Bones, Tough Men, And Mechanics
September 15, 2021 | Football, Joel Coleman
Mike Leach has a unique way of honoring Mississippi State’s top performers after each win.
STARKVILLE – Perhaps you were scrolling through Twitter the last couple of Sundays and saw the posts from Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach.
Leach and his coaching staff hand out internal awards to top performing players after each Bulldog victory. The honorees are typically announced on social media the following day.
There's The Bone. There's The Tough Man. There's The Mechanic. You've likely viewed the graphics, but perhaps you've thought to yourself, 'What exactly earns such an accolade?' Or maybe you've wondered, 'Do those guys get anything for that?' Then of course, you might just be curious when it all started. For the answers to those questions, there are no better sources to turn to than Leach himself, as well as his longtime Chief of Staff, Dave Emerick.
Let's start at the beginning shall we?
Leach was in the early stages of his coaching career. He was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Iowa Wesleyan from 1989-91. At some point in that time period, an idea struck Leach to help motivate his linemen. The Bone was born.
The idea is simple. Emerick, who remembers Leach and staff bringing back The Bone and starting the other internal awards when Leach was at Washington State, describes The Bone this way:
"The Bone is the best offensive lineman – just the one that was the biggest dog and was the meanest, the nastiest and the toughest," Emerick said.
So far this season, the Bulldogs have had two players earn The Bone. Right tackle Scott Lashley took it home after the season-opening win over Louisiana Tech. Last week, it was left tackle Charles Cross' turn to earn it. And by it, yes, it's an actual bone.
"It's a dog bone," Emerick said. "We'll carve their name and the score. But it's a big dog bone. It's one of those rawhide bones."
The inscription on the bones have evolved through the years.
"We wood burn them now, but my wife used to write on them with a Sharpie and it'd work out really well," Leach said.
So what about the Tough Man? It's precisely what it sounds like. Unlike The Bone, any player at any position can earn the Tough Man award. They've just got to be, well…tough.
"Football is about toughness," Leach said. "We want to have something you can exhibit for a guy being tough and recognize it."
When it was time to find something tangible to hand out to those given the Tough Man award, Leach went a bit old school. He looked to a piece of equipment rarely seen these days.
"A lot of the older guys we coached in the past, they'd have a stack of neck rolls," Leach said. "They don't even have them now. And they were useless then, but let's be honest, they looked pretty studly."
Practical or not, there was an intimidation factor when going up against a guy with a neck roll. So now, when you play for MSU and you play tough, you earn your own as a reward. And speaking of tough, it's no small feat to get the neck collars.
"We have to find those online and order a bunch of them every year," Emerick said. "They're hard to find now."
Now you might shake your head and not be convinced that earning something players commonly wore years ago would motivate players today. Well, you'd be wrong. Just ask defensive lineman Cameron Young, State's most recent Tough Man after Jaden Crumedy picked up this year's first honor back in Week 1.
"It's a really special award to get the Tough Man," Young said. "That means you're upholding the standard and playing every play to the best of your ability."
Young says it's competitive. Every Bulldog wants to be the one to help State to a win and pick up the neck collar on Sunday.
Remember, MSU must win for any of these awards to be handed out. And if you want to win – if you want things to run smoothly – you also need a mechanic.
The Mechanic is the newest of the internal awards. It, too, began at Washington State and can go to any player at any position.
"It's just the player that most consistently does their job," Emerick said.
In the season's first game, running back Jo'quavious Marks picked up the accolade as he rushed for a team-best 71 yards and was the second-leading receiver with nine catches. Last weekend, linebacker Jett Johnson's nine tackles, forced fumble and pass breakup was enough to earn him the designation of The Mechanic.
Marks and Johnson each got to receive arguably the most unique prize of them all.
"They get a button-up mechanic shirt," Emerick said.
"Then there's a badge on it that says, 'Hello, my name is Roy' or whatever," Leach adds.
Leach describes The Mechanic as the player that's most reliable, and it seems like the more candidates for the award each week, the better the Bulldogs probably did on Saturday.
"The more mechanics you have, the better team you're going to have," Leach said. "It's like your car won't break down if you go to that guy. He'll take care of it. He'll make sure the oil is flowing and oil doesn't run right out as soon as you leave the place. He'll fix your tire. He's a guy you can rely on, you know."
In addition to The Bone, The Tough Man and The Mechanic, the MSU staff also hands out a Special Teams honor each week as well. No special, tangible item gets given with that one though.
"That one's not quite as fun," Emerick said with a grin.
Lideatrick Griffin won the special teams award last week with his game-opening 100-yard kickoff return. He also earned it the previous week with his electric returning ability, but he shared the Week 1 honor with Crumedy, who had a game-winning blocked field goal.
It's important to note, more than one Bulldog can win each award each week. It's all dependent on the situation. The process to decide the winners is a relatively simple one.
"On Sunday, the staff sits down and we go around the room," Emerick said. "There'll be nominations and obviously Coach Leach makes the final decision."
From there, a dog bone, a neck collar and a mechanic shirt are readied to hand out to the deserving Bulldogs. You'll likely learn of who won what via Leach's Twitter account.
Then, with a new week and a new game ahead, the process begins again. MSU players get to work, striving for a standout performance so that they can become the next Bulldog to take home a unique piece to remember it by.
"You know Coach Leach isn't going to do anything normal or do anything that everybody else does," Emerick said.
