Leach Previews Auburn Game On Saturday

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's Mike Leach held his weekly press conference on Monday to preview the Bulldogs' upcoming game against Auburn on Saturday.

Below are the quotes from Leach's press conference.  

Head Coach Mike Leach – Dec. 7, 2020

Q: Do you feel like your team is going to accept a bowl bid?
ML: I certainly would be in favor of it. I want to play as many games as we can. I mean, we've got a young team. The more practice, the more work we get the better, the way I look at it.

Q: With no visits this year and the timing, what's it been like for you recruiting this cycle?
ML: I think the same thing that's most important, that's always most important, about recruiting is important this time is persistence. I've always thought the most important thing in recruiting is persistence. I've had the really sharp, flashy, car-salesman-looking guys where you're thinking, 'Oh geez, this guy'd be a great recruiter,' and he's only an average recruiter. Then I've had the guys, you know, the dour, sort of quiet guy that's a great recruiter and you'd think would be a lousy one. The one thing the good ones all have in common is persistence. I think we have a pretty persistent staff. I think we've done a good job of that. But, what you're working against is, I think there's an incredibly great product here at Mississippi State. I think when people come to Starkville and get on campus, I think they really get excited. Then I think that really elevates our opportunity to get a guy. I would say that recruiting is going quite well. I mean, we always want to be better at it. At this point, I think we're a little ahead of schedule. It's been a whole lot of talk on the phone, show pictures, try to figure out people they know in common with people that we might have here, people that we've coached before. It has gone quite well. It has been a strange dynamic. The biggest, most important thing to selling your institution or showing yourself and your coaches, is to meet people face-to-face. So, the single most important thing, you know, they've taken away. That has been a bit of a battle. Then again, persistence, selling what you have, selling the opportunities so that you see and see if that meets everybody's needs. A good deal's one where it helps everybody. The more you can illustrate that.

Q: Despite being losses, do you think that the strong performances the past two weeks have rebuilt your team's confidence?
ML: I think we've been generally positive the whole time. Yes, we have had reduced numbers, but I don't think that's really diminished our desire to play. It's diminished some of our advantage perhaps, but not our desire to play and improve our skills. I think we have a pretty good nucleus of guys that way.

Q: You have played a little better in those losses, but would a win in these last two games do for this program going into the offseason?
ML: Well, I think the most important thing for us to do is be the best team that we can be. That's what we have control over. We've got to be the best that we can be. We've got kind of a thin squad, but we have to put people in the positions that will help move the team the best and also can elevate their abilities. We've got a lot of young guys that are going to do a lot of great things, but if it was such a great idea to play true freshmen then everybody would do it. I've never played this many freshmen before, but it's kind of fun. I could get used to it. I mean it exciting. It ticks you off when you see some mistake out there, but then all of a sudden you see some guy that's supposed to be in high school or going to the prom a few months ago do something pretty great against Georgia or something like that. It's fulfilling too.

Q: K.J. was selected to the East-West Shrine Game today, is the assumption that he won't use that extra year of eligibility?
ML: Not sure yet. I think that's still in the works. I'm not sure yet.

Q: How would you say Will Rogers has progressed recently and how do you want to see him elevate his game?
ML: I think he's got progressively better. I think he's got to keep improving. I do think he's ahead of schedule. I think he's better than I would have expected. Really, just overall, it's not like there's one big thing. It's more like, just more polished, more everything quicker and smoother, more precise and then, the ability to do it more times in a row really. I think he's played quite courageous, quite well for a guy his age.

Q: Can you elaborate on your experience with playing this many freshmen and has it made this one of your more difficult years coaching?
ML: I think it's been tough and then it's been inconsistent as far as who is available. You know with all the testing and we have all these thresholds, well we've been below the threshold the last two games. But despite that, I'd rather play and go out there and play. You practice all year long to play. I am glad we get to play, but who plays where is a combination of who's the best. If a young guy's the best, you play them. But then other situations have happened where all of a sudden you get test results Thursday. Without going into much detail, they eliminated a whole position for us, a whole position gone. On Friday, we had to devise how we were going to plug that hole. They still played admirably, but not as good as we could have, I don't think. You just kinda roll with it. With all the things going on this year, there's plenty of forces trying to make it as joyless as possible. You try to lock into your day job and what you're doing on an individual level with the players and see how much you can elevate them and their abilities.

Q: With cases spiking in Mississippi, would you say your level of concern regarding COVID-19 has risen?
ML: I've always had the concern. I've always taken a certain amount of comfort that no college athletes have been hospitalized. I think that's pretty good too. I mean, we've have them hospitalized for other things, but not for COVID-19 so, that part is encouraging.

Q: What are your thoughts on this evolution of the off-the-field recruiters and those people behind the scenes?
ML: I don't know about the evolution. That goes way back, and I don't know where to start with that. I don't know the evolution of it completely myself. I was there when it happened, but I think it was the type of thing where the NCAA narrowed everything down to two GAs. Then everybody needed and wanted more help, so they added one piece at a time. This guy can do this, and that guy can't type of thing. I think it's just evolved. As far as that's what I know about the evolution, and that's not a very good answer. You can probably find somebody that follows that or cares about it more than I do. As far as our guys, I think they do a good job. I think they do a really good job here. I think they're diligent, and the other thing is, I think they're pretty smart and well-informed. They're recently good evaluators. That's one problem. When I meet 10 full-time coaches, put a pile of guys in a room and evaluate that's where most of the discussions take place. That's where people, they always say 'I'm going to stand on the table for this.' I've never really seen that stand on the table. Most of the coaches I know would break the table if they stood on the table. I'm going to stand on the table for this guy. Next time we get into that, I'm going to make the guy stand on the table. I'm going to make sure it's an old table, but he has to stand on it. But it's the evaluation, and I felt like our guys here evaluate pretty well. Like I said, you get a room full of 10 coaches, I guarantee you two or three of them don't evaluate that well. They make fantastic coaches, fantastic recruiters, but they don't evaluate that well. I felt like they evaluate pretty well here.

Q: Have you had to rely on that group more with the season running into signing day?
ML: Not so much this time of year, but when we first got here absolutely. When we first got here absolutely. The foundation of that class was created and held together by those guys. We're just walking through the door and trying to get pointed the right direction. This class has been more of a comprehensive effort with everybody involved. It does kind of vary. As far as researching and calling recruits, it's not as productive a time as I'd like to see. It is the type of thing where all of a sudden, 'Okay, everybody is off this week. Alright, call all your recruits.' So, it hasn't been a lack of time. It's been a lack of contact and hands-on, showing somebody around type of deal.

Q: After being short-handed the past few weeks, are you as close to full strength as you've been since about mid-October?
ML: No, I don't think so. I think we're pretty similar to what we've been the last two weeks before. The other thing is, there's definitely the ambush factor of this stuff. I mean you feel like it's used like a time bomb a little bit, you know.

Q: What has gone into the decision to play games with low numbers and what would it take to call a game off for you?
ML: Both are good questions. Both I don't completely know the answer to. I've been glad that we've played because well, like I say, we're not going to get any better here unless we play. I do know that we're going to take some licks too. You march into Athens with 43 scholarship guy, and here we go. But we got better as a team. I'm disappointed we didn't win, and it was there. It was right in our hands. We could have won that. I think we should have won it. We definitely got better that week, and we improved that week. I was really proud of the effort of our guys, probably as proud as I've been of any team I've ever coached. A lot of times people get result determinative but there's a point to where what was accomplished with what you had to do it with. I think that was a night of high accomplishment, at least with regard to the teams over the years I've had the chance to have experience with. On the one hand, there's getting better and improve. This is going to be a unique year no matter what happens. I think whatever time we do have, we need to utilize it to get as good as we possibly can.

Q: Who in this senior class has stood out to you and what has that group meant to you in your first year?
ML: I think they've done a great job. Kobe [Jones] and Erroll [Thompson] are the guys that really jumped to mind. It's easy to leave guys out if I don't have a list in front of me. I guess I've really felt the presence of Kobe in particular. Also, Erroll with regard to just energy and focus on our team, just really being committed to our task and what we're doing. I would say they are who I've felt the most influence from, and it's really outstanding to the point where I hope they come back. All these guys, I hope they come back. Of course, we'll look at it when the time comes.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Leach Previews Auburn Game On Saturday

Players Mentioned

Will Rogers

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