Reminds me of Tony Bennett

[etowncoug]

I remember thinking Tony Bennett was crazy to head to the murders row that is the ACC. And to Virginia of all places.

Leach is walking into a situation where he already gets top 25 classes. He's going to have a lot of success down south. The only thing I could see derailing him is him running afoul of the good ole boy network.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I remember thinking Tony Bennett was crazy to head to the murders row that is the ACC. And to Virginia of all places.

Leach is walking into a situation where he already gets top 25 classes. He's going to have a lot of success down south. The only thing I could see derailing him is him running afoul of the good ole boy network.

Virginia had a little bit of basketball tradition from the past (although they sucked when they hired Bennett). They also built a bad-ass new basketball arena about the time that Bennett got there. Leach will have success at Mississippi State. They've won 9+ games enough that only a fool thinks that he can't win 8-9 games every year. Mike's problem is that in almost 20 years as a head coach, he could never win his division and that is not getting easier with this job.

In a four week stretch next year, Mississippi state faces Texas A&M, @ Alabama, @ LSU and Auburn. That screams 0-4. However, the rest of the schedule is super soft and squishy. Looking at 2018 records, they face: 2-10 New Mexico, 4-8 NC State, 2-10 Arkansas, 7-6 Tulane, 6-6 Missouri, 8-5 Kentucky, Alabama A&M (FCS), and 4-8 Ole Miss. Leach has a great shot at finishing 7-5 or better in his first year.

The SEC is 100% geared to give their "good" teams the opportunity to win 9+ games and it will not surprise to see have the same kind of success at Miss. State that he had in Pullman and Lubbock. The problem is beating the truly great teams of the conference.....something he struggled to do in both Pullman and Lubbock. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for them to finish better than 9-3 (5-3).

 

[Brent H.]

He just took the 5th best job in his division. I think he maintains 8 wins because the conference only plays 8 conference games but I don’t see them getting out of the West. If he couldn’t get by UW with the Air Raid, don’t he’ll get by the top SEC teams.

 

[chipdouglas]

He just took the 5th best job in his division. I think he maintains 8 wins because the conference only plays 8 conference games but I don’t see them getting out of the West. If he couldn’t get by UW with the Air Raid, don’t he’ll get by the top SEC teams.

That would be my concern. There is no other division in football that will present him with this many UW-type challenges every year, where all your division opponents have the scheme and the talent to bury you on the LOS.

I will never forget the 4Q of the last AC when AG was trying to score some garbage time points and held onto the ball for 15 seconds, unable to find anyone open even in garbage time. HailState will need to find something for those opponents that we were never able to find.

 

[royhobbs2]

He can beat all but LSU and Bama for now

leach owned tamu at tech and he will beat Arkansas and Missouri. I can see him beating auburn in a year or two. MSU has quite a bit of talent. When these coaches decide on accepting a job they study the roster and the turn around time Arkansas was a $hit job based on the roster. Ole miss and MSU were both pretty loaded imo

 

[Coug90]

He just took the 5th best job in his division. I think he maintains 8 wins because the conference only plays 8 conference games but I don’t see them getting out of the West. If he couldn’t get by UW with the Air Raid, don’t he’ll get by the top SEC teams.

Yup. The Air Raid even with the talent he put together still was stonewalled by good defenses. Probably will feast on 4 patsies + 3-4 lower tier SEC schools, and get clobbered by Bama, FL, LSU, Aub, etc

 

[425cougfan]

He just took the 5th best job in his division. I think he maintains 8 wins because the conference only plays 8 conference games but I don’t see them getting out of the West. If he couldn’t get by UW with the Air Raid, don’t he’ll get by the top SEC teams.

5th best? I'm not sure it's better than Ole Miss or even Arkansas. I'd put it as the worst job in the most challenging division in football. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

He can beat all but LSU and Bama for now

leach owned tamu at tech and he will beat Arkansas and Missouri. I can see him beating auburn in a year or two. MSU has quite a bit of talent. When these coaches decide on accepting a job they study the roster and the turn around time Arkansas was a $hit job based on the roster. Ole miss and MSU were both pretty loaded imo

You seem to forget that Leach has always had the tendency to lose a game each year that makes you scratch your head:

2019: 4-8 UCLA
2018: 5-7 USC
2017: 5-7 Cal
2016: FCS EWSU
2015: FCS PSU
2014: 5-7 Cal (this is a reach because we just sucked across the board that year)
7-6 Nevada
2013: 8-6 CSU (a 7-6 team from the Group of 5 beats us?)
2012: 1-11 CU

2009: 6-7 Texas A&M
2008: no bad losses
2007: 6-7 CU
2006: 2-10 CU
2005: 4-7 O-State
2004: 7-5 New Mexico
2003: no bad losses
2002: no bad losses
2001: 3-8 Kansas

Leach is probably going to see the Bulldogs gack against teams like Arkansas and Missouri (or someone else) every year. In 14 of his 17 seasons.....he found a way to do that. Of course, my entire point is that MSU is going to be a 4-5 loss program most years under Leach. Not terrible...not great. Exactly who Leach is and has been.

 

[Brent H.]

5th best? I'm not sure it's better than Ole Miss or even Arkansas. I'd put it as the worst job in the most challenging division in football. Maybe I'm missing something.

I forgot Aggie was in the West. It’s on par with Arkansas or a little better right now.

 

[425cougfan]

I forgot Aggie was in the West. It’s on par with Arkansas or a little better right now.

Yeah, I guess there are different ways of looking at the programs. There are current rosters, and then there are where the programs fit more structurally. I'd put Mississippi State at the bottom of the SEC West in the latter regard, definitely way behind Aggie. Aggie has a ton of cash and institutional motivation to succeed, even if it has been misplaced.

 

[CougPatrol]

The difference, IMO, between Tony Bennett and Mike Leach is defense. All of the teams in the SEC play stout defense, outside of Texas A&M, and Jimbo Fisher will correct that problem.

I don't see how Leach is going to survive the SEC gauntlet without running ball. Every season, they've got Alabama, Auburn, and LSU on their schedule. That's damn near like starting the season 0-3 (1-2 on a good year). Then you splash in Texas A&M and rotate in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and a resurgent Kentucky program. Look at their schedule next season and tell me if you see more than 5-6 wins.

New Mexico
at NC State
Arkansas
Tulane
Texas A&M
at Alabama
at LSU
Auburn
Missouri
at Kentucky
Alabama A&M
at Ole Miss

 

[royhobbs2]

We will see he went 11-2 in 2018

I think he will have a good defense and a good coaching staff

 

[roses04]

MSU has some nice facilities, their football complex and baseball stadium are awesome. He has far more money and tools to work with at MSU than he did at WSU, don't underestimate Leach.

 

[Coug90]

MSU has some nice facilities, their football complex and baseball stadium are awesome. He has far more money and tools to work with at MSU than he did at WSU, don't underestimate Leach.

It’s proportionate to where you are at though. Yeah he will have some better athletes on defense. But he’s going against legit pro caliber players and offenses almost every week in conference. Yeah he will have nice facilities but nothing exciting next to every other FBS program within an hour flight of MSU. Football is a different beast there and these programs are used to facing pass happy offenses now, so the advantage he had at TTU is no more. I don’t see it. He will get them to bowl games but his ceiling is 8 wins tops unless he makes some serious changes in his coaching philosophies...which we all know he’s too stubborn to do. I don’t honestly wish any ill will on him, but I hope MSU fans aren’t thinking conference titles or they are going to be damn disappointed.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

You seem to forget that Leach has always had the tendency to lose a game each year that makes you scratch your head:

2019: 4-8 UCLA
2018: 5-7 USC
2017: 5-7 Cal
2016: FCS EWSU
2015: FCS PSU
2014: 5-7 Cal (this is a reach because we just sucked across the board that year)
7-6 Nevada
2013: 8-6 CSU (a 7-6 team from the Group of 5 beats us?)
2012: 1-11 CU

2009: 6-7 Texas A&M
2008: no bad losses
2007: 6-7 CU
2006: 2-10 CU
2005: 4-7 O-State
2004: 7-5 New Mexico
2003: no bad losses
2002: no bad losses
2001: 3-8 Kansas

Leach is probably going to see the Bulldogs gack against teams like Arkansas and Missouri (or someone else) every year. In 14 of his 17 seasons.....he found a way to do that. Of course, my entire point is that MSU is going to be a 4-5 loss program most years under Leach. Not terrible...not great. Exactly who Leach is and has been.

Which begs the question:

What exactly are MSU's expectations? I mean, conf champion for them means a completely different thing than conf champ for us, ie theirs is a guarantee to the playoff, ours isn't.

I imagine he's going to be getting upwards of $5MM plus bonuses - is that the going rate for 8 win seasons in the SEC?

 

[royhobbs2]

The staff he puts together will be interesting. Cohen must have opened up the checkbook for dc and staff hires. Their schedule is favorable next year. I wouldn’t bet against Leach. He’s got a four star qb offered by bama who is a sophomore and quite a bit of talent on defense.

 

[dgibbons]

Which begs the question:

What exactly are MSU's expectations? I mean, conf champion for them means a completely different thing than conf champ for us, ie theirs is a guarantee to the playoff, ours isn't.

I imagine he's going to be getting upwards of $5MM plus bonuses - is that the going rate for 8 win seasons in the SEC?

Miss State winning the SEC would certainly change the landscape. I would guess that would cost at least three head coaches their jobs.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Miss State winning the SEC would certainly change the landscape. I would guess that would cost at least three head coaches their jobs.

Probably some Cam Newton style parental donations as well.

But thats just what passes for "real football" down there.