100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 4 Days - No. 4, CB DeAgo Brumfield and WR JJ Harrell

Jeff Lebby’s era of Mississippi State football has arrived.

The Bulldogs are on their third coach in as many years as Mike Leach’s tragic passing opened the door for defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s debut as head coach last year. That experiment failed before the year even ended for State and now it’s Lebby’s turn to take the wheel.

While there is always a risk in hiring first time head coaches, Lebby brings to Starkville an exciting offensive scheme that has been productive everywhere he’s been. The coach has also brought with him some swagger that has the fanbase ready to see what’s next.

We are mere days away from game day for State and the start of the Lebby era and we’re finishing out this 100-day countdown this week.

Today, we look at a couple of new faces on the Bulldog roster.

100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 4 Days

No. 4, Sr. CB DeAgo Brumfield      

One of two defensive backs brought from Memphis with new co-defensive coordinator Matt Barnes, Brumfield has some experience on his hands after three years of college ball.

A native of Cincinnati, the 6’0, 190-pound defender began his career with Division II Campbellsville in Kentucky. He played in 17 games over two seasons and made 46 tackles with 12 pass breakups, four interceptions and a forced and recovered fumble. Two of his five turnovers during his sophomore year were returned for touchdowns as he was named Second Team All Mid-South Conference.

The production allowed him some opportunities in the transfer portal, and he was picked up by Barnes in Memphis where he became a starter for the Tigers. Brumfield started in all but one game last year and had 42 tackles with 10 pass breakups, 3.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Brumfield was a late pickup for State out of the transfer portal, but he’s impressed in training camp. Despite his newness to the State team, Brumfield has quickly risen up the depth chart with an unproven group of corners and is battling for a starting spot in Saturday’s season opener.

No. 4, Fr. WR JJ Harrell   

The new coaching staff needed to have momentum in the first month on the job and they couldn’t have gotten it without Harrell.

A player that many believed would have some drama in his recruitment, Harrell was a solid rock for State receivers coach Chad Bumphis across two different coaching regimes. Harrell started as a national recruit after helping coach Randall Montgomery and North Panola to the Class 3A North State championship and as a sophomore and then the third round with nearly 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior.

Harrell had the impressive feat of grabbing offers from 12 of the 14 SEC schools with the highlights being offers from Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida and Auburn and other conference standouts like Oregon and Miami.

While State and Ole Miss were always in the picture as well, Harrell was impressed with his out-of-state options, and he would commit to Tennessee after going on a visit. Harrell’s relationship with Bumphis never wavered, however, and the Bulldogs remained in the hunt.

Building an even stronger relationship with Starkville four-star Stonka Burnside, the two talked about playing together and they made that a reality last summer. Almost simultaneously, they would commit to State one June afternoon and Harrell became the lead dog in State’s recruiting class.

The four-star wide out was ranked No. 247 nationally by the On3 Industry ranking and he was the No. 43 wide receiver and No. 7 player in the state. As good as his production was on the field as a wide out and even a quarterback late in the year, his recruiting was even better as he helped Bumphis and Lebby lock in Burnside and grab commitments from QB Michael Van Buren, wide outs Mario Craver and Sanfrisco Magee and others.

Since arriving in the spring, Harrell has been working from behind a bit after dealing with an injury. The 6’1, 195-pounder has had an impressive training camp, but there’s no need to rush him as he has several talented players in front of him.

It will be interesting to see what Lebby decides to do with him this season, but he has a lot of bright days ahead.