Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby on QB Blake Shapen: 'We got the right guy'

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby is very excited for quarterback Blake Shapen to take over under center in 2024.

The Bulldogs welcomed the senior transfer in to command the offense and Lebby said they got the right guy. For a first-year head coach, it’s a big sigh of relief to have the QB position figured out.

He explained what Shapen brought to the table during SEC Media Days.

“Yeah, I think when you look at it, the biggest piece is for us to get off the ground the right way,” Lebby said on SEC Network. “We needed to go get a quarterback that can get it done. I’ve talked about that nonstop today. We got the right guy. That’s a guy that’s going to have the opportunity to engineer an offense that’s going to be to the standard that we want it to be at. And without that piece, I think things look a little bit differently.”

Lebby acknowledged just because Shapen is in doesn’t mean the offense is completely fixed. The Bulldogs still have work to do ahead of the fall.

Blake Shapen the ‘right guy’ for Mississippi State

The upcoming camp next month will tell a lot about what Mississippi State can do.

“I mean, we’ve got a ton of work to do,” Lebby said. “But again it’s going to start at the quarterback position. How we can go play the type of football we need to go play is going to be about what that guy can handle. He can handle a lot. We were able to address some real needs upfront from a transfer standpoint, and picking the right people and taking the right people that are ready to go chase it and do it the right way. 

“So we don’t have a ton of experience that’s played at State, but we’ve got a bunch of experience that’s played at other places. Then it’s up to us to bet on ourselves to create some continuity, to create some trust, to create some connection and then go chase it the right way.”

Shapen spent the last three years of his college career at Baylor, playing all 13 games in 2022. Over the course of his career, Shapen has 5,574 yards, 36 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 63.7% completion percentage. He also has six rushing touchdowns.

As a member of the Class of 2020, Shapen was a three-star recruit out of Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian Academy, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 27 overall prospect in the state, the No. 46 quarterback in the class and the No. 654 overall prospect in the class.