WATCH: Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen being pushed like never before

Not long after arriving in Starkville, Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby quickly identified quarterback Blake Shapen in the transfer portal as his guy. The former Baylor transfer enrolled at Mississippi State in January and quickly hit the ground running with his new Bulldog teammates.

These days, Shapen is experiencing his first training camp at his new school. On Friday Shapen met with the media to discuss camp and his thoughts on State’s offense:

Q: How’s it been so far being out there with your guys in camp?
Shapen: It’s been good, especially for us doing workouts and stuff. So being able to get back on the grass and be around the guys has been great.

Q: What have you noticed the past two days that this offense can be explosive this year?
Shapen: Obviously, our goal is to get better every single day. Right now, we started off with red zone and things like that, so obviously it’s a little bit tougher on us. But for us to get better we have to do things like that. The ceiling is very high and we just have to get better every single day. That’s the goal for us.

Q: What do you think about your receivers’ group and how’s it been getting to know those guys?
Shapen: Yeah, it’s been awesome. We brought in some transfers, some young guys that have came in and have been a big impact for our receiver corps. So it’s been great working with them. They’re very talented and they want to get better every single day. That’s our goal.

Q: Coach Jeff Lebby said he likes the retention he saw from spring. Have you seen the same thing?
Shapen: For us in the spring, it was just about learning the offense, things like that. Having a full spring under our belts together and a new offense together, and new players, that was big for us. Coming into fall camp we just want to build on that and get better every single day.

Q: A lot of transfers on the offensive line, too. How’s that group gelling?
Shapen: It’s been awesome. Those guys work hard and are up here as just much as anybody else and me seeing that gives me a lot of confidence. Having guys like Ethan Miner playing center and being able to call the shots and everything he does has been awesome. Albert Reese, Mak Pounders and guys like that, it’s been great and Marlon Martinez and all those guys. Just being around them, they’re great people and great dudes, and even better on the field. So that’s good.

Q: How have you taken the reigns of being the leader on the team?
Shapen: I think for me, it’s first being able to lead by example. Do the right things, be in the building, learning the offense like the back of my hand, showing that I’m very committed to what I’m doing and also be vocal when I need to. We have good relationships all around the building so it really hasn’t been an issue doing that and being a leader. So it’s been good.

Q: You have some talented tight ends in the offense. How is that group moving forward?
Shapen: We have a very talented tight end room. We’ve got depth there. It’s been good to have guys like that, very talented, hard workers, also. All-around I felt we’ve built a really good bond as an offense and things like that. It’s special watching those guys and being able to step up into a role they’re going to have to.

Q: How are you working off the strengths of your receivers?
Shapen: They’re great like I said. Right now, I’m trying to find the guys that I’m comfortable with, which I’m comfortable with all of them. We have good relationships and I’m very comfortable throwing the ball to them. When you have so many good guys it’s hard to single one out, you know what I mean. So for us to get better we have to collectively get better.

Q: What do you think of Stonka Burnside so far and how much of an impact can he make this year?
Shapen: Stonka is a great player, works hard, great dude. But he’s a younger guy. He’s learning still. He’s trying to get better every single day. Especially when you’re a real young guy, first you have to master the offense and things like that. But then also you’ve got to focus on playing like yourself. He’s working towards that every single day and he’s going to have an impact.

Q: Jordan Mosley said it was the job of the receivers and quarterback to make each other better. Is that how you are approaching it?
Shapen: Yeah, for sure. For J-Mo and those guys to do their thing I’ve got to do mine. I’ve got to know my job cold for them to be able to go out and do what they want to do. Whatever their goals may be it’s my job to be the best I can be so I can help them reach those goals.

Q: What’s your relationship like with center Ethan Miner?
Shapen: He’s awesome. I just got done telling him he’s one of my favorite centers that I’ve played with. So it’s been fun. He’s a great dude. We’ve hung out off the field and got a good relationship. He’s a great guy.

Q: What makes him one of your favorites?
Shapen: He’s great dude. He’s funny and he’s like a sarcastic dude. When we first got here he’d say things that were very funny, very humorous and he’s got a lot of humor. I think he’s a very funny guy and I think he’s also a great football player.

Q: What makes Jeff Lebby different to you from a coaching standpoint?
Shapen: I think consistency. There’s an expectation level and if you don’t reach it, obviously, you need to figure out a way to reach it. I think that’s the biggest thing that I haven’t had in the past, is to be pushed like I’m being pushed right now to a level I need to get. I’m very blessed to have that. That’s what I need right now in my career.

Q: How do you like the new communication system with your coaches in your helmet this year?
Shapen: I think it’s a good thing. Obviously, I think it cuts off at 17 seconds or something like that. For us it’s a big deal to get new clues and tips from Coach Lebby in the headset to help me out a little bit. If there’s something I’m not seeing that maybe he can see, then he can communicate that in a way whereas before, you had to wait until the drive was over to get on the sidelines to understand. So it’s been good having that communication.

Q: You talk about being a leader. When you see the low predictions for this team this year, how do you address that kind of stuff?
Shapen: To be honest, for us we don’t sit and look at that all day. But we’ve all seen it. So I think for us we use it as motivation to prove a lot of people wrong. They’ve got us sitting at 15 or wherever the number may be, so far down there, that’s motivation for us. We can use that moving forward.

Q: How much does that help to have that fire with these guys to prove people wrong?
Shapen: Like I said, I don’t think we sit there and dwell on it. we’ve got a lot of other things we’ve got to focus on. We don’t sit there and dwell on it, but at the same time we know that’s where we are and we’re going to use that as motivation. I think everybody in the locker room understands that.