For the fourth time in five years, the Bulldogs are 3-2 entering the sixth week of the season.
Moorhead: "I love recruiting. If you don't love it, you can't be good at it."
October 01, 2019 | Football
by Bill Martin, Senior Associate Athletic Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – The first of two open weeks has arrived for Mississippi State football, which spent Tuesday night practicing and will do the same Wednesday before the coaching staff hits the recruiting trail the remainder of the week.
"It was good, spirited," Moorhead said of Tuesday's workout. "They flew around and really competed. We'll do the same thing tomorrow, and after that the players will be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We are going to hit the road recruiting on Thursday. You can see the impact that this year's class is having on the field. We feel great about the guys we have committed. Thursday and Friday we will be out recruiting our tails off."
For the fourth time in five seasons, the Bulldogs are 3-2 entering the sixth week of the season. Moorhead's squad began preparations for Tennessee, an SEC Eastern Division foe the Bulldogs will face in Knoxville on Oct. 12 for the first time since 2008. State and Tennessee kick off at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network. The Vols (1-3, 0-1) host Georgia on Saturday.
"This morning we finished up self-scout and started on Tennessee prep," Moorhead said. "We had practice today, and it was all fundamental and technique work, good on good work and special teams. We kind of switched the reps around so where the ones usually get the most, the twos get the second most and the threes the least, we made it more of a developmental type of practice where the redshirts and some of the younger guys were getting the majority of the reps."
Moorhead passionately discussed the program's recruiting plans during the open week.
"I love recruiting," he said. "If you don't love it, you can't be good at it - the identification process, the communication process, the relationship development process and having the parents be able to trust myself and our staff that we are going to develop these young men as students, as people, as players and that we are going to be looking out for their best interests. As I have said before, people in Mississippi can see through B.S. and they can sense genuine. I think the coaches, the players and the families, they see that, and they also see the wonderful opportunity there is at Mississippi State."
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the MSU football team on Twitter, like the on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateFB."
Below are quotes from Moorhead's Tuesday night media session:
Q: You said you are going to spend the first day on self-scout and the other two on Tennessee, is that holding up this week?
JM: "On Sunday, we made corrections and introduced Tennessee in a walk through capacity. Monday, the players were off and as a staff we did self-scout. This morning we finished up self-scout and started on Tennessee prep. We had practice today, and it was all fundamental and technique work, good on good work and special teams. We kind of switched the reps around so where the ones usually get the most, the twos get the second most and the threes the least, we made it more of a developmental type of practice where the redshirts and some of the younger guys were getting the majority of the reps It was good, spirited. They flew around and really competed. We'll do the same thing tomorrow, and after that the players will be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We are going to hit the road recruiting on Thursday. You can see the impact that this year's class is having on the field. We feel great about the guys we have committed. Thursday and Friday we will be out recruiting our tails off."
Q: Was it relieving in the way the guys came out to practice after the way last week went?
JM: "As a player or a coach who has competed at this level, at this capacity, you never get over a loss. You learn to live with it and the physical and emotional investment that goes into preparing for a football game, and then playing it, it having come out the way it did. The food doesn't taste good. You don't get much sleep, it eats a hole in you and that's just what it is. The losses hurt more than the wins feel good, but we talked about singleness of purpose and making corrections and moving on and what I want to know and I expected them to come out like this because we put last week to bed."
Q: After you reviewed film, what were your takeaways from the Auburn game?
JM: "What I said after the game sometimes it does hold true or doesn't hold true. Knee-jerk reactions against a team of their caliber, out the door down 21 early in the game and have to fight out of that backs against the corner. I don't know how realistic it was but we move the ball fairly well probably three or four opportunities that are not visible to the naked eye that we didn't take advantage of, that would have allowed us to put more points on the board. Identification, communication, run fits, coverage, and defense and you know the fumble on the kickoff return, the missed extra point… there are a couple of other things but that's not what I thought afterwards."
Q: When you fell behind in the deficit, how much did that take you off of your offensive game plan and what you were trying to do for that game?
JM: "You know I guess that front seven and that pass rush. I think that's kind of what you saw Texas A&M fall into a hole and they threw 51 times and having Kylin Hill, you don't want to abandon the run and don't want to put it all on the quarterback's back. There was an urgency to score but not at the expense of just dropping back and trying to throw the ball all over the place, you know? You're just trying to chip away at it. I think that's what we have to do to try to continue to have success because most of the time I can just drive back in through it and most of the time you seem to be able to run it, but we certainly got off schedule I guess more than anything."
Q: Early impressions of Tennessee?
JM: "I watched the defensive side of the ball and kind of scanned through their offense and special teams. Obviously, they have Coach Pruitt's fingerprints on it, the Alabama feel to it, three-down personnel. You look at all the games and they've done some nice things."
Q: I saw Tommy Stevens with a boot after the game, how's he feeling and how's he's practicing?
JM: "He did not. Kareem Walker did. He (Stevens) did not go today. He is still nursing his lower body, so it's good it's a bye week. We're hoping to get him back Sunday."
Q: Speaking of quarterbacks, how is Keytaon Thompson doing?
JM: "He did practice today."
Q: What's the status of Kareem Walker?
JM: "Yeah, he practiced today. He needs his five days of acclimation, certain amount in helmets and then he progresses to the uppers and then full pads. It was good to see him get after it today and do individual drills and some of the stuff because the rest of the team was in uppers. It's good to see him back out on the field."
Q: Seems like it's sort of come out of nowhere but your name has come up in the Rutgers head coaching job. What's your reaction on that?
JM: "I mean I guess it's getting towards that time of year. I mean we ask our players to be focused on the task at hand and right now I'm focused on us getting better tomorrow, us doing a great job of recruiting this weekend, and doing what we need to do with the team next week to find a way to beat Tennessee."
Q: You were talking quarterbacks a little bit. Is it at this point with as well as Garrett Shrader has played, I guess at all positions, how do you deal with that?
JM: "Tommy's (Stevens) is not completely healthy right now so this week we're working on program and player development getting a bunch of reps, one with the young guys and two, good on good. We'll see where Tommy's at on Sunday and go from there. Certainly, I don't want it to get kind of lost in the wash of how Tommy was playing before he got hurt. The guy was dang near 70 percent completion percentage and five touchdowns, throwing the ball on time with accuracy, and I don't want that to disappear but the young guy is pretty impressive too so you obviously have the creative license to kind of change your mind. Do you want to play both of them at some point and both in the game at the same time? So all of those options are open, and I think it feels good to have a luxury where regardless of who your pick, there's kind of a different skill set. You feel good about either of them being in the game piloting the ship."
Q: You've told us about the color charts for redshirts. How do you feel about this now five games into the season?
JM: "Yes for sure for the guys we know they're going to redshirt. If I had the list, I would go through it with you. There's some hard decisions on who is definitely going to, very few yellows and a lot more greens of guys that we are going to decide to play this year. I think they are making a nice impact on offense, defense and special teams."
Q: We are already learning that Garrett Shrader is kind of a different cat in different ways but are you still impressed with how he's just taking this opportunity and running with it?
JM: "I am impressed but I can't say that I am surprised. Knowing him for so long and knowing the family and knowing his high school coach and what they did there. Just kind of don't mistake it for nonchalant because he's incredibly competitive. He doesn't let the situation get too big or affect him. The thing that impresses me, that impresses our staff, hopefully impresses our fan base and definitely impresses his team is the kid's compete level and ability to produce at such a young age. He just went in there (at Auburn) when Tommy went down and directed his first drive right down the field and threw his first touchdown pass. To me, that is pretty dang impressive."
Q: I know you can't talk specifics or name names, but how do you feel about this upcoming recruiting class and where you're at right now?
JM: "Good and I mean really, really good and it's a credit to Mike Villagrana and our recruiting staff. Those guys and girls do an unbelievable job. My staff is forged with the task that your recruiting ability is just as important as your coaching ability. I would find it hard-pressed to believe that there is another head coach in the country with the personal involvement that I have with every one of our top prospects and the kids, their parents, communication on a daily basis. … Myself and our staff have made the full commitment that we are not going to use any excuse in recruiting. We are going to go after the best of the best. We may miss some, but we are going to hit some more than we miss."
Q: Speaking of recruiting, with Garrett Shrader looking like he's not going to be able to redshirt this year does that change the way this year that you're going to handle this class in terms of quarterbacks?
JM: "No. We have one and plan to take one."
Q: With recruiting, I know it's something that you've announced before when you came to State but not having been from the south or Mississippi what's it been like and what's the adjustment?
JM: "Well one, I love recruiting and that's the first thing. If you don't love it, you can't be good at it - the identification process, the communication process, the relationship development process and having the parents be able to trust myself and our staff that we are going to develop these young men as students, as people, as players and that we are going to be looking out for their best interests. As I have said before, people in Mississippi can see through B.S. and they can sense genuine. I think the coaches, the players and the families, they see that, and they also see the wonderful opportunity there is at Mississippi State. Did I mention that I love recruiting?"
Q: With a new law in California about name, image and likeness, what's your thoughts on that and how do you think it would change the landscape of college football and specifically Mississippi State?
JM: "That's a great question. I mean in general, it's an incredibly complex issue that I don't want to say almost creates more questions than answers, but I think you guys are getting to know me well enough by now that I am not going to shoot from the hip and kind of throw something out there that turns into a sound bite on a topic that I haven't had a chance to research. I will kind of delve into it and look and see what they are talking about doing and what some of the specifics are relative to the player compensation and how the NCAA reacts to that individually by state or by school, then I will kind of be able to offer an opinion. Until then, like everyone else, it's a knee-jerk reaction."
Q: The first four games and all that's passed for a lot of schools, you saw what happened with Houston and those kind of things you're getting used to last year with being able to use guys for four games. But now how has a dynamic changed to a guy saying I'll play my four but I want to sit in the waiting area. How are coaches going to handle this if your guys came to you and said I don't think I'm doing enough this year I want to sit and maybe be better next year?
JM: "I mean it hasn't happened to us, and I think you're just going to take every instance on an individual basis. First and foremost, you have to do what's best for the team and the program and hopefully you can do the best for the individual. I don't think they're mutually exclusive, but like anything, you have 120 guys and a bunch of coaches and people you have to answer to and you hope there can be some kind of pleasant compromise to making everybody happy."
STARKVILLE – The first of two open weeks has arrived for Mississippi State football, which spent Tuesday night practicing and will do the same Wednesday before the coaching staff hits the recruiting trail the remainder of the week.
"It was good, spirited," Moorhead said of Tuesday's workout. "They flew around and really competed. We'll do the same thing tomorrow, and after that the players will be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We are going to hit the road recruiting on Thursday. You can see the impact that this year's class is having on the field. We feel great about the guys we have committed. Thursday and Friday we will be out recruiting our tails off."
For the fourth time in five seasons, the Bulldogs are 3-2 entering the sixth week of the season. Moorhead's squad began preparations for Tennessee, an SEC Eastern Division foe the Bulldogs will face in Knoxville on Oct. 12 for the first time since 2008. State and Tennessee kick off at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network. The Vols (1-3, 0-1) host Georgia on Saturday.
"This morning we finished up self-scout and started on Tennessee prep," Moorhead said. "We had practice today, and it was all fundamental and technique work, good on good work and special teams. We kind of switched the reps around so where the ones usually get the most, the twos get the second most and the threes the least, we made it more of a developmental type of practice where the redshirts and some of the younger guys were getting the majority of the reps."
Moorhead passionately discussed the program's recruiting plans during the open week.
"I love recruiting," he said. "If you don't love it, you can't be good at it - the identification process, the communication process, the relationship development process and having the parents be able to trust myself and our staff that we are going to develop these young men as students, as people, as players and that we are going to be looking out for their best interests. As I have said before, people in Mississippi can see through B.S. and they can sense genuine. I think the coaches, the players and the families, they see that, and they also see the wonderful opportunity there is at Mississippi State."
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the MSU football team on Twitter, like the on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateFB."
Below are quotes from Moorhead's Tuesday night media session:
Q: You said you are going to spend the first day on self-scout and the other two on Tennessee, is that holding up this week?
JM: "On Sunday, we made corrections and introduced Tennessee in a walk through capacity. Monday, the players were off and as a staff we did self-scout. This morning we finished up self-scout and started on Tennessee prep. We had practice today, and it was all fundamental and technique work, good on good work and special teams. We kind of switched the reps around so where the ones usually get the most, the twos get the second most and the threes the least, we made it more of a developmental type of practice where the redshirts and some of the younger guys were getting the majority of the reps It was good, spirited. They flew around and really competed. We'll do the same thing tomorrow, and after that the players will be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We are going to hit the road recruiting on Thursday. You can see the impact that this year's class is having on the field. We feel great about the guys we have committed. Thursday and Friday we will be out recruiting our tails off."
Q: Was it relieving in the way the guys came out to practice after the way last week went?
JM: "As a player or a coach who has competed at this level, at this capacity, you never get over a loss. You learn to live with it and the physical and emotional investment that goes into preparing for a football game, and then playing it, it having come out the way it did. The food doesn't taste good. You don't get much sleep, it eats a hole in you and that's just what it is. The losses hurt more than the wins feel good, but we talked about singleness of purpose and making corrections and moving on and what I want to know and I expected them to come out like this because we put last week to bed."
Q: After you reviewed film, what were your takeaways from the Auburn game?
JM: "What I said after the game sometimes it does hold true or doesn't hold true. Knee-jerk reactions against a team of their caliber, out the door down 21 early in the game and have to fight out of that backs against the corner. I don't know how realistic it was but we move the ball fairly well probably three or four opportunities that are not visible to the naked eye that we didn't take advantage of, that would have allowed us to put more points on the board. Identification, communication, run fits, coverage, and defense and you know the fumble on the kickoff return, the missed extra point… there are a couple of other things but that's not what I thought afterwards."
Q: When you fell behind in the deficit, how much did that take you off of your offensive game plan and what you were trying to do for that game?
JM: "You know I guess that front seven and that pass rush. I think that's kind of what you saw Texas A&M fall into a hole and they threw 51 times and having Kylin Hill, you don't want to abandon the run and don't want to put it all on the quarterback's back. There was an urgency to score but not at the expense of just dropping back and trying to throw the ball all over the place, you know? You're just trying to chip away at it. I think that's what we have to do to try to continue to have success because most of the time I can just drive back in through it and most of the time you seem to be able to run it, but we certainly got off schedule I guess more than anything."
Q: Early impressions of Tennessee?
JM: "I watched the defensive side of the ball and kind of scanned through their offense and special teams. Obviously, they have Coach Pruitt's fingerprints on it, the Alabama feel to it, three-down personnel. You look at all the games and they've done some nice things."
Q: I saw Tommy Stevens with a boot after the game, how's he feeling and how's he's practicing?
JM: "He did not. Kareem Walker did. He (Stevens) did not go today. He is still nursing his lower body, so it's good it's a bye week. We're hoping to get him back Sunday."
Q: Speaking of quarterbacks, how is Keytaon Thompson doing?
JM: "He did practice today."
Q: What's the status of Kareem Walker?
JM: "Yeah, he practiced today. He needs his five days of acclimation, certain amount in helmets and then he progresses to the uppers and then full pads. It was good to see him get after it today and do individual drills and some of the stuff because the rest of the team was in uppers. It's good to see him back out on the field."
Q: Seems like it's sort of come out of nowhere but your name has come up in the Rutgers head coaching job. What's your reaction on that?
JM: "I mean I guess it's getting towards that time of year. I mean we ask our players to be focused on the task at hand and right now I'm focused on us getting better tomorrow, us doing a great job of recruiting this weekend, and doing what we need to do with the team next week to find a way to beat Tennessee."
Q: You were talking quarterbacks a little bit. Is it at this point with as well as Garrett Shrader has played, I guess at all positions, how do you deal with that?
JM: "Tommy's (Stevens) is not completely healthy right now so this week we're working on program and player development getting a bunch of reps, one with the young guys and two, good on good. We'll see where Tommy's at on Sunday and go from there. Certainly, I don't want it to get kind of lost in the wash of how Tommy was playing before he got hurt. The guy was dang near 70 percent completion percentage and five touchdowns, throwing the ball on time with accuracy, and I don't want that to disappear but the young guy is pretty impressive too so you obviously have the creative license to kind of change your mind. Do you want to play both of them at some point and both in the game at the same time? So all of those options are open, and I think it feels good to have a luxury where regardless of who your pick, there's kind of a different skill set. You feel good about either of them being in the game piloting the ship."
Q: You've told us about the color charts for redshirts. How do you feel about this now five games into the season?
JM: "Yes for sure for the guys we know they're going to redshirt. If I had the list, I would go through it with you. There's some hard decisions on who is definitely going to, very few yellows and a lot more greens of guys that we are going to decide to play this year. I think they are making a nice impact on offense, defense and special teams."
Q: We are already learning that Garrett Shrader is kind of a different cat in different ways but are you still impressed with how he's just taking this opportunity and running with it?
JM: "I am impressed but I can't say that I am surprised. Knowing him for so long and knowing the family and knowing his high school coach and what they did there. Just kind of don't mistake it for nonchalant because he's incredibly competitive. He doesn't let the situation get too big or affect him. The thing that impresses me, that impresses our staff, hopefully impresses our fan base and definitely impresses his team is the kid's compete level and ability to produce at such a young age. He just went in there (at Auburn) when Tommy went down and directed his first drive right down the field and threw his first touchdown pass. To me, that is pretty dang impressive."
Q: I know you can't talk specifics or name names, but how do you feel about this upcoming recruiting class and where you're at right now?
JM: "Good and I mean really, really good and it's a credit to Mike Villagrana and our recruiting staff. Those guys and girls do an unbelievable job. My staff is forged with the task that your recruiting ability is just as important as your coaching ability. I would find it hard-pressed to believe that there is another head coach in the country with the personal involvement that I have with every one of our top prospects and the kids, their parents, communication on a daily basis. … Myself and our staff have made the full commitment that we are not going to use any excuse in recruiting. We are going to go after the best of the best. We may miss some, but we are going to hit some more than we miss."
Q: Speaking of recruiting, with Garrett Shrader looking like he's not going to be able to redshirt this year does that change the way this year that you're going to handle this class in terms of quarterbacks?
JM: "No. We have one and plan to take one."
Q: With recruiting, I know it's something that you've announced before when you came to State but not having been from the south or Mississippi what's it been like and what's the adjustment?
JM: "Well one, I love recruiting and that's the first thing. If you don't love it, you can't be good at it - the identification process, the communication process, the relationship development process and having the parents be able to trust myself and our staff that we are going to develop these young men as students, as people, as players and that we are going to be looking out for their best interests. As I have said before, people in Mississippi can see through B.S. and they can sense genuine. I think the coaches, the players and the families, they see that, and they also see the wonderful opportunity there is at Mississippi State. Did I mention that I love recruiting?"
Q: With a new law in California about name, image and likeness, what's your thoughts on that and how do you think it would change the landscape of college football and specifically Mississippi State?
JM: "That's a great question. I mean in general, it's an incredibly complex issue that I don't want to say almost creates more questions than answers, but I think you guys are getting to know me well enough by now that I am not going to shoot from the hip and kind of throw something out there that turns into a sound bite on a topic that I haven't had a chance to research. I will kind of delve into it and look and see what they are talking about doing and what some of the specifics are relative to the player compensation and how the NCAA reacts to that individually by state or by school, then I will kind of be able to offer an opinion. Until then, like everyone else, it's a knee-jerk reaction."
Q: The first four games and all that's passed for a lot of schools, you saw what happened with Houston and those kind of things you're getting used to last year with being able to use guys for four games. But now how has a dynamic changed to a guy saying I'll play my four but I want to sit in the waiting area. How are coaches going to handle this if your guys came to you and said I don't think I'm doing enough this year I want to sit and maybe be better next year?
JM: "I mean it hasn't happened to us, and I think you're just going to take every instance on an individual basis. First and foremost, you have to do what's best for the team and the program and hopefully you can do the best for the individual. I don't think they're mutually exclusive, but like anything, you have 120 guys and a bunch of coaches and people you have to answer to and you hope there can be some kind of pleasant compromise to making everybody happy."
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