Everything Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said Sunday morning

Mississippi State has officially entered its game week as it makes final preparations to face Wake Forest in the Duke's Mayo Bowl on Friday.

As he always does on the first day of game week, coach Jeff Lebby met with reporters to talk about a wide range of topics from the bowl game opponent, to handling the opening of the transfer portal the same day and the continued development of freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor.

Here's everything Lebby said on Sunday morning:

On team's attitude this week...

Our guys have had great energy. I think it was really good. Got away for just a couple of days and be able to spend time with families for Christmas. Then as we got back into the building last night, a team meeting, walked through team dinner, and guys are operating with some urgency and excited about the opportunity.

On benefits of bowl game practices...

There's been a ton of them. I think the biggest is just some of these guys getting all these extra reps. I think there's been great development in the weight room, 15 extra lifts that we wouldn't have been able to get as a team. All the extra meetings, but the reps on the field, guys like obviously Kamario (Taylor), but some of these young guys offensively, guys like Gracen Harris and Frisco (Magee) and Bull Mitchell that you didn't see get a lot of work have gotten a ton of work. Man, they've shown up, and that's been fun to watch because these guys got a bunch of ability, but they hadn't gotten a ton of work. So if their number gets called in the bowl game, I think they'll be ready to roll.

On telling seniors they have one more game...

Incredibly satisfying, and that was really the message last night, is to go in this thing the right way. We've got this great opportunity. It's like I told these guys, we got a great chance. We got a choice to make, and what we do is we go get ready to play. We'll keep talking about that, but guys like Nic Mitchell, like Albert Reese, Jacoby Jackson, Zico, Brenen Thompson, and J-Man (Jahron Manning), Brylo (Brylan Lanier), like the list goes on. And wanting to be able to go finish the right way for these guys would be special.

On high school signees participating in practices...

(We had) just three and they can go, but they can't play in the game. So that's how that sets up. The rules and how they've changed really limits the amount of guys that you can bring in. And so it was hard being able to get that done, but we did. We were able to get three guys in (Zayion Cotton, Bralan Womack and Micah Nickerson). They've been a part of practice, which has been really good, and they'll go with us, but obviously won't be able to play in the game.

On changes with Kamario Taylor after one month as QB1...

Just his presence, just how vocal he is, whether it's the offense or the team setting, whatever it is. You can just feel him and his leadership ability a lot more today than you could six weeks ago, and I think that's probably the biggest difference naturally.

On any injured players...

No, We do feel like we're in a good place from an injury standpoint. You know, as we get closer, I think there's a couple of guys that still have some things lingering, but I think we're going to be good for game day.

On who will replace Tony Mitchell (transfer portal)...

I think the rotation at safety has got a chance to look just a little bit differently, but we've got guys that have played a bunch of snaps, and so depending on what we're getting from them could dictate a little bit of that. Won't dive into that too much, but that's something we're continuing to work through.

On Kamario's aura as a true freshman...

I hadn't been around any like him, so he's got a lot of work to do. There's no doubt about that, but just, again, his command, his presence, who he is in the building every single day, there's just a great amount of consistency, and it's really hard for young people to operate that way. I got my thumb on him pretty good every single day, and he naturally is about the right things. An incredible kid, man, he wants to play easy, he wants to get coached, and he wants to go play well.

On watching Taylor and RB Fluff Bothwell...

It's fun watching them in action together. Yeah, no doubt. You need those guys to play incredibly well on the second, and they will.

On Wake Forest QB Robby Ashford...

Yeah, Robby's done a really good job of just being able to create and extend with his feet. He is a guy that obviously can run and make plays in the run game. And then again, when you don't do a great job against him in the pocket, he makes you pay. So we've got to be able to get him on the ground, we've got to have great rush integrity with our lanes and making sure that we bottle him up and get him on the ground when we can.

On players' responses to working with new DC Zach Arnett...

They've been good. There's a bunch of familiarity with some of these guys, obviously. But what you love is that Zach's jumped in and he's coaching the scout team and man, there's no job too small. He wants to be involved. He wants guys to be able to fill in a little bit on the practice field, which I think is awesome and he's been great as we've gotten into it.

On titles for assistant coaches...

We moved a little more to it last year and the model is moving closer towards NFL. I think it's so important to be able to get the right 10 coaches on the road. I think that's going to be a huge piece of it. The development for a bunch of poor guys as they come in, being with some specific coaches in January and those guys not being on the road, I think is going to be a huge benefit. What administration has done for us to be able to beef our staff up the way we need to and the commitment. Our additions are going to be huge upgrades for us and excited about it. And again, I said it a week or so ago, but we got some things coming down the pipe that I'm really, really excited about.

On having bowl game on same day transfer portal opens...

I'm expecting to get off the bus here on the 3rd and walk straight into my office and be ready for (official visits). The expectation is we're going to have five or six guys here on campus on the 3rd when the buses roll back in. So we'll hit the ground running and get ready to roll.

On handling both game day stuff and transfer portal stuff on same day...

So our recruiting and our personnel department are actually gonna be here (in Starkville). So they won't be there for the game. They'll be here in-house and getting visits set and being ready to roll. That's gonna be a huge piece of it. I think those first 5-7 days in the portal with allowing guys to be able to be on campus for visits will be a huge momentum builder for us if we can land the right guys.

On bowl game practices clarifying portal needs...

I think we had a really good idea. I don't think that's changed a ton. We knew really where we were and what we wanted to get done as we got into really Egg Bowl week and then that week following with some conversations. But again, as we continue to be able to evaluate, I think it's always important.

I think it's been huge for Arnett to be able to be here and evaluate on the defensive side of the ball, watch these guys practice 12 times instead of just watching it on tape, which I think is good. We see the numbers.

On WR Brenen Thompson...

Yeah, he's done it all for us. He's got the ability to go out and be the single-season record holder for Mississippi State. I think that's something for him that he's really excited about. I'm excited about that for him and help us go win.

On being able to focus on only the transfer portal soon...

it's been every single day working towards that, making sure, again, these guys that have announced that they're going in, having the ability to make sure that on the second and on the third, we're getting the right guys here. So we're working on that every single day. For me, there is this great amount of focus on being able to go in the season the right way, go win a bowl game, and start 2026 in a great way, and then understand the importance of those next 10 or 12 days to be able to get our '26 roster the exact way that we want it.

On self reward for having players wanting to play in bowl game...

I think it's huge. I think it says a ton about what's going on inside the building. These seniors playing, it is a huge deal. Again, proud of that, but I am. I'm excited for our guys to have the opportunity, man, to go play really well and go win. It's going to be a great challenge. Wake Forest is a dang good football team. Sitting there at 8-4, done a ton of good this year, and we're going to need to go play well. But we've got a great opportunity in front of us.

On Taylor's continued development...

I think just the daily reps of it, trying to create consistency with him fundamentally has been huge, and he does. He's got great confidence in the way he can go throw the football. Continuing to work through some accuracy things that, again, he wants to play perfect. He's not ever going to be that way, but that's what you love about him is he's striving to go do that. So, as we get back on the field again today, being able to go throw and catch today will get us back in a little bit of rhythm after being off. Last night was just a walk-through. But, again, proud of the steps he's taken to get better and better.

On Luke Kromenhoek's bowl game availability after transfer announcement...

He's with us and will be available, and Luke's been awesome, man. He's been great, working his butt off, trying to get better, wants to be coached. The situation is exactly what it is, and I totally understand where he's coming from, and that's college football these days. Luke's got a chance to be a great player, really talented and really intelligent. So, appreciative of him staying with us, going through this, being a great teammate, and excited for what he's going to be able to go do next.

On other players transferring out being available...

No, I don't think so. I think for us, that's really the only one that has said he's going to go in that is going to be with us.

On bowl game week schedule...

Obviously, this starts our normal week. So this is Monday, and it will stay that way as we get to game day. There are a couple of events for our guys to be able to go experience, which will be great for them, but it's like we talked about last night. They're going to remember being able to experience this bowl game and a lot of different things from it, but the thing that they're going to remember most is the game. And so, I want our guys to have a great experience. I want them to be able to enjoy it. I think that's huge to be able to go do this for a bunch of these guys that haven't gotten to experience some of these things, but at the same time, understanding January 2nd at 8 o'clock, we need to go play really well and go find a way to win.