Bulldog Roundup: Everything Nick Zimmerman said Wednesday

No. 12 Mississippi State will continue SEC play Friday against Florida in Gainesville. On Wednesday, Mississippi State coach Nick Zimmerman held his weekly media availability. Here's what he said:

How have the freshmen contributed to the program?

They're awesome kids, you know, first and foremost. They're the type of players that you want to be a part of your program. They embody the core values. They do all the things right, you know, both on and off the field. And they've continued to grow at different rates throughout the spring and now. And for them to continue to be so hungry and ambitious in their development, you know, as a coach, it's everything that you want. So really, really proud of them and where they're at right now, but also as they've continued to be thrown into certain situations, you know, they've enjoyed it, they've embraced it, and they're continuing to look to get better.

With how many freshmen have made a contribution for you in this season and have been successful so far, what were the conditions leading up to that where they came in maybe not expecting to start?

I mean, when we go through the recruiting process, right, I mean every single player that we go through the process with, we say this, we'll never guarantee you a starting spot or playing time. That's going to come down to you. But the expectation is if we're going through this process, the hope is that you come in and compete to play right away. Do they do all the things, you know, in the offseason, the winter packet, the summer packet. Are they putting themselves in an environment to get better? We knew that they were really good footballers. We knew they were unbelievable human beings, and, you know, again, to be able to see them have the amount of minutes that they've got and the roles that they've kind of started to really embrace, it's been really cool to see.

Another road trip, coming off of a road trip. So, hadn't had a whole lot of back-to-backs like that, but just talk about bouncing back in another place.

We did it, you know, in Baylor, right? You're looking to how do we respond, you know? Obviously last week was an emotional week for a lot of different reasons. You know, you have the Magnolia Cup on Thursday night, you know, against an Ole Miss team that's coming in looking to, you know, to win it. And then you go on the road to a place that they haven't lost in the SEC in five years, you know, and putting this young group in that environment was awesome. You know, that was great. We said it after the game. We got so much better because of this opportunity. We learned so much about our group, you know, both really, really positive things and then things that we've got to continue to work on. But those are the games that you really, really, really look back on and go, hey, you know, that was a defining moment in our season. And so, for us it was, you know, again, this loss is sometimes you lose. You learn a lot more when you have those kinds of results. But for the most part, you know, we always talk about performance over results. Sometimes you're going to have a really good performance and not get the result. And, you know, we talk about, you know, losing versus being beaten. And, you know, we got beat. We didn't lose. You know, we lost against Baylor. We got beaten against Arkansas, but that's okay. It's part of our process and our journey. So, you know, we know it's a tough place to play on Friday. You know, at Florida they've got, I think, four games unbeaten. So, coming in with a ton of confidence, I'm sure that it'll be a good crowd. So, we know that we're going to have to put together a complete 90 minutes and go there with the mentality that we're going to have to fight and compete.

But not often that, I guess, you go on the road and experience the kind of environment that you guys have fostered here over the last couple of years. But to see that at Arkansas, how much of a factor was that in, you know, things you can take away from a tough road game?

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think it's one of the toughest places to play in the country. You know, you look there, you look at, you know, BYU and Provo and they have 3,000, 4,000. Really the difference is it's just like home. It's just they're not cheering for you away. You know, they had, I think, close to 2,000 like we had against Ole Miss, you know, in games past. So, again, it's a tough environment. Like I said, we loved it. You know, we loved being in that environment. And, you know, as we move forward with the scheduling and non-conference, we're going to continue to put ourselves in games like that outside of conference as well to make sure that we're acclimated for everything and we're using every one of those games as opportunities to get better.

And you mentioned last week on the radio show that Pep Guardiola was one of your influences. But stylistically, I mean, you've helped build a program here where you're able to play in those situations. You can recruit the players to help you play in that way where you can control the game and control the tempo. How much or what does that say about these freshmen and sophomores that come in, you know, fresh out of high school and they're able to fit that system?

Yeah, I mean, it's a testament to them, right, on how intentional they are and how intentional we are as a program of what we want to do and how we want to play. I think it's pretty clear what our identity is. And to have that so early on but also with such a new group is really kind of unique and it's one that, you know, we're going to continue to lean into. Arkansas makes it very, very difficult to play. And we had spells where we did and then we had spells where we didn't. And, you know, like I said, it was a great game for us to learn and understand how do we play our style in an environment like that. And, you know, Florida, we're going to try and do what we've done all season and get back to our true identity of keeping the ball, moving it with rhythm and tempo.

Yesterday’s Results

No games scheduled.

Today’s Schedule

Men’s Tennis: ITA Southern Reginal Championships, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Did You Notice?

Non-conference home times are set 📺#HailState pic.twitter.com/DH7PW309BN
— Mississippi State Men's Basketball (@HailStateMBK) October 8, 2025

Daily Dose Of Mike Leach

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