Bulldogs Audition For MSU Coaches' Clinic
The coaches were to be in Starkville and on the MSU campus both Thursday and Friday for the clinic, which featured guest speakers Bobby Ross, Willie Shaw and Greg Sankey.
Ross is the recently retired head coach at the U.S. Military Academy and a long-time successful head coach on both the college and professional levels. Shaw is a former National Football League player and assistant coach for seven organizations. Sankey is the associate commissioner for compliance at the Southeastern Conference.
On the practice field, the Bulldogs treated their visitors to a light contact day of practice featuring shells (shoulder pads and helmets only), one that still provided the head coach with enough action to compliment his team.
We had a good day of work, MSU head coach Sylvester Croom said. We'll take tomorrow off with the clinic going on, and scrimmage again Saturday.
The head coach had some specific goals for Saturday's game-like practice.
I'm looking for better tempo, crisper execution, more mental toughness, Croom said. I want to see us playing together with more intensity. We've made significant improvement on defense, but I want to see that intensity not only from us as a team, but also individually.
We're going to put some guys in stressful situations and see how they respond, Croom said. The whole approach this spring has been to get mentally and physically tougher.
Croom lauded the play of sophomore tailback Anthony Dixon (Jackson, Miss.) and newcomer sophomore wide receiver Brandon McRae (Chester, Va.) for their work during the first three weeks of spring ball. He also called the play of junior quarterback Michael Henig consistent.
Defensively, the head coach was most impressed with the transition of Derek Pegues (Batesville, Miss.) from cornerback to free safety, and the pass-rushing ability of Titus Brown (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) through 11 of the 15 spring practice sessions.