Vic Schaefer on his time at Mississippi State: 'There's a piece of me that will always be a Bulldog'

With the Texas Longhorns moving to the SEC, head women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer is also returning to the SEC after previously spending eight seasons at Mississippi State.

Schaefer recently made an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. There, he shared his thoughts on his time in Starkville, admitting a piece of him will always be a Bulldog.

“In the Schaefer household, it was eight great years,” Vic Schaefer said. “And we have so many fond memories, so many great friends still there today. I have a farm still there, we built our dream home on it, never got to live in it. And so it’s a place that will always be near and dear to our hearts. There’s a piece of me that will always be a Bulldog.”

Vic Schaefer came to Mississippi State in 2012. It was his second stop as a head coach, having led the Same Houston State team from 1990-97. In between those stints, he had several stops as an assistant coach.

While at Mississippi State, Schaefer found plenty of success. He went 221-62 while leading the Lady Bulldogs. Amid that run, he managed to win the SEC twice in the regular season and once in the conference tournament. He also finished as the national runner-up twice and had runs to the Elite Eight and the Sweet Sixteen.

“And again, we just — my kids both went to school there, graduated from there, but those eight years, Paul, were so special. You know I can remember when I took that job in ’12, all my friends in coaching thought I’d committed career suicide,” Schaefer said. “And we believed in what we could do there. We believed in a vision, we believed in Scott Strickland, who hired us, giving us the opportunity to do what we were able to do, and then you know, it was just fun building something from the ground up with your bare hands and seeing it come to fruition is really special.”

Schaefer ended up leaving Mississippi State for Texas ahead of the 2020-21 season. In many ways, it was a choice to go home for him as he was born in Austin and was raised in the state of Texas. Since getting there, he has a 109-32 record with three Elite Eight appearances.

“So, those were eight great years, really special time in our life. Still an unbelievable community. We love going back there. In fact, I’m fixing to get on a plane soon as me and you’re done and I’m going to Starkville for the weekend and spending the weekend on my farm.”