October 22, 2025 • 20 mins
In previewing Texas' matchup with Mississippi State on Saturday, Craig welcomes Bulldogs play-by-play broadcaster Neil Price to the program.
They discuss Jeff Lebby settling into year two as the head coach, key players to watch on offense, and more storylines surrounding the program ahead of the Longhorns' first visit to Starkville in 25 years.
They discuss Jeff Lebby settling into year two as the head coach, key players to watch on offense, and more storylines surrounding the program ahead of the Longhorns' first visit to Starkville in 25 years.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Now that's not me singing, that's buys gags. I'm master
of yacht rock. Here only yacht rock Wednesday. I'm thirteen
hundred the zone. Time to take a closer look at
this matchup between Texas and Mississippi State. Good friend, the
play by play voice of the Mississippi State Bulldogars Neil Price,
joins us on the Highland. I've never asked you this.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Do you like yacht rock at all? Neil?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
We do that every Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Vote yes, and if you want to have me on
every Wednesday from here on out, then I will sign
up for that.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I laughed.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So that song in particular, my wife and I will
occasionally go on a cruise. She loves to go on cruises. Okay,
And every time I hear bos Skaggs sing Lito, I
think about going to the buffet, which is on the
lido deck, yeah the boat. I'm like, I just know
there is some guy in his camp shirt and his
lenon shorts who jumps on there who's had a long
day of wherever, and he's singing Lito as the elevator
(00:57):
is going to the buffet.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Perfect. That might be reason enough for me to go
on a cruise sometime. I've never been on one, so
that might be reason enough just to get to the
lido deck and and to hit the buffet off of that.
And I saw my wife and I saw Boscas two
years ago here in town at the Paramount Theater, and
at age seventy nine, he was still rocking it. So
it was pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. Let me let
(01:21):
me get your thoughts on this team. In hearing coach
Levy's news conference and watching it, I couldn't help but
nod my head over and over when he talked about
how much better this team is not only than they
were last year, but how much better they are from
the start of the season. You know, if recent frustration
(01:43):
is notwithstanding that sort of thing, what's the biggest things
you've noticed in year number two with Jeff Levy as
opposed to his first season at the Helm a year ago.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, I mean, I think you hit the nail on
the head. The easy thing is is they are better now.
They're mired in three game losing streak and you're looking
at that sometimes with a little bit of a silver lining,
but they are better top to bottom than the team
that he coached a year ago. In his first season.
I think on defense, they are dramatically better than they
(02:15):
were a year ago, and it hasn't equated to huge
numbers craig with regard to sacks and tackles for loss,
but they're turning people over. They're forcing offenses to snap
the ball one more time, as Jeff Levy likes to say,
and that extra snap or two has led to a
takeaway for him. So they're older at the back there.
(02:38):
They brought in some guys up front who could help
generate a little more of a pass rush, and they've
got the right mix of youth and experience they are
at linebacker. That has worked for them offensively. Having Blake
Shapen at this stage of the season at quarterback compared
to losing him in the fourth game a year ago,
(02:59):
that's massively upgraded that position. They have upgraded it wide receiver.
I think when you talk about Brendan Thompson and Anthony
Evans and what they've been able to do, and even
though Fluff Bothwell has been hurt, he Devone Booth, Xavier Gayton,
those guys have given them a pretty good stable of
(03:22):
running back. So across the board, they've upgraded their talent.
They've got some guys who are second year in the
system who are still around, and all of that I
think has led to a pretty big overall chump for
the group.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
The other thing I've noticed, Neil is in Mississippi State
is no different than any other SEC school or for
that matter, most schools in Division one FBS. And that
is obviously access to the portal, But in the past,
not only Mississippi State, but this would be with other
schools that the transfers would be coming from, you know,
(04:00):
junior colleges and maybe Division two schools or whatever. But
you know, I look at I look at the Bulldogs
and I see the transfer. Yeah, there's there's guys from
East Mississippi Community College in Iawama, and there's there's there's
places like that. Uh, but I'm seeing Colorado and I'm
seeing obviously Texas and then and then seeing you know,
(04:21):
playing at Northwestern Ole Miss Georgia. I would say also
that they they probably upgraded the transfer talent through the portal.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Haven't they.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
They have?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I think that you know, some of that is
the day and age that we're in in college athletics
that you know, if we're being totally honest about it.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Okay, what's in the war chest?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
What can you afford to give a guy? What's market value?
And can you match it? I think that's one piece
of it. I think the other thing, though, with with
this particular team at Mississippi State that that stands out
is Jeff Levy and Coleman Hutzler, his defensive coordinator, were
very intentional in how they use the transfer portal. So
(05:08):
Brennan Thompson is a fantastic example of that. Jeff Levy
was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma when Brennan Thompson was
a freshman wide receiver, and even though Brennan Thompson didn't
play in a ton of games that season, Jeff Levy
would sit and watch the video with him and everyone
else on that offensive team, and he kept saying, this
(05:30):
guy is running wide open in space and we're just
not getting him the ball or the ball's not finding him.
And then when he becomes a head coach, it's like,
you know, something ever happens, there's a guy that I've
got on my list that you know, I want to
see if there's a fit. Coleman Hutzler had seen a
(05:50):
bunch of those guys as he had been making his
way through the ranks at a few different stops in
the SEC in particular, and it's like, Okay, this guy
can help, this guy can help. Our needs are pass rushers.
We need somebody to step in and help us out
in the middle of the defense. Jalen Smith's an example there.
(06:12):
It came over from Tennessee because Coleman had recruited him
in high school when Coleman was working as a special
teams coordinator and a linebacker coach at Alabama. So, like
I told somebody last week in Gamesville, it's like when
we were growing up, you had the wish book and
mom and dad would hand it to you and go,
what do you want for Christmas? And you'd start building
(06:32):
that list and you may not get all of it,
but you may as well put it on there and
take a run at it and see what happens. And
I think that that's kind of what they've done here,
is they've been really intentional of we've got relationships with
these people through recruiting over time, or we've been on
the same staff where they've been a player. We kind
of know what we're getting, and it feels like it's
(06:53):
a good step or a good risk to take when
you're bringing somebody new into your program.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I didn't think you were old enough to run the
wish book. The boy used to go through that at
Christmas time.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh I'm old enough. I promise you I am old enough.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Blake Shapin is a guy who I was really impressed
with when he was at Baylor in twenty twenty one
and what he did in the Big twelve championship game
against Oklahoma State. A tremendous game there, and I know
it had to be very frustrating for him over the
past couple of years and then being injured and the
long wruns. Didn't even get a chance to see him
in Austin last year. Now he's gotten healthy again. How
(07:31):
about your thoughts on the progress that he has.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Made over time. Well, I think that he.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Turned a negative a year ago in having to sit
the bulk of the year because of that injury, into
about as big a positive as he could because he
took the time after he had the shoulder repaired to
really get into the playbook, really spend some time in
all the meetings that they would allow him to be
(07:59):
a part of, not just the QB meetings, but all
the overall offensive meetings and during the games, you know,
he was engaged on the sideline, he was walking around,
he was in the huddles, all those things when the
offense was off the field. And what Jeff Levy has
said is that now year two, he and Blake are
(08:20):
speaking the same language. They understand the terminology. There's not
this need to slow things down and go. What I'm
trying to say to you as the coach is I
need X, Y or Z. Blake just knows it. He
understands situations better across the board. He's a better quarterback
mentally than he was when he arrived. I think that
(08:45):
the thing for him now is how do you stay
out of negative plays or put the offense in the
best position to do that? And when you have opportunities
to make what they call layups, make the easy throw,
how do you make sure that you're back in the
high average when those opportunities present themselves. And I think
that's part of his frustration hearing him talk Monday coming
(09:06):
out of Florida, is that there were a few plays
in the first half of that game where State had
three drives on Florida's side of the fifty did come
with points where he's thinking one play here, one play here,
and maybe we're talking about twenty one to three as
opposed to only settling for one score in the first half.
(09:27):
I think that's the next step for him, and for
that fact, the entire offense here, they got to find
ways to make the most of those opportunities when they
present themselves in the game.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Well, and obviously a lot of successful teams do that
through the running game. You mentioned Fluff Bothwell, he'd been
banged up, boots stepped up. How about how would you
describe the state of the Bulldog ground or game right now?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Well, I mean it's thinner than they would like for
it to be. So coming into the year, you felt
pretty good about three were four guys. Okay, So you
felt good about Devon Booth because he got the extra
year because he played in junior college, saw what he
could do a year ago, proven commodity, Fluff Bothwell had
a great year at South Alabama, and I think there
(10:14):
was a little bit of you know, from the fan
base and people who do what I do. Okay, how's
it going to translate from from that league in the
Sun Belt to the Southeastern Conference and pretty quickly he
put those doubts to rest.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It's gonna translate pretty well.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
And then Exavier Gayton was a guy who had not
played a ton in the last two years, but.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He had all the physical tools and you thought, okay,
if he gets some opportunities, this is a.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Guy who physically can can sit the role. Johnny Daniels
was the X factor in that because SO State was
a two back offense pretty much all last year Booth
and Daniels, and now Johnny's kind of the guy who's
who's the fourth guy in that room. And then Seth Davis,
Texas native from over and eight would be the fifth,
(11:02):
but Seth still working back from a pretty devastating injury
two seasons ago.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So you know he's still not back.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
To where he probably needs to be to be an
every down guy. So I think it's a little dinner
right now than they hoped it would be. But luckily
they had enough depth coming into the year that they
still have three guys.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I think at this stage they feel like they can
put out there and feel good about.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Visiting with Neil Price play by playboys for the Mississippi
State Bulldogs here on thirteen hundred and zone. I want
to go over to the defense and let me get
your thoughts. You mentioned Coleman Hustler and the one season
he was here in Austin. Was really impressed with how
he worked with the linebackers, and of course that was
twenty twenty and we all know what a weird year
that was because of COVID and all that kind of stuff.
(11:42):
I thought he did a really good job with the linebackers.
How would you say it's gone with him as as
the DC and getting this group to really kind of
come together a little bit because I look at some
numbers and there's some respectable numbers, you know, a thirtieth
against the pass and thirty seventh scoring defense, So they've
been able to limit some teams from having you know,
(12:04):
massive big totals. Obviously A and M and Tennessee are
outstanding teams. They managed to score points, but they've done
their job in a lot of ways the defense had.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
And if you go back and look at a year
ago when he was here, you'll find a lot of
triple digit numbers In some of those same columns, you're
finding thirties and top fifties, and you know that you're
finding this year. So he deserves a ton of credit
for turning this thing around. And he was a guy that,
you know, for being honest, was under a lot of
(12:34):
scrutiny from the fan base last year. He had never
been a defensive coordinator at this level, and there were
a lot of people when things weren't going well in
the midst of two and ten and Hope for.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
The SEC or were like, what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
And Jeff Levy stayed the course. And you know has
said to me plenty of times and said to the media.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Look, I know what a football coach looks like.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
I've been around him. He knows Coleman very well. They
were together at Old Miss. They got to a long
relationship and friendship with each other.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And he didn't give up on him.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And Nick Mitchell is a guy who's played linebacker here
for the last three or four years and is a leader.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
On that defensive team.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
And he got up in front of the media two
or three weeks ago and said, look, I'm glad that
my path intersects with Coleman hustlers, because this is a
guy who's on the way up. This is a guy
that everybody in the locker room will do whatever they
can to make sure that we make him look good
because he's put us in the best position he can
(13:36):
to let us go try and be successful. So he
has the respect of the players. His system is working,
because again you've got statistical data now that shows you
that he's made significant strides in year two as opposed
to where they were a year ago. And his whole
goal for them is just to reduce the amount of
(13:57):
thinking that those guys have to do when they line
where now they just know how to read, react and
go play as fast as they can. And we're seeing
more of that this year.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I'm interested to get your thoughts on this when I
wanted to get your thoughts on the I guess the
evolution I guess is the best way to describe it
of coach Levy as a head coach, because you know,
folks who've done the homework, they know, you know, he's
from the Art Brows coaching tree, and so he knows
offense really really well and was there at Oklahoma. I
(14:32):
go further backwards tells you how old I am. I
knew it was Dad Mike when he was the coach
at Andrews and went way out in West Texas and
when Jeff was younger, so I know about the quality
of learning this guy had. How I guess my question is,
have you seen him start to feel a lot more
comfortable in that head coaching role now as opposed to
(14:56):
his years of really being an offensive brain?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
I think so now, And let me tell you how
it relates to the position and my relationship with him, Craig.
You know, I mean, I don't claim to have a
great knowledge of the x's and o's, but I'm one
of the few people outside of the staff that sit
down with him on a regular basis, whether that's once
or twice a week for an interview or pre and postgame,
whatever that may be. And I will tell you that
(15:22):
our conversations this year not that they were bad a
year ago, but when you're going through the midst of
a tough year, you fall back on coaching points and
you talk in bullet points sometimes as the season goes along,
And this year we have much more open, honest and
direct conversations about things because I think that he knows
(15:44):
now he has a team that is much better than
the one he had a year ago, and he doesn't
have to fall back on selling what the future could be.
I think the other thing is that he has become
more comfortable being in these settings where when you're a coordinator,
you may have somebody who wants to talk to you,
(16:05):
you know, once a week is part of the regular
plan after practice or you know whatever, but maybe after
a game, depending on the program. But I mean, you're
just not asked to do as much of that as
the head coach. You're not asked to be the face
of the program all the time. I think he's getting
more comfortable with that, and he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
To be around.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
He's, like I say, he's always been honest and open
to me. I think being younger, he relates to players
in this day and age in a much different way
than some other guys who've been around for a while
maybe do. And I think you know, you mentioned coach
Briles and obviously being a part of that tree, but
he talks a lot about his dad and what he
(16:48):
learned from his dad and being around that. And another
guy we talked about, Blake Shapeing Okay, taking an injury and.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Making a positive out of it.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Here's the guy who was an offensive lineman in Oklahoma,
but I'm sure had dreams of playing in the NFL.
Wanted to do all the things you do when you
play at a high level. But he blows his knee
up and now his career is over. And what does
he do well? He gets in and says, Okay, I
want to be a student assistant. I want to learn
how to coach. And he gets connected with Josh Hipel,
(17:17):
good quarterback who went to the NFL and tried it
for a little bit and found that the coaching route
maybe was better for him, and it's worked out pretty good.
And those two guys begin to work together, and then
he goes to UCF with him, and then he starts
to branch out and do more on his own. Meet
more people, make more connections, learn more, seymore. He turned
all that negative into a huge positive and now he's
(17:39):
starting to reap some of the benefit from that. And
I think it's a great story.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I want to ask you one other thing. When I
was in Starvilla March and when I came down from
SEC basketball, came down duty Noblefield was just did was
every bit. The show plays every bit as average highs
of being just an absolutely fabulous environment for college baseball.
(18:06):
And I know a lot of long worn fans went
out there for that and they came away immeasurably impressed
by the place. Tell everybody, what do you expect when
they go on to Davis Wade This Saturday be the
first time Texas will have played in Startfield since nineteen
ninety one. So for this updated and now conference member
affiliated fan base, what should long worn fans expect coming
(18:28):
over to U Starkville for the game on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Well, obviously, the cow bells and it will be much more,
much more volume, much more intense than the ones you
had at baseball, just because there's that many more people
in the football stadium. But there'll be plenty of that.
If they're on campus early and they're walking around, I
(18:52):
think what they're going to find, hopefully, just like they
found in baseball, is you're going to find a fan
base that is going to welcome you, that is going
to be that you're here, that wants you to have
a great experience. And I hope that they'll come to
start well the same way that I used to when
when I was at another school in this league, And
you'll come in with an open mind because you know,
(19:12):
it's not the easiest place to get to and we
understand that, but we do believe it's a special place
here and it's a place where people want to be good,
they want to make sure they put their best forward.
They roll out to welcome Matt that you feel like
a part of it right upuntil the game starts, you know,
And but I think they'll enjoy it. The stadium is
(19:34):
you know, the stadium is great. There's not a bad
seat in there, and it's it's fun to go and
know that.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Most weeks now, State fans have shown up and it's
been a competitive game in there against some.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Really good teams. And hopefully we'll have something like that
on Saturday too.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
From my selfish perspective, how's the broadcast booth?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I think it's one of the best views in the
league because we're still kind of like like the DKR,
you're you're kind you're kind of still that mid level.
You don't have the cameras in front of you, but
you you're mid level and you've got a great view
of it. You're you're inside the thirty yard lines in
both of them, and uh, you know, hopefully we can.
(20:16):
We can keep fighting that good fight to keep those
I told the folks of Florida the same thing last week.
I said, you still got one of the better side
lines here, and that's that they keep changing those things
year to year. But you'll you'll enjoy it. I think
you'll be happy. You want to strain too hard to
see anything out there. And again, anytime that they've got
us in the spot where we're on the sideline and
we can we can kind.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Of see what's going on. They don't look like ants
running around down there. It's a pretty good day.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I'm with you one hundred percent. Hey, Neil, I appreciate
the time. Look forward to seeing you this Saturday in Startveld.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to hop on with us.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, good talk to you, Craig. Travel safe, all right,
we'll do.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
That's Neil Price, play by play voice of the Mississippi
State Bulldogs.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Well and more coming up. We'll continue on thirteen under
the Zone.
Now that's not me singing, that's buys gags. I'm master
of yacht rock. Here only yacht rock Wednesday. I'm thirteen
hundred the zone. Time to take a closer look at
this matchup between Texas and Mississippi State. Good friend, the
play by play voice of the Mississippi State Bulldogars Neil Price,
joins us on the Highland. I've never asked you this.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Do you like yacht rock at all? Neil?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
We do that every Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Vote yes, and if you want to have me on
every Wednesday from here on out, then I will sign
up for that.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I laughed.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So that song in particular, my wife and I will
occasionally go on a cruise. She loves to go on cruises. Okay,
And every time I hear bos Skaggs sing Lito, I
think about going to the buffet, which is on the
lido deck, yeah the boat. I'm like, I just know
there is some guy in his camp shirt and his
lenon shorts who jumps on there who's had a long
day of wherever, and he's singing Lito as the elevator
(00:57):
is going to the buffet.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Perfect. That might be reason enough for me to go
on a cruise sometime. I've never been on one, so
that might be reason enough just to get to the
lido deck and and to hit the buffet off of that.
And I saw my wife and I saw Boscas two
years ago here in town at the Paramount Theater, and
at age seventy nine, he was still rocking it. So
it was pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. Let me let
(01:21):
me get your thoughts on this team. In hearing coach
Levy's news conference and watching it, I couldn't help but
nod my head over and over when he talked about
how much better this team is not only than they
were last year, but how much better they are from
the start of the season. You know, if recent frustration
(01:43):
is notwithstanding that sort of thing, what's the biggest things
you've noticed in year number two with Jeff Levy as
opposed to his first season at the Helm a year ago.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, I mean, I think you hit the nail on
the head. The easy thing is is they are better now.
They're mired in three game losing streak and you're looking
at that sometimes with a little bit of a silver lining,
but they are better top to bottom than the team
that he coached a year ago. In his first season.
I think on defense, they are dramatically better than they
(02:15):
were a year ago, and it hasn't equated to huge
numbers craig with regard to sacks and tackles for loss,
but they're turning people over. They're forcing offenses to snap
the ball one more time, as Jeff Levy likes to say,
and that extra snap or two has led to a
takeaway for him. So they're older at the back there.
(02:38):
They brought in some guys up front who could help
generate a little more of a pass rush, and they've
got the right mix of youth and experience they are
at linebacker. That has worked for them offensively. Having Blake
Shapen at this stage of the season at quarterback compared
to losing him in the fourth game a year ago,
(02:59):
that's massively upgraded that position. They have upgraded it wide receiver.
I think when you talk about Brendan Thompson and Anthony
Evans and what they've been able to do, and even
though Fluff Bothwell has been hurt, he Devone Booth, Xavier Gayton,
those guys have given them a pretty good stable of
(03:22):
running back. So across the board, they've upgraded their talent.
They've got some guys who are second year in the
system who are still around, and all of that I
think has led to a pretty big overall chump for
the group.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
The other thing I've noticed, Neil is in Mississippi State
is no different than any other SEC school or for
that matter, most schools in Division one FBS. And that
is obviously access to the portal, But in the past,
not only Mississippi State, but this would be with other
schools that the transfers would be coming from, you know,
(04:00):
junior colleges and maybe Division two schools or whatever. But
you know, I look at I look at the Bulldogs
and I see the transfer. Yeah, there's there's guys from
East Mississippi Community College in Iawama, and there's there's there's
places like that. Uh, but I'm seeing Colorado and I'm
seeing obviously Texas and then and then seeing you know,
(04:21):
playing at Northwestern Ole Miss Georgia. I would say also
that they they probably upgraded the transfer talent through the portal.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Haven't they.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
They have?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I think that you know, some of that is
the day and age that we're in in college athletics
that you know, if we're being totally honest about it.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Okay, what's in the war chest?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
What can you afford to give a guy? What's market value?
And can you match it? I think that's one piece
of it. I think the other thing, though, with with
this particular team at Mississippi State that that stands out
is Jeff Levy and Coleman Hutzler, his defensive coordinator, were
very intentional in how they use the transfer portal. So
(05:08):
Brennan Thompson is a fantastic example of that. Jeff Levy
was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma when Brennan Thompson was
a freshman wide receiver, and even though Brennan Thompson didn't
play in a ton of games that season, Jeff Levy
would sit and watch the video with him and everyone
else on that offensive team, and he kept saying, this
(05:30):
guy is running wide open in space and we're just
not getting him the ball or the ball's not finding him.
And then when he becomes a head coach, it's like,
you know, something ever happens, there's a guy that I've
got on my list that you know, I want to
see if there's a fit. Coleman Hutzler had seen a
(05:50):
bunch of those guys as he had been making his
way through the ranks at a few different stops in
the SEC in particular, and it's like, Okay, this guy
can help, this guy can help. Our needs are pass rushers.
We need somebody to step in and help us out
in the middle of the defense. Jalen Smith's an example there.
(06:12):
It came over from Tennessee because Coleman had recruited him
in high school when Coleman was working as a special
teams coordinator and a linebacker coach at Alabama. So, like
I told somebody last week in Gamesville, it's like when
we were growing up, you had the wish book and
mom and dad would hand it to you and go,
what do you want for Christmas? And you'd start building
(06:32):
that list and you may not get all of it,
but you may as well put it on there and
take a run at it and see what happens. And
I think that that's kind of what they've done here,
is they've been really intentional of we've got relationships with
these people through recruiting over time, or we've been on
the same staff where they've been a player. We kind
of know what we're getting, and it feels like it's
(06:53):
a good step or a good risk to take when
you're bringing somebody new into your program.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I didn't think you were old enough to run the
wish book. The boy used to go through that at
Christmas time.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh I'm old enough. I promise you I am old enough.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Blake Shapin is a guy who I was really impressed
with when he was at Baylor in twenty twenty one
and what he did in the Big twelve championship game
against Oklahoma State. A tremendous game there, and I know
it had to be very frustrating for him over the
past couple of years and then being injured and the
long wruns. Didn't even get a chance to see him
in Austin last year. Now he's gotten healthy again. How
(07:31):
about your thoughts on the progress that he has.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Made over time. Well, I think that he.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Turned a negative a year ago in having to sit
the bulk of the year because of that injury, into
about as big a positive as he could because he
took the time after he had the shoulder repaired to
really get into the playbook, really spend some time in
all the meetings that they would allow him to be
(07:59):
a part of, not just the QB meetings, but all
the overall offensive meetings and during the games, you know,
he was engaged on the sideline, he was walking around,
he was in the huddles, all those things when the
offense was off the field. And what Jeff Levy has
said is that now year two, he and Blake are
(08:20):
speaking the same language. They understand the terminology. There's not
this need to slow things down and go. What I'm
trying to say to you as the coach is I
need X, Y or Z. Blake just knows it. He
understands situations better across the board. He's a better quarterback
mentally than he was when he arrived. I think that
(08:45):
the thing for him now is how do you stay
out of negative plays or put the offense in the
best position to do that? And when you have opportunities
to make what they call layups, make the easy throw,
how do you make sure that you're back in the
high average when those opportunities present themselves. And I think
that's part of his frustration hearing him talk Monday coming
(09:06):
out of Florida, is that there were a few plays
in the first half of that game where State had
three drives on Florida's side of the fifty did come
with points where he's thinking one play here, one play here,
and maybe we're talking about twenty one to three as
opposed to only settling for one score in the first half.
(09:27):
I think that's the next step for him, and for
that fact, the entire offense here, they got to find
ways to make the most of those opportunities when they
present themselves in the game.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Well, and obviously a lot of successful teams do that
through the running game. You mentioned Fluff Bothwell, he'd been
banged up, boots stepped up. How about how would you
describe the state of the Bulldog ground or game right now?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Well, I mean it's thinner than they would like for
it to be. So coming into the year, you felt
pretty good about three were four guys. Okay, So you
felt good about Devon Booth because he got the extra
year because he played in junior college, saw what he
could do a year ago, proven commodity, Fluff Bothwell had
a great year at South Alabama, and I think there
(10:14):
was a little bit of you know, from the fan
base and people who do what I do. Okay, how's
it going to translate from from that league in the
Sun Belt to the Southeastern Conference and pretty quickly he
put those doubts to rest.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It's gonna translate pretty well.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
And then Exavier Gayton was a guy who had not
played a ton in the last two years, but.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He had all the physical tools and you thought, okay,
if he gets some opportunities, this is a.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Guy who physically can can sit the role. Johnny Daniels
was the X factor in that because SO State was
a two back offense pretty much all last year Booth
and Daniels, and now Johnny's kind of the guy who's
who's the fourth guy in that room. And then Seth Davis,
Texas native from over and eight would be the fifth,
(11:02):
but Seth still working back from a pretty devastating injury
two seasons ago.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So you know he's still not back.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
To where he probably needs to be to be an
every down guy. So I think it's a little dinner
right now than they hoped it would be. But luckily
they had enough depth coming into the year that they
still have three guys.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I think at this stage they feel like they can
put out there and feel good about.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Visiting with Neil Price play by playboys for the Mississippi
State Bulldogs here on thirteen hundred and zone. I want
to go over to the defense and let me get
your thoughts. You mentioned Coleman Hustler and the one season
he was here in Austin. Was really impressed with how
he worked with the linebackers, and of course that was
twenty twenty and we all know what a weird year
that was because of COVID and all that kind of stuff.
(11:42):
I thought he did a really good job with the linebackers.
How would you say it's gone with him as as
the DC and getting this group to really kind of
come together a little bit because I look at some
numbers and there's some respectable numbers, you know, a thirtieth
against the pass and thirty seventh scoring defense, So they've
been able to limit some teams from having you know,
(12:04):
massive big totals. Obviously A and M and Tennessee are
outstanding teams. They managed to score points, but they've done
their job in a lot of ways the defense had.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
And if you go back and look at a year
ago when he was here, you'll find a lot of
triple digit numbers In some of those same columns, you're
finding thirties and top fifties, and you know that you're
finding this year. So he deserves a ton of credit
for turning this thing around. And he was a guy that,
you know, for being honest, was under a lot of
(12:34):
scrutiny from the fan base last year. He had never
been a defensive coordinator at this level, and there were
a lot of people when things weren't going well in
the midst of two and ten and Hope for.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
The SEC or were like, what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
And Jeff Levy stayed the course. And you know has
said to me plenty of times and said to the media.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Look, I know what a football coach looks like.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
I've been around him. He knows Coleman very well. They
were together at Old Miss. They got to a long
relationship and friendship with each other.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And he didn't give up on him.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And Nick Mitchell is a guy who's played linebacker here
for the last three or four years and is a leader.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
On that defensive team.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
And he got up in front of the media two
or three weeks ago and said, look, I'm glad that
my path intersects with Coleman hustlers, because this is a
guy who's on the way up. This is a guy
that everybody in the locker room will do whatever they
can to make sure that we make him look good
because he's put us in the best position he can
(13:36):
to let us go try and be successful. So he
has the respect of the players. His system is working,
because again you've got statistical data now that shows you
that he's made significant strides in year two as opposed
to where they were a year ago. And his whole
goal for them is just to reduce the amount of
(13:57):
thinking that those guys have to do when they line
where now they just know how to read, react and
go play as fast as they can. And we're seeing
more of that this year.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I'm interested to get your thoughts on this when I
wanted to get your thoughts on the I guess the
evolution I guess is the best way to describe it
of coach Levy as a head coach, because you know,
folks who've done the homework, they know, you know, he's
from the Art Brows coaching tree, and so he knows
offense really really well and was there at Oklahoma. I
(14:32):
go further backwards tells you how old I am. I
knew it was Dad Mike when he was the coach
at Andrews and went way out in West Texas and
when Jeff was younger, so I know about the quality
of learning this guy had. How I guess my question is,
have you seen him start to feel a lot more
comfortable in that head coaching role now as opposed to
(14:56):
his years of really being an offensive brain?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
I think so now, And let me tell you how
it relates to the position and my relationship with him, Craig.
You know, I mean, I don't claim to have a
great knowledge of the x's and o's, but I'm one
of the few people outside of the staff that sit
down with him on a regular basis, whether that's once
or twice a week for an interview or pre and postgame,
whatever that may be. And I will tell you that
(15:22):
our conversations this year not that they were bad a
year ago, but when you're going through the midst of
a tough year, you fall back on coaching points and
you talk in bullet points sometimes as the season goes along,
And this year we have much more open, honest and
direct conversations about things because I think that he knows
(15:44):
now he has a team that is much better than
the one he had a year ago, and he doesn't
have to fall back on selling what the future could be.
I think the other thing is that he has become
more comfortable being in these settings where when you're a coordinator,
you may have somebody who wants to talk to you,
(16:05):
you know, once a week is part of the regular
plan after practice or you know whatever, but maybe after
a game, depending on the program. But I mean, you're
just not asked to do as much of that as
the head coach. You're not asked to be the face
of the program all the time. I think he's getting
more comfortable with that, and he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
To be around.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
He's, like I say, he's always been honest and open
to me. I think being younger, he relates to players
in this day and age in a much different way
than some other guys who've been around for a while
maybe do. And I think you know, you mentioned coach
Briles and obviously being a part of that tree, but
he talks a lot about his dad and what he
(16:48):
learned from his dad and being around that. And another
guy we talked about, Blake Shapeing Okay, taking an injury and.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Making a positive out of it.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Here's the guy who was an offensive lineman in Oklahoma,
but I'm sure had dreams of playing in the NFL.
Wanted to do all the things you do when you
play at a high level. But he blows his knee
up and now his career is over. And what does
he do well? He gets in and says, Okay, I
want to be a student assistant. I want to learn
how to coach. And he gets connected with Josh Hipel,
(17:17):
good quarterback who went to the NFL and tried it
for a little bit and found that the coaching route
maybe was better for him, and it's worked out pretty good.
And those two guys begin to work together, and then
he goes to UCF with him, and then he starts
to branch out and do more on his own. Meet
more people, make more connections, learn more, seymore. He turned
all that negative into a huge positive and now he's
(17:39):
starting to reap some of the benefit from that. And
I think it's a great story.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I want to ask you one other thing. When I
was in Starvilla March and when I came down from
SEC basketball, came down duty Noblefield was just did was
every bit. The show plays every bit as average highs
of being just an absolutely fabulous environment for college baseball.
(18:06):
And I know a lot of long worn fans went
out there for that and they came away immeasurably impressed
by the place. Tell everybody, what do you expect when
they go on to Davis Wade This Saturday be the
first time Texas will have played in Startfield since nineteen
ninety one. So for this updated and now conference member
affiliated fan base, what should long worn fans expect coming
(18:28):
over to U Starkville for the game on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Well, obviously, the cow bells and it will be much more,
much more volume, much more intense than the ones you
had at baseball, just because there's that many more people
in the football stadium. But there'll be plenty of that.
If they're on campus early and they're walking around, I
(18:52):
think what they're going to find, hopefully, just like they
found in baseball, is you're going to find a fan
base that is going to welcome you, that is going
to be that you're here, that wants you to have
a great experience. And I hope that they'll come to
start well the same way that I used to when
when I was at another school in this league, And
you'll come in with an open mind because you know,
(19:12):
it's not the easiest place to get to and we
understand that, but we do believe it's a special place
here and it's a place where people want to be good,
they want to make sure they put their best forward.
They roll out to welcome Matt that you feel like
a part of it right upuntil the game starts, you know,
And but I think they'll enjoy it. The stadium is
(19:34):
you know, the stadium is great. There's not a bad
seat in there, and it's it's fun to go and
know that.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Most weeks now, State fans have shown up and it's
been a competitive game in there against some.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Really good teams. And hopefully we'll have something like that
on Saturday too.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
From my selfish perspective, how's the broadcast booth?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I think it's one of the best views in the
league because we're still kind of like like the DKR,
you're you're kind you're kind of still that mid level.
You don't have the cameras in front of you, but
you you're mid level and you've got a great view
of it. You're you're inside the thirty yard lines in
both of them, and uh, you know, hopefully we can.
(20:16):
We can keep fighting that good fight to keep those
I told the folks of Florida the same thing last week.
I said, you still got one of the better side
lines here, and that's that they keep changing those things
year to year. But you'll you'll enjoy it. I think
you'll be happy. You want to strain too hard to
see anything out there. And again, anytime that they've got
us in the spot where we're on the sideline and
we can we can kind.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Of see what's going on. They don't look like ants
running around down there. It's a pretty good day.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I'm with you one hundred percent. Hey, Neil, I appreciate
the time. Look forward to seeing you this Saturday in Startveld.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to hop on with us.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, good talk to you, Craig. Travel safe, all right,
we'll do.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
That's Neil Price, play by play voice of the Mississippi
State Bulldogs.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Well and more coming up. We'll continue on thirteen under
the Zone.
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