MSU went through its first of 11 practices at "The Farm" on Saturday.
Football Heads To "The Farm", Wraps Up Week 1
July 29, 2017 | Football
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- It's become an annual tradition during preseason camp and this year the rigorous practices of "The Farm" have arrived earlier than ever. Mississippi State football went through its first practice at its home-away-from-home on Saturday morning with a 2.5-hour workout in helmets and shoulder pads.
It was the fourth practice of camp, concluding a week that saw the Bulldogs get Thursday off. The squad will go through its first full-pads practice on Sunday night at the Seal Complex (all practices are closed to the public) before returning to "The Farm" for the remainder of the week. Players also are scheduled for summer term finals on Wednesday and Thursday. Â
"It's all about the mindset," MSU head coach Dan Mullen said. "I wanted to get out there because we have some new coaches and some new players, and now even the road is blocked off. When we do get out there for good, there is a good bit of team building. You see it at every level. NFL teams do it too. The Dallas Cowboys are out in California. NFL teams are all over the place. High schools will go somewhere for a few days of training camp. It's a different mindset, different attitude and some team building. It has a different feel for the players, even though it's only a mile down the road."
Below are quotes from Mullen's press conference:
Head Coach Dan Mullen Quotes
July 29, 2017
On the first week of practice …
"Today was good. It was still kind of mini-camp, so it's not really training camp yet. It was kind of an introduction. We're back over [at the Seal Complex] for the next couple of days. So until school gets out, we're kind of in a mini-camp. We're installing. Two days on, then we have a day off. Three days on, then we have a day off. So for the guys, there are a lot of break periods. But I think our attitude is good. Guys are working and putting in good effort. So I'm seeing some good things. We have guys out there flying around and making some plays. We've had a little bit of inconsistency at times, but that's expected when you have a young team. But that's our jobs as coaches is to break it all down and say 'Hey, this is what it looks like when you do the right thing.' We don't need anyone making spectacular plays, just everybody doing the right thing. We have to be able to tell the players, 'Hey, one play you are doing the right thing and the next play you are not.' If you can do it on one play, you should be able to do it the whole game. And I'm not talking about making a diving catch out-of-bounds. I'm talking about making the right read. I'm talking about getting off the ball with a good pass rushing move, firing off the ball and just doing the little things right. As young players, we have to make sure they know what it looks like when we do something right, and then ensure that they do it right as often as possible."
On the first practice at 'The Farm'…
"It's all about the mindset. I wanted to get out there because we have some new coaches and some new players, and now even the road is blocked off. Three of the coaches got lost on the way out there the other day. When we do get out there for good, there is a good bit of team building. You see it at every level. NFL teams do it, too. The Dallas Cowboys are out in California. NFL teams are all over the place. High schools will go somewhere for a few days of training camp. It's a different mindset, different attitude and some team building. It has a different feel for the players, even though it's only a mile down the road. It's a different time of year. It's great when we get back here and it's game week because we need to transition at that point as well. It's good to have that different mindset as well."
On the toughness at 'The Farm'…
"I think there's some intimidation factor. Players say, 'Hey, we're going to the farm,' and they're somewhat nervous when they get there. The older players know it isn't a big deal and that it might actually be somewhat cooler out there than it is [at the Seal Complex]. I think the younger players are nervous about what will happen. The older players know what it's about and why we go there. They know the grind that we expect from them."
On the team's leadership so far …
"Guys are working at it. A lot of our young guys have a good work ethic and a good attitude right now. They know that last year wasn't acceptable and it wasn't what the program is all about. They realize what we did isn't going to cut it, whether you are a young guy or an old guy. So I think there's a lot more leadership throughout the entire team."
On true freshman running back Kylin Hill …
"He's running hard. It's hard because the guys are still learning. He's learning. It's going to be a couple of weeks before you can really see what the younger guys can do. They look fast, and they look big and strong. We have to see what he does and how fast he picks up the offense and how fast our young defensive guys pick up the defense. It's one thing to see them when you are just in a one-on-one drill when there is no thought process. It's very different in an 11-on-11 drill. What we have to see from them is how fast are they absorbing it all?"
On the early enrollees who went through spring …
"Those guys have such a huge advantage. The installation meeting is their second time. They went through installation meetings all spring. They learned the offense and some of the guys learned the defense. So when they walk in that meeting, it's really the second time of learning the process of going through that meeting, learning it and practicing it. For the new freshmen, we put in plays this morning. We put in today's installation and the first time they had ever done it was today on the field. That's different for the guys that got to do it in the spring."
On wide receiver Gabe Myles' growth …
"The good thing is, I've seen him make a bunch of plays for us and he's playing with a little bit more confidence. I think that will really help him as he moves forward and being a guy that the offense can depend on to make some big plays and then him going out there and making them."
On quarterback Nick Fitzgerald during camp …
"Luckily, he has some maturity and he's played a little bit. He understands how to push himself. The other quarterbacks – one guy has gone through spring and the other two just showed up. There's some talent there but competition wise, they are years behind him. So he's got to push himself and compete against himself every day. But really at the quarterback position, you better be competing against yourself through your entire career. Not just now. If he wants to be a big-time quarterback for the next 15 years, he has to compete against himself every day. He's learning that part of it, and that's an important part of maturity and growing."
On true freshman quarterback Keytaon Thompson …
"Sometimes I catch myself thinking, 'He has to be better. He has to be better.' Then you realize, he's a true freshman. Going through spring, with what he did, your standards and expectations for him are really high. For where he's at in his career, he's way ahead. Coming in as possibly the No. 2 guy though, you have to keep pushing him more and more. But you have got to remind yourself that he just showed up on campus six months ago from playing high school football. He's way ahead if you put it in that perspective."
Â
It was the fourth practice of camp, concluding a week that saw the Bulldogs get Thursday off. The squad will go through its first full-pads practice on Sunday night at the Seal Complex (all practices are closed to the public) before returning to "The Farm" for the remainder of the week. Players also are scheduled for summer term finals on Wednesday and Thursday. Â
"It's all about the mindset," MSU head coach Dan Mullen said. "I wanted to get out there because we have some new coaches and some new players, and now even the road is blocked off. When we do get out there for good, there is a good bit of team building. You see it at every level. NFL teams do it too. The Dallas Cowboys are out in California. NFL teams are all over the place. High schools will go somewhere for a few days of training camp. It's a different mindset, different attitude and some team building. It has a different feel for the players, even though it's only a mile down the road."
Below are quotes from Mullen's press conference:
Head Coach Dan Mullen Quotes
July 29, 2017
On the first week of practice …
"Today was good. It was still kind of mini-camp, so it's not really training camp yet. It was kind of an introduction. We're back over [at the Seal Complex] for the next couple of days. So until school gets out, we're kind of in a mini-camp. We're installing. Two days on, then we have a day off. Three days on, then we have a day off. So for the guys, there are a lot of break periods. But I think our attitude is good. Guys are working and putting in good effort. So I'm seeing some good things. We have guys out there flying around and making some plays. We've had a little bit of inconsistency at times, but that's expected when you have a young team. But that's our jobs as coaches is to break it all down and say 'Hey, this is what it looks like when you do the right thing.' We don't need anyone making spectacular plays, just everybody doing the right thing. We have to be able to tell the players, 'Hey, one play you are doing the right thing and the next play you are not.' If you can do it on one play, you should be able to do it the whole game. And I'm not talking about making a diving catch out-of-bounds. I'm talking about making the right read. I'm talking about getting off the ball with a good pass rushing move, firing off the ball and just doing the little things right. As young players, we have to make sure they know what it looks like when we do something right, and then ensure that they do it right as often as possible."
On the first practice at 'The Farm'…
"It's all about the mindset. I wanted to get out there because we have some new coaches and some new players, and now even the road is blocked off. Three of the coaches got lost on the way out there the other day. When we do get out there for good, there is a good bit of team building. You see it at every level. NFL teams do it, too. The Dallas Cowboys are out in California. NFL teams are all over the place. High schools will go somewhere for a few days of training camp. It's a different mindset, different attitude and some team building. It has a different feel for the players, even though it's only a mile down the road. It's a different time of year. It's great when we get back here and it's game week because we need to transition at that point as well. It's good to have that different mindset as well."
On the toughness at 'The Farm'…
"I think there's some intimidation factor. Players say, 'Hey, we're going to the farm,' and they're somewhat nervous when they get there. The older players know it isn't a big deal and that it might actually be somewhat cooler out there than it is [at the Seal Complex]. I think the younger players are nervous about what will happen. The older players know what it's about and why we go there. They know the grind that we expect from them."
On the team's leadership so far …
"Guys are working at it. A lot of our young guys have a good work ethic and a good attitude right now. They know that last year wasn't acceptable and it wasn't what the program is all about. They realize what we did isn't going to cut it, whether you are a young guy or an old guy. So I think there's a lot more leadership throughout the entire team."
On true freshman running back Kylin Hill …
"He's running hard. It's hard because the guys are still learning. He's learning. It's going to be a couple of weeks before you can really see what the younger guys can do. They look fast, and they look big and strong. We have to see what he does and how fast he picks up the offense and how fast our young defensive guys pick up the defense. It's one thing to see them when you are just in a one-on-one drill when there is no thought process. It's very different in an 11-on-11 drill. What we have to see from them is how fast are they absorbing it all?"
On the early enrollees who went through spring …
"Those guys have such a huge advantage. The installation meeting is their second time. They went through installation meetings all spring. They learned the offense and some of the guys learned the defense. So when they walk in that meeting, it's really the second time of learning the process of going through that meeting, learning it and practicing it. For the new freshmen, we put in plays this morning. We put in today's installation and the first time they had ever done it was today on the field. That's different for the guys that got to do it in the spring."
On wide receiver Gabe Myles' growth …
"The good thing is, I've seen him make a bunch of plays for us and he's playing with a little bit more confidence. I think that will really help him as he moves forward and being a guy that the offense can depend on to make some big plays and then him going out there and making them."
On quarterback Nick Fitzgerald during camp …
"Luckily, he has some maturity and he's played a little bit. He understands how to push himself. The other quarterbacks – one guy has gone through spring and the other two just showed up. There's some talent there but competition wise, they are years behind him. So he's got to push himself and compete against himself every day. But really at the quarterback position, you better be competing against yourself through your entire career. Not just now. If he wants to be a big-time quarterback for the next 15 years, he has to compete against himself every day. He's learning that part of it, and that's an important part of maturity and growing."
On true freshman quarterback Keytaon Thompson …
"Sometimes I catch myself thinking, 'He has to be better. He has to be better.' Then you realize, he's a true freshman. Going through spring, with what he did, your standards and expectations for him are really high. For where he's at in his career, he's way ahead. Coming in as possibly the No. 2 guy though, you have to keep pushing him more and more. But you have got to remind yourself that he just showed up on campus six months ago from playing high school football. He's way ahead if you put it in that perspective."
Â
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballFOOTBALL | Fluff Bothwell Bowl Practice
Wednesday, December 17
FOOTBALL | Nic Mitchell Bowl Practice
Wednesday, December 17
FOOTBALL | Jahron Manning Bowl Practice
Wednesday, December 17
FOOTBALL | Kamario Taylor Bowl Practice
Wednesday, December 17