Everything Jeff Lebby said after Egg Bowl loss

Here's everything Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby said after his team's 38-19 loss to Ole Miss in the 122nd edition of the Battle for the Golden Egg.

On first half performance...

Obviously, the first two drives away we started not what we anticipated, not what we wanted, we did, we settled in. I think the next four drives played really well. And then, again, they're able to go down the field in a two-minute situation, score a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the half, which was frustrating in that moment.

So I thought our guys did, they just settled in and did some really good things. We had them in some situational issues, had them in some third and longs, weren't able to get off the field. QB has a big scramble.

I believe it's on the first drive where we got a chance to get off the field. And then we did, we settled in, but man, again, the explosive plays, the way they were able to throw and catch on the perimeter. At the end of the day was what gave them the ability to go get away from us with us, not having the ability to go score and finish drives.

On potential offseason changes...

Yeah, we're gonna be evaluating every single bit of it, and we do. We've got to continue to make sure we're making every single roster move that we need to continue to build the depth that we need so that we can sustain instead of just having good moments. I think that's a critical piece of it.

We have, we've had some really good moments. We have not sustained and definitely haven't sustained the way we need to these last three weeks defensively. And so again, as we get to it, and it is, it's gonna start with the evaluation of our roster, seeing exactly where we're at, and evaluating every single piece of it as we get ready to get into the offseason.

On decision to start Kamario Taylor...

Yeah, really, really hard decision for me as we got back from Missouri, thought about it nonstop on Sunday. And for me, it was as hard as it was to make, the result hadn't been what we needed.

And for us, I felt like things had not been great up front. Who's the guy that has the ability, man, to make a couple of plays when things aren't perfect, and one had done some good things and felt like it was the right time. And again, for me, incredibly hard because of my love for Blake, his toughness, how he has led, and continue just to be exactly who he's supposed to be.

So for me, really hard, but at the beginning of last week, I made that decision.

On what should give fans hope...

Yeah, I think, again, if you look at us from year one to year two, there's been great growth. And I think anybody can see that as we continue to build it the right way and build these pieces in the roster around one, that's gonna be really important.

I think we've got somebody, man, that's gonna catch a snap every single down that is gonna be an elite player in this conference in America. And so building it the right way around him, creating stability for him will be huge. We've got to go get the pieces that we need up front offensively, and that will be a huge point of emphasis as we get ready for the portal piece of it.

On potential changes to coaching staff...

Like I mentioned, we will. We're gonna be evaluating every single piece of it. I think I said roster, but all of them, top to bottom. And that's the reality of, man, when you sit here and you finish, and you don't finish the way you want to, at the end of the day, it is. It's my job to make sure we're putting our guys in position. And that's the evaluation of every single bit of it.

On why choosing to start Taylor this week...

Yeah, I did. I felt like he was ready. He had just gotten better, and better, and better.

And when you're around him, and you're in the meeting room with him every single day, the young man got great command. And he's got great understanding of what we're trying to do. That, for me, there was comfort in that, because of how he has worked himself into knowing what the expectation is.

And he's gonna want so many things back. He wanted so many things back inside the game. He just had the chance to throw it around a couple of times, and make some layups, and he'll want those back.

But his toughness that he played with, he took great care of the ball. Really unfortunate on the batted ball pick there on the first down. That was, to me, a huge play in the game.

But proud of how he went about it today.

On post-game message to team...

Yeah, I mean, there was great disappointment.

There was disappointment top to bottom. And the message in the locker room is, I do, man, I hate it for guys like Nick Mitchell. I hate it for guys like J-Man and Bryla, like Albert, Reese, and Jacobi.

And so many of our guys, like Brennan, that don't get the ability to go enjoy this. And have a happy locker room, and be able to extend our season by one. And that's what I hate as much as anything.

I also said that because those guys have been who they've been, they've led the way they've led, they've had the toughness that they've had. Man, it's gonna bleed down through the program. And there's young people inside the walls that are gonna reap the benefits and the rewards of those leaders.

And we've got a great young linebacker room that's very, very talented. And Nick Mitchell's gonna be felt in that room for a long time. And I can't say that enough.

And he's gonna come back and he's gonna be incredibly proud about what he did as he continued to fight for Mississippi State every single day. And he's gonna see it showing up.

On causes of recent defensive struggles...

Yeah, again, I think it was a little bit different today than what it's been.

Today, we did not make any plays on the perimeter in the throw game. The bag did, I think he had over 120, 130 yards. So we didn't do a good enough job on him.

We bled in the run game at times, but we had some much better moments than we've had in the past three weeks in the run game. Getting the explosive plays on the perimeter, not being able to make the play on the edge to me was the difference today. And we've been so much better against the throw game until some of these moments today, which was, again, really, really frustrating.

On own growth as head coach...

Yeah, for me, just having great conviction in the process, who I am, who I'm supposed to be, being very, very true to that. And making sure that, again, man, we're doing everything we can as we move this thing forward to being a much better spot day one next fall. And again, that's my job.

I do, I think we've got some great young players inside our locker room. And I think we got guys that are extremely excited about being here and continuing to grow this thing the right way. And for me, that's important.

And as I looked around in that locker room, man, a ton of disappointment. Our young guys, our young leaders inside that room have to hold on to moments like this to understand, man, winning is really, really hard in the offseason. That's what you're doing it for.

So we're not leaving it to chance, and you got the ability to change the result.

On thoughts about this season...

I love how connected they've been. I love how our guys have stayed together.

I love how our guys have continued to show up and been an incredibly fun group to coach with great intent in the building. And I hate the fact that there's the disappointment after not being on the right side of it. So again, it's like I told those seniors, man, they've got so much to be proud of where we were day one.

Compared to where we are today, I hate that we can't feel good about it. And that's the frustrating piece for me and the disappointment for those guys.

On message to players about program's future...

Every single discussion is different depending on their situation, right? A guy like Kelly's gonna have to look at, from a draft status standpoint, what he wants that to look like as we get all the information back.

We'll have a huge sit down with Kelly and be able to present all of the information actually a week from Tuesday. And be able to go through that as we get his draft grade back. I think a guy like Kelly is really excited about where we're going.

And a guy that understands his leadership, his growth, has a chance to continue to propel us the right way. And again, every conversation with these guys will be different because their situations are all different. But I think, to a man, you ask those guys inside that locker room, there is belief and there's excitement about where we're going.

There's disappointment in the result, there's disappointment in today that we're not able to go play and we're not able to get the golden egg here at home. But for our guys, I think there's great understanding of where we're going. And there's no doubt about that, right?

On improving roster this offseason...

Yeah, the way I view it is we've gotta take the step that we took from year one to year two, year two to year three. And again, the big picture view of this, if we will do exactly that, we're gonna be in a really good place.

And we have to have the ability to take this roster from where it was day one to where it is today, and then take this huge jump. And there's gonna be pieces all over, whether it's from the depth standpoint or starters in the offensive line. It's gonna look a lot different in every single position.

The retention piece is incredibly important. That's what December's gonna be built for, having those conversations and the ability to know exactly what that's gonna look like as we move through the month of December.

On Blake Shapen's reaction to Taylor starting at QB...

Sure, really hard, incredibly hard, but he's poured a lot into this.

And he's been an unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years. He's been through a lot. And for him not to have the ability to go do it today, it's hard for him.

And hard for me, because again, of who he's been and his toughness and how he has absolutely laid it on the line for me and this university. So really hard for him, and hate that this was the end for him.

On Fluff Bothwell...

Fluff played incredibly tough, had the ability to, man, get healthy and feel as good as he's felt.

And for him, he's just getting started. And I love where he's at. I love where he's going.

I think you look up and you think about what our backfield is gonna look like week one next week, and that's something to get really, really excited about. And as we continue to put the pieces around guys like Juan and Fluff, man, keeping that in mind and understanding that we've got some real, real difference makers. And that's my job to make sure that we're doing a great job from a roster standpoint to be able to go take advantage of having players like those two.

On making roster decisions...

Every single one of those scenarios are specific to the kid and maybe the position that they play or the uniqueness of their situation.

So again, December is all about, man, making sure the retention piece is exactly what we want it to be and what we need it to be. There's gonna be plenty of guys that are gonna move on that need to move on and that's part of the college world right now. And so for us, position by position, making sure, man, we are nailing this thing, it starts with retention.

We're signing a class on Wednesday from a high school and junior college standpoint that'll be really important. And then as we get ready for January 2nd to hit, man, we are incredibly dialed in and focused on what we need to go take that next step.