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Mississippi State's off-field recruiting staff earns recognition from On3

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 9 hours•

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Rod Gibson (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

Mississippi State under Jeff Lebby is attempting to pull itself out of a hole following three different coaching staffs in a three-year period.

The effects of that were felt last season when the Bulldogs suffered through the worst season in nearly 25 years and finished 2-10. Lebby and his staff haven’t been content with settling at the bottom of the SEC and the recruiting efforts have been noticeable over the last couple of months.

Those efforts are being picked up nationally as well with On3 releasing an article this week recognizing off-field recruiters standing out around college football. The Bulldogs’ staff was recognized among teams that finished inside the top 25 in recruiting.

“Key staffers that helped Mississippi State sign the nation’s No. 22 class include Senior Director of Football Recruiting Lee Wilbanks and Director of Football Recruiting Engagement Rod Gibson. ‘The one that makes us go’ is Senior Director/Recruiting Strategy Andrea Hollis,” the article summarized.

A graduate of Ole Miss, Wilbanks is carving out a new journey in Starkville and has been with the Bulldogs for the last two coaching staffs. He has extensive work inside the Power 4 with player personnel and recruiting having worked for Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss from 2013-’18 and he spent four years with Indiana after that.

Gibson and Hollis have been staples for State crossing several different coaching staffs, and the football program and university mean a little bit more to the duo. Both are natives of Mississippi and graduates of MSU.

Hollis has become the heart and soul for the Bulldog football program after joining Dan Mullen’s staff as a student worker back in 2011. She worked her way up as a graduate student in recruiting before becoming Mullen’s Director of On-Campus Recruiting.

The Morton native has been a key figure in setting up State’s official and unofficial visits for each of the last five coaches.

For Gibson, his journey started as a running back for Jackie Sherrill in 1998. He became an off the field recruiter for Mullen back in 2016 and has been huge for State’s recruiting efforts inside the junior college ranks, specifically, but also is a vital part of instate recruiting for State.

Not mentioned in the article was State’s General Manager, Marc Votteler. Going into his second year in Starkville, Votteler has been a key piece of State putting together a roster that has been turned over in a major way this offseason and doing so with a mixture of high school, junior college and transfer portal talent.

Votteler is coming up on a decade in personnel roles working at Tennessee, UCF, Ohio State and Alabama and was previously the General Manager at Marshall in 2022. He and Director of Scouting Courtney Williams were both critical in State’s efforts to help reshape the Bulldog roster.

Lebby and his staff signed a top 25 class in their first full season with the largest class score (89.05) since 2015. State had 28 signees from junior college and high school and are adding 24 transfers to this year’s roster.

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