Dillon Johnson promises his mother he will play in championship game
Mississippi native and Washington running back Dillon Johnson has helped lead the Huskies to the national championship game.
mississippitoday.org
Do I remember somebody saying Dillon Johnson wasn't tough?
- Thread starter Rick Cleveland
- Start date
mississippitoday.org
Maybe just maybe most probably it was the best thing ever said to the guy. Leach did him a favor. Leach had been coaching Div I for a long time and knew what tough was for a NCAA football player. Tough love is what many of these Gen Z's need.
You are assuming that Johnson was motivated by what was said about him.
Rick...
but that's awesome for Dillon. He was my favorite back over Marks.
but that's awesome for Dillon. He was my favorite back over Marks.
That's generally how coaching works
I don’t generally see many coaches questioning a players toughness publicly when they enter the transfer portal. So there are exceptions to every rule.
Having acknowledged that, I don’t think Dillon Johnson needed Mike Leach’s criticism to be tough enough to play football at a high level.
Maybe he was always tough?
He didn’t just start being tough this year. He’s just getting a lot more touches behind the best O-line in the nation- his numbers are better and he’s on a better team. But he played through injuries a few times in Starkville. It’s not new.
Hard to deny that MSU football isn't cursed after all the things that have went down over the past decade or so, especially considering our history. From folks wanting to fire Danny in 2013, to choking in 2014, to losing Danny in 2017, to Moorhead's offense shift, to Leach's death as soon as things were starting to get rolling, to Arnett's offense shift, to the danged helmet logos, to an environment where our rival is tailor made to succeed and we are at a disadvantage. Thank the Lord we made one right decision - to join the SEC in 19-whenever.
Our history basically boils down to select moments - such as 1980 Bama and 2014 Auburn.
On a side note, since this thread is obviously about Leach rather than DJ - I will say that Mike Leach was 80% right and 20% wrong usually. I do think he got the DJ thing wrong, and shouldn't have said what he said. But those things don't just fall out of the sky, it's obvious there was a rift between Leach and DJ on the offense. Even still, he shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have posted a noose either, but that's Leach.
All that said, I do think it's funny how DJ and all the other RuN dA bAwL bruhs bltch about the big gaping holes that we ran the ball through, and how we should have run more. But those holes were created by the Air Raid and how it spread the offense out - they didn't just fall out of the sky either. I think ole T-bro Arnett figured that out the hard way. And our fans and all the RDB blowhard HS and JUCO coaches around the state would never embrace it, not thinking about the idea that it's a better offense to prep you for the NFL than the other RDB offenses in our past. They wouldn't even embrace 7 on 7.
Our history basically boils down to select moments - such as 1980 Bama and 2014 Auburn.
On a side note, since this thread is obviously about Leach rather than DJ - I will say that Mike Leach was 80% right and 20% wrong usually. I do think he got the DJ thing wrong, and shouldn't have said what he said. But those things don't just fall out of the sky, it's obvious there was a rift between Leach and DJ on the offense. Even still, he shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have posted a noose either, but that's Leach.
All that said, I do think it's funny how DJ and all the other RuN dA bAwL bruhs bltch about the big gaping holes that we ran the ball through, and how we should have run more. But those holes were created by the Air Raid and how it spread the offense out - they didn't just fall out of the sky either. I think ole T-bro Arnett figured that out the hard way. And our fans and all the RDB blowhard HS and JUCO coaches around the state would never embrace it, not thinking about the idea that it's a better offense to prep you for the NFL than the other RDB offenses in our past. They wouldn't even embrace 7 on 7.
It wasn't public until a recording made w/out permission was put out there "publicly". If I remember correctly it was a recorded conversation between Leach and another party in Leach's office, a private place. And I don't remember a day that I played football that players weren't criticized or had their toughness questioned, it goes w/ the territory like it or not.
Article about Dillon Johnson recording
Too bad coach Leach isn't around to defend himself.
WowDillon Johnson promises his mother he will play in championship game
Mississippi native and Washington running back Dillon Johnson has helped lead the Huskies to the national championship game.
I thought it was a little in bad taste too, but in @Rick Cleveland's defense, none of that was mentioned in the article. So, he's just being a message board poster like all of us as far as his thread title. And Lord knows we've had plenty of people criticize Leach.
I would almost say that the article obviously had a Leach undertone to it, but at the same time, DJ transferring and finding his way into the national title game, while ripping it up this year, is definitely a big story.
It's all just typical Mississippi State .....
No shot at Mike Leach intended. But no matter what was said, publicly or privately, Dillon Johnson is plenty tough and clearly has been since junior high and high school. He is a really good, physical back and, apparently, a fine person. Heaven knows – and I sure as hell do – I've said and written things I later regretted....
"No shot at Mike Leach intended"
The title of your post is 100% a shot at Mike Leach.
The title of your post is 100% a shot at Mike Leach.
There is physical toughness and mental toughness. He seems like a great kid that sounds like he has toughness in both areas.
I don't know much about it but maybe Leach thought that he wasn't mentally tough enough or immature....hard to be both at that age.
I don't know much about it but maybe Leach thought that he wasn't mentally tough enough or immature....hard to be both at that age.
What? Leach didn’t say that to him. He said that about him, to a recruit, in front of another 3rd party (who recorded it). Johnson was never within earshot of any of it.
This is our first year since 2009 tonight be at a bowl. Have we had bad luck? Sure. But damn you make us sound like Vanderbilt
The problem is balance. Leach was stubborn not to run the ball more when the lanes when they are there. Arnett tried. To make qb something he isn't. Arnett also tried to play too conservative. Barbay also ran a lot tight formations. Both were as equally absurd.
Was the person who recorded the convo ever punished or better yet , fired? Regardless, leach shouldn’t have said it especially to a fellow player, woody Marks. Poor taste , imo
Coach Leach was awesome. Don't ya'll think he would have relished a debate with Rick Cleveland, the Godfather of Mississippi Sports reporting?
What does it mean to be "tough?"
Dillon Johnson was my favorite Bulldog, and he's my favorite Husky. Please don't snatch your own off the ladder. Wherever we Mississippians may roam, our hearts are always grounded back home.
What does it mean to be "tough?"
Dillon Johnson was my favorite Bulldog, and he's my favorite Husky. Please don't snatch your own off the ladder. Wherever we Mississippians may roam, our hearts are always grounded back home.
doesn't matter how he said but he said it and it was about Johnson and Johnson heard. It did him good either way.
Wasn’t tough enough for sec football and managed to escape the year without having to play against another sec team.
"Look at strength in your body, the desire in your heart. I gave you this."Dillon Johnson promises his mother he will play in championship game
Mississippi native and Washington running back Dillon Johnson has helped lead the Huskies to the national championship game.
Thulsa Doom
Get the hell out of here with this crap. What a trash thing to say. Especially when you have no truth insinuating he’d be drunk with players and/or recruits.
Actually, he may have been perfect. He was basically telling DJ to kick rocks. More coaches need to do that. Was it a bad decision for DJ to leave? Doesn't look like it.
Leach probably would have won 8 or 9 games this year as well.
Leach could have run more, but absurd is not the word I would use. His offense worked and he was winning games. T-bro Arnett is the one who was absurd.
The video going public made the situation better imo. The hypotheticals about what was said were insane
If I remember correctly, we all agreed with Leach. Physically, DJ and Woody were hosses and took hit after hit. Emotionally (maturity) wise, DJ was not the toughest. I said back then that DJ was the better running back of the two but that both of them were graded an A. It seems he has matured a lot this past year, and I am happy for him. Do I wish he was still a dog? Yes, but sometimes goodbye is the best thing. He is doing well for himself, and I’m yelling for him
Has anyone considered maybe Leach wasn't talking about physical toughness? As I recall the "not very tough" line came like a day or so after Dillon got very animated with the coaches about something he didn't like, which coincided with him jumping in the portal. Based on what we know about Leach, he very well could have been saying it "wasn't very tough" of him to get vocally mad and then leave the team instead of working though it.
I think this is just as likely or more so the case than him thinking Dillon wasn't physically tough.
I think this is just as likely or more so the case than him thinking Dillon wasn't physically tough.
Nope. We wouldn’t be active in the portal and our offense would continue to suck ***
It certainly matters in this context. He’d already made the decision to leave, and informed the coaches. So its very reasonable to assume that he wasn’t going to “receive” anything they said after that fact. Furthermore, he publicly lashed out at Leach in his farewell statement on Twitter after it happened, so acting like it was some great sage life advice that he cherished is dumb as hell.
Johnson was tough as **** for 3 years at MSU. Stuck it out and did what was asked of him the entire time, and ran hard, despite being in a system not best suited to his skill set that was run by a coach who didn’t even recruit him. He decided to spend his last season somewhere he could showcase his strengths a bit more. Leach got pissy about it and made a bunch of inaccurate, sour grapes comments. End of story.
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