Dawson Smith

*LONG POST* Alright, so both Lebby and Kamario will be back next year. Whether you agree with Lebby being back or not, it's going to happen, so it does no good to waste energy debating it. But what needs to happen from here? 1. Go absolutely crazy in the portal. $7.5M is a complete waste of money if you don't also invest around that investment. -We need fat dudes to protect K1. Lots of them. -We need pass rushers. -We need linebackers. -Depending on who comes back, we need a couple of dynamic WRs. -WE NEED A BACKUP QB THAT ISN'T DOG SHIT! Don't go cheap here. We need competency. Someone that can at least keep the train going should we find ourselves in this position again. 2. Fire Phil Loadholt. His unit is shit and has always been shit. The fact he still has a job beats the hell out of me. He's useless. So fire him. Get someone who can actually coach and recruit. Sunglass Phil does neither. 3. Fire Jon Cooper and actually make an effort to incorporate the TE. That position is a game changer if used correctly. We don't. Go get an actual weapon in the portal. 4. I'm willing to give Arnett another year because he at least has a track record, but we need to see some changes on that side of the ball. Whether it be staffing, scheme, whatever. He gets a pass, but we need him to produce more next year. 5. As important as going out and getting help from the portal is, retaining some of the key players we have is just as important. Some will have the opportunity to go to the NFL or elsewhere, but you've got to sell them on a massive year next year. It can't just be a K1 and a completely new roster. 6. High school recruiting has to pick up. It's dead right now. Yes, we suck and have no juice currently. But we have to have something to build towards 2028 and beyond with. 7. We as fans have to start pulling in the same direction again. It's going to require some of us (me included) to swallow our pride. We have one of college football's biggest stars leading our team next year. We've debunked narratives about us being poor and not able to keep him. This is new territory for Mississippi State. We can't maximize what we can be with a divided fanbase. Get behind this team. Get behind Lebby, even if you don't like him. And let's see if we can do some special things in 2027.