley Jones and Issac Smith, and brought in three projected starters in the secondary through the portal.
Kamario, Kamario and even more Kamario
The hottest topic at Lebby’s scrum was his quarterback.
Taylor, who was sitting no further than 10 feet away from his head coach as Lebby talked about him, has garnered major hype as he’s set to take the keys to the offense this season. The sophomore Noxubee County High School alum is 6’ 4”, 230 pounds and showcased his mobility and arm in his two starts last season.
“He’s going to touch the football every single snap, he has the ability to make plays when things aren’t perfect,” Lebby said.
Lebby met Taylor while he was playing basketball in the gym of NCHS. Lebby said his first impression of Taylor was that he was athletic, and had a gifted build, telling Taylor that he needed to “quit playing basketball.”
He said Taylor reminds him of Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman winner, whom Lebby coached at Baylor.
“The athleticism, the ability to throw the football down the field, and the armed talent – I think that’s the closest comparison, you know, that I’ve seen with my eyes and practice every day and on Saturdays,” Lebby said.
Lebby said Taylor has put in a lot of time in this offseason, especially focusing on his body and nutrition.
Welcome back, Zach
Lebby said a big thing for fixing his defense this season was finding someone who had called plays and coached defense at this level.
(Re)-enter Zach Arnett.
Arnett led the MSU defense from 2020-22, and spent 10 games at head coach after the death of Mike Leach. He was fired after a 4-6 start, but returned as State’s defensive coordinator this offseason.
“I coached against him. I saw him in action,” Lebby said. “(He’s) a guy that has had great success as a defensive coordinator inside our conference, and a guy that understands Mississippi State and loves Mississippi State.
Arnett’s Bulldog defenses posted three straight seasons in the top-5 of total defense in the SEC. Lebby said there isn’t anything strange having Arnett rejoin the program that once fired him as a head coach. He said Arnett is “a guy who wants to be a defensive coordinator.
“He’s been an incredible teammate. He’s been a great staff member, and I don’t foresee that to change,” Lebby said. “There’s been no part of it that’s been awkward at all. It’s been a ton of fun, it’s been a lot of work.”
Arnett takes over a defense that struggled mightily last season. MSU finished second-to-last in the SEC in points allowed last season, allowing 30.23 points per game.
Nine-game schedule
Out of any three words that have been said throughout SEC Media Days, the words, “Nine-game schedule” certainly rank near the top of things said most.
The SEC introduced the nine-game conference slate ahead of this season, and Lebby’s squad was handed a tough draw. The Bulldogs will play four top-5 teams from last season, and have road dates with Texas and a new-look LSU. Only two of MSU’s conference opponents finished below the six win mark last season.
Lebby said that through the changes in college football, including the conference schedule changes, he has “consumed himself” with what’s in his control: getting his team ready to hit the field.
“That’s all that matters,” Lebby said. “We’ve got our schedule. We’re going to go put the ball down, get ready to go play, and be able to go chase this thing every single week.”
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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