Matt Holecek happy with Bulldog QB progression in Lebby's offense

While quarterback play is important on every football team, Jeff Lebby’s offense demands strong leadership and stronger talent out of the signal caller.

The evaluation, coaching and development from Lebby and his staff is a key in making sure that happens and first-year QB coach Matt Holecek is going to be at the forefront there. For the last six years, Holecek has been working his way up the ladder inside the Power 5 conferences to get a position of this caliber and no one knows him better than Lebby.

After spending two years at Missouri, Holecek worked with Lebby at Ole Miss as a Graduate Assistant and Offensive Analyst. He followed that up with two more years as an Analyst for Oklahoma and now the first-year head coach believes that Holecek is ready for his big break.

The 27-year-old from Missouri spoke to State’s media for the first time recently and gave his thoughts on Blake Shapen at quarterback, what he’s looking for in a signal caller, the Lebby offense and more.

Question: We all assume that Blake was brought in to take over as starting quarterback, but has he approached it as a situation that he has to go win the job?

MH: “To me, you’re not just competing against the other guys in our room, but you’re competing against the other starting quarterbacks in the conference. His approach has been ‘how do I get as good as I can as fast as I can so I can go execute and win games for Mississippi State?’”

Q: Do you like what Blake brings in the QB run game?

MH: “I think the the quarterback run piece is all based off of the entirety of the program. We’re not going to sit there on first down and ask the quarterback to run quarterback power. We’ve never done that. Blake using his athleticism and scrambles and then situationally and the quarterback run game will come up. He’s not afraid to do that. He wants to go fight for his team. He’ll do whatever we ask him to do, but we’re going to protect him and put him in the best position possible. We want to make sure that he gets to play 12, 13, 15, however many games he gets to play.”

Q: Blake was impressive at SEC Media Days with how he represented himself. Is that what you’ve seen from him?

MH: “He’s been the consummate pro. He’s worked hard to create relationships in the locker room. Obviously coming in here there are a lot of new guys on the offensive side of the ball, taking transfers and freshmen, but then also connecting with the guys already here.

“He’s not going to be a rah-rah guy, but he connects with guys which is far more meaningful to me. If people trust you and believe that you’re going to do exactly what you say, they’re going to follow you.”

Q: You guys brought in Blake and Michael Van Buren, but Chris Parson was recruited for the Air Raid. How would you say his skill set fits with your offense?

MH: “It’s interesting, you say he was recruited to come into the Air Raid, but he has more of a skill set than an Air Raid skill set. His ability to extend and create plays with his feet is one of his best traits. He has an incredible arm to stretch the ball down the field. He’s capable of doing everything that we’re asking him to do. He’s incredibly talented, it’s just about stacking days and continuing to get better every single day. He’s done a great job of that, but just continuing to put together consistent success and making every day plays every day.”

Q: With how fast you play, the QB has to basically be the extension of the coach on the field. How has Blake done that well so far?

MH: “I always think of it as you have to be an elite processor to be in this offense. Like you said, you don’t get a whole lot of time to look at the defense and make every possible check. If you can process, the answers are built into every play. That’s where we’ve had a lot of success. We’ve had really talented guys, but the processing ability is how you separate yourself and play within a system where you snap the ball four seconds after the last play is over. That piece is obviously critical. Knowing your job is a big piece of that, but also knowing everybody else’s job and understanding defensive structure, all of those things tie together how you’re able to process and play fast.”

Q: How quickly was he able to transition to this offense?

MH: “I think like any quarterback there’s going to be a transition period. What he did at Waco is a lot different than what we do. There’s some similarities as far as play structure, but not a ton. The thing that he did was he was driven to make the most of his opportunity here. Because of that, his transition has been really smooth because he worked at understanding and being able to communicate with myself, coach Lebby and all of these guys about what he needs and where he feels where he’s lacking. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do from that perspective.”

Q: How has the transition to the helmet communication system been?

MH: “Defensive coaches wanted it, but I think it creates an advantage for the offense because you get to hold the pen last. As great as quarterback is at processing, the ability for us to see something and give him some little cue and not overload him, all that does is help those guys. To me, it continues to create communication and ultimately if our guys are able to handle that in a positive manner, we should be able to grow in progress.”