Jeff Lebby breaks down first day of spring practice in year two

A new season of Mississippi State football won’t officially start for several months, but the unofficial start was signaled by the beginning of spring practice.

Jeff Lebby’s second Bulldog team took the field on Tuesday for practice one and it was a group that had a different look to it than the first. After taking in the over two hours of practice work, Lebby spoke to the media about his new roster and the importance of the weeks ahead.

JL: “I feel like over the last nine week, you talk about over 40 new players on the roster, our guys have tried like heck to get to know each other. Today, we could get out there and focus on ball. Our energy, our effort, our attitude today (was) really good. From a roster standpoint, where we are today compared to a year ago is completely different. Excited about getting pads on in a few days and getting to work.”

Q: It’s hard to tell a whole lot about a team this early, but you can definitely see the physical difference that your roster has this year. Did you think y’all overhauled it in that regard?

JL: “Yeah, I think without a doubt. When I talk about the roster being completely different, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m not sure, today, who the best ones are that we’ve got. I think that’s natural with the way that the roster is and the way the roster turnover is. I think the best part is the fact that our bodies are completely different. From a D-line standpoint – night and day. From a backers standpoint – night and day. You look at our quarterback room and the physicality that’s in that room and some of the things they’re going to be able to do from a depth standpoint – night and day.

“We’ve got a ton of work to do. Our guys have been incredibly willing and had unbelievable energy inside the building which we’ve got to have.”

Q: What’s it been like adding Phil Loadholt and Vincent Dancy to the staff?

JL: “It’s been great. With big Phil, he’s just got such great familiarity with me which has been awesome. That’s been incredibly seamless. I think it’s been great for the outside backers, JACKs and D-ends to be able to have coach Dancy here and being able to split it up with (David Turner) coaching the inside guys. There’s just a lot more one-on-one which I love and I think is really good for us. Both of those guys have great energy, great toughness and knowledge for the game. Excited about where we’re going with them.”

Q: Take us through the process of Stonka Burnside moving to safety.

JL: “We felt like we have the opportunity in the receivers room to get some really good players and I think we have. Stonka has a chance to be an incredible player in whatever he does, but on the defensive side he gives us something that we haven’t had from a playmaking ability standpoint. He’s a guy that has great instincts for the football and has great physicality. I’m proud of that dude for buying into it and being excited about it while we’re still going to have the opportunity of sprinkling him in on offense. He’s taken it and ran with it. Excited about where that’s going to end up.”

Q: Where do you see the biggest improvements for this year’s defense?

JL: “The biggest improvement is the body type – the length, the size, the guys that are over 300 pounds that have the ability to move weight in this weightroom. The guys that have had production playing at other places. That’s what’s in the room right now and I’m excited about that.”

Q: You added two guys that were not only high level defensive coordinators but head coaches in Mike Macintyre and Paul Rhoads. What do those guys do for your staff and what are their roles at practice?

JL: “Having Paul and Mac here, guys that I’ve coach against and have a ton of familiarity with, they bring experience. Both have been great defensive coordinators and head coaches that have worked at big time places in Power 4 leagues. Just having those guys as an extra set of eyes. Mac being able to help with me from a programmatic standpoint and looking at some things while being able to help with d-ends and outside backers. Coach Rhoades being able to help the corners and both are in the defensive room every day. It’s just another set of eyes and ears. They’ve seen it, lived it and had a bunch of success. These are two guys that are incredibly loyal and love football. They’re all in which has been awesome.”

Q: How was it to see Seth Davis back out there?

JL: “We’ll be really cautious. It will be slow to go with Seth and work him back in as we see fit.”

Q: How much of a difference does it make to have some of the veterans on the team back for another year and who are some of those?

JL: “Blake Shapen is a guy that understands what we want and how we want to go about it. I think about Isaac Smith on the defensive side of the ball. A guy that knows how we want it done and what it’s all about. Those two guys have been great but there have been more. We’re going to continue to need more. I’ve said that leadership to me knows no age. Guys that do the right thing, that are in the building and spend time nonstop, those are the guys that are going to create leadership for our team and take us where we need to go.”

Q: How do you feel about the running back room?

JL: “I feel really good about the room today. We’ve got to do a great job of keeping those guys healthy and giving them a bunch of reps, but we’ve completely flipped it in a calendar year. There’s incredible depth and I’m excited about that room. Great competition.”

Q: What do you expect Fluff Bothwell to add to that room?

JL: “He’s going to be a big, powerful, fast guy. That guy has had success at a different place, not this level. But what I love about Fluff is he’s come in and worked his butt off. That entire room. Nobody is on the list, everybody takes care of business and do things the right way. It’s a credit of who is leading the room every single day in coach (Anthony) Tucker and who we’ve signed.”

Q: What is the respect level for Blake Shapen?

JL: “Everybody inside our program has great respect for Blake because of how he plays the game. The guy will go die for you and he’ll inspire every day. He spends more time in this building than anybody inside this program. That’s the expectations we have and that’s what we’re going to have to have to get it done. He’ll continue to do that for us.”

Q: A lot of teams have decided to do away with spring games. Why do you believe they’re still beneficial for your team?

JL: “Our guys need to play. We’ve got such a new and different roster with so much turnover, our guys need to be in competitive situations and go play. We need to be able to evaluate that for 15 true practices and the more game type situations we can be in, the better for us.”

Q: Physically, Kamario Taylor looks the part. What’s his biggest areas of growth he has to have this spring?

JL: “Just understanding the speed of everything. That’s going to be the biggest thing for him. He’s done an unbelievable job of working his butt off to get himself to this point. I’m talking about in the film room and meeting room. It’s a huge credit to Blake and Luke (Kromenhoek). That room right now is really strong. It’s very competitive and we have guys that understand what it takes to be a quarterback. From a time standpoint and an expectation of how you have to operate. He has a great future ahead of him.”

Q: What’s more efficient this year from your first year?

JL: “It’s top to bottom. Everything from our schedule to what the expectation is to the weightroom. Every part of  our program in year two, everybody understands what we want. We really didn’t have turnover. We added some guys in, but programmatically everybody is back. That’s  huge deal in today’s game. There’s so many changes on a roster, you have the ability to be the same from a staff standpoint and you’ve got a chance to take a jump.”

Q: How would you assess where your offensive line is right now?

JL: “We’re still in the middle of assessing that. We’re not where we want to be. We’ll continue to recruit at a high level there. We’ll continue to look at the spring portal ther. That’s the reality there is we’ve got to add some pieces to that room, but we’ll get where we want to get.”