Mississippi State Head Coach Jeff Lebby Breaks Down Final Week of Spring Practices

From offensive line progress to QB growth, Lebby shares key takeaways as spring practice wraps up and summer development begins.

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby reacts with quarterback Blake Shapen (2) after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Mississippi State is closing out its final week of spring practice, building on what it showed during last week’s open scrimmage.

With the 2026 season inching closer, head coach Jeff Lebby met with reporters one last time before the Bulldogs shut things down for the spring.

On goals for final week of practices...

Today and Tuesday were good, physical practices for us. Saturday will just be helmets, T-shirts and jerseys, so the physical part is behind us now that we’re off the grass.

There will be a lot of individual work Saturday morning, plus meetings and walkthroughs. It’s really about making sure the guys understand expectations as they move into May and the summer when we’re not around as much. We want accountability within each position group so they can lead themselves and get done what needs to get done.

Improvement along offensive and defensive lines...

It’s been, without a doubt, the most physical spring we’ve had in the last three years, and that’s been great to see. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth competition, which is exactly what you want. I feel really good about seven guys on the offensive line right now, but we need to develop that into eight or nine we trust to play winning football. Overall, I’ve loved the physicality and the competitiveness.

On offensive line standouts...

On the offensive line, (Jahkeem Shumpert Perkins) has really stood out. He’s always been talented with the right body type and athleticism, but now he’s putting it together. I’m not surprised, but I’m really excited about his development, his accountability and his consistency. He’s put together 14 really good practices. There’s still work to do, but that’s been great to see.

On defensive safeties...

We’re longer, bigger and faster. That group has depth, which is something we haven’t had since I’ve been here.

I think we’ve got five guys who can play winning football at safety. There’s also some flexibility with guys who can slide around in certain cover situations. They’ve been very competitive, especially against the receivers, and we’re going to need them to be a strong unit.

On Zion Raggins...

He was banged up early, probably the first six practices, but now that he’s healthy, he’s exactly what we expected. He practices incredibly hard, he’s dynamic down the field and can stretch defenses. What stands out most is his consistency and how he works every day. He’s got the ability to have a great year and a great career here.

On coach Phil Montgomery...

It’s been awesome. We have a long history together, and he has a ton of knowledge within the system. We can go back to conversations from years ago and be on the same page. There’s a lot of trust there. His experience as a head coach and coordinator has been valuable, and he’s brought a lot to the receiver room. It’s been a lot of fun.

On development of Kamario Taylor...

I’m probably never going to be fully satisfied, but I do love the growth and development. He wants more too, which is what you love about him.

There were things from Saturday he’d like back, but he showed real progress in two-minute situations this week. From a planning and development standpoint, he’s done really well and will keep building through the summer.

On Taylor's running ability impacting play calls...

Anytime you can play 11-on-11 football, it makes things difficult on the defense. The key is making sure he protects himself — knowing when to push for extra yards and when to get down. He’ll definitely be a big part of what we do in the run game.

On retention from scrimmage to practice...

It’s been good, but not good enough with some of the younger guys. That’s where we need more urgency, especially from the depth pieces.

For the older guys, the retention has been strong. They’ve worked well, and we’ve seen improvement week to week. There’s still a lot of growth ahead over the next few months.

On schedule changes in summer because of early season road games...

I don’t know if it changes our day-to-day approach much, but we’ll need to do a great job resetting each week. No matter what happens Saturday, you have to reset Sunday and get ready for the next game. The early schedule — home opener, then two road games — is something we’ll address in fall camp. But for us, it’s about taking it one week at a time.