Hail (State) Dan Mullen

Over the past several years, Mississippi State has quietly grown into a nice football program. Within the cutthroat SEC West, Dan Mullen has done a great job of not only recruiting, but also getting the most out of the kids he does recruit. He takes three star prospects that other SEC programs overlooked and turns them into stars (i.e., Dak Prescott, De’Runnya Wilson and Benardrick McKinney). But then he also occasionally lands the bigger prospects, like PJ Jones and Chris Jones. Mullen does a great job of making sure he doesn’t overlook a single prospect in his home state. Mississippi does not represent the best high school football talent pool, but Mullen exhausts all the possibilities. In Dak Prescott’s class (the 2011 recruiting class) 16 of the 22 commits came from the state of Mississippi. He locked in on Chris Jones, a five star prospect, and did not let him go until he signed. Truly, Dan Mullen has done some great work increasing his program’s talent level.

After last season, I was convinced he was gone. Maybe Florida, maybe Michigan, maybe even Nebraska, but he was definitely not returning to Starkville. Boy, was I wrong; Mullen during the off-season signed a contract extension through 2018. It appears he is in it for the long haul. Now the real question is if he can take Mississippi State to the next level.

Looking at the upcoming season, Mississippi State is going to have to reload, and reload fast. Luckily, the Bulldogs return the best quarterback in the conference and one of the most underrated wide receivers in De’Runnya Wilson. The defense loses a lot, but Chris Jones is poised to finally live up to his five-star billing. MSU should be just fine this year, but it might not see as much success in the win column. I’m really looking at this program beyond this season, though. You would be hard-pressed to find any pundit, or anyone who simply loves the game like I do, who thinks MSU will win the West or even match their results from the previous season, but they have a chance to sustain their momentum. If these three things happen this season, Mississippi State will establish itself as a legitimate SEC contender and not just a flash in the pan.

1. Make it back to the postseason. If Mississippi State does not make it back to a bowl game, the momentum that they gained in 2014 will be worthless, except for the memories. Recruits won’t care about what happened a few years ago. This is a “what have you done for me lately?” business.
2. Beat Ole Miss. The Egg Bowl will be played in Starkville this season, and Ole Miss has not won there since 2003. This year should not change that trend. The Bulldogs have won six of the past ten Egg Bowls. It will be great for Mullen if he can walk into recruits’ homes across the state of Mississippi and say that MSU has won the Egg Bowl five of the past seven years.
3. Dak Prescott gets selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. It would do wonders for recruiting if a big time quarterback from Mississippi State was selected on national television in the first round, crying in front of the cameras, and thanking Dan Mullen for all he has done. If recruits find themselves rooting for this young man, it can only help the MSU program. He is a great ambassador for the Bulldogs.

So there you go. If MSU can make it back to a bowl game and beat Ole Miss, and if Dak Prescott is selected in the first round of the draft, the Bulldogs will take another step toward establishing themselves in the West, even if the don’t win ten games.