Watch: Mississippi State RBs Coach Eric Mele, Defensive Coordinator Zach Arnett Post-Practice Press Conference, 08/24/2021
Mississippi State football is now just 10 days away from the start of the 2021 football season, and the Bulldogs are continuing to work through fall camp to get to where they want to be before the season-opener against LA Tech on Sept. 4.
The team wrapped up its 14th practice of camp Tuesday and four coaches, including running backs coach Eric Mele and defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, met with the media afterward.
One of the topics Mele was asked about was his approach to determining which running backs will see the field this year. The answer to that question is to "play them all" at the beginning.
"It’s ‘play them all’ at the beginning. If they can help us on the field or if they’re physically ready to go, or mentally ready to go, we’re going to play those guys," Mele said. "After the non-conference games, it comes down to how they’re performing. Right now, from top to bottom, I have six guys – gonna pick up a seventh guy this week – I feel good about right now. Playbook-wise and the effort they’re giving. Obviously, the top two guys are head and shoulders doing what they’re supposed to be doing and making plays for us. Excited about that, and bringing up the two young guys and the two older junior college guys we have been fantastic through camp as well."
On the other side of the ball, the defense has come up with some big plays, especially showing up in the second scrimmage. But there's still work to be done.
“We’ve got to make sure we maximize the pluses and eliminate as many of those minuses as possible,” Arnett said. “You’re never going to play perfect — that’s the game of football. The other side of the ball is coached up to do their job, too. But we’ve got a lot of minuses to eliminate from our grade sheets.”
Watch below to hear everything Arnett and Mele had to say on Tuesday evening (photo/video credit: Mississippi State Athletics):
