MSU Athletic Department Making a Mockery Out of the Media

I have found it funny this football season how the MSU athletic department is giving the media a run-around. There is no respect for the media, and frankly, I don’t mind it at all. In this day in age, when MSU has its own website, PR and marketing, about the only thing the media can do is bring you down. Who needs ’em? The beat reporters still try to hold onto their dignity and don’t acknowledge the bait and switch, but it’s there. So while I don’t mind MSU running circles around the media and seeking to control them, I would hate for all MSU fans to simply believe the message just because all these folks are being used as pawns.

Here are a couple of some small examples of what I’m talking about this year:

• Tyler Russell is the starter for Auburn, Troy, LSU, Bowling Green….until it was too obvious. The Auburn game bait and switch was classic – Tyler all week, Dak all Saturday, announce Tyler at the game, then start Dak and don’t play Tyler. Then all the video board intros in games to follow. Ha.
• Monday of Kentucky week Mullen says all freshman who haven’t played will redshirt. Then Jamaal Clayborn and Artimus Samuel not only play, but are huge contributing factors in the UK game.

There have been a few others, I just can’t remember them off the top of my head. Well, the biggest curveball I think the MSU athletic department is throwing the media is that it has already been decided that Dan Mullen will sign a contract extension after this year. Kyle Veazey reported this a couple of weeks ago, as he said MSU spokesman Sid Salter told him Mullen would be extended through 2016. (The article is behind a paywall, but here are the tweets.)

Have you noticed the MSU media is 100% on the same page – that Mullen is 100% safe this year? Well that’s not their opinion, although they may think he should be, it’s what MSU has told them. But much like many other things the athletic department has done, they are trying to control the message. They want State fans to shut up about Mullen being on the hot seat. They just want all their problems to go away.

Whether you believe Mullen should be in hot water or not, it’s hard to totally dismiss that MSU might let him go if he losses every game the rest of the season.

I’m not going to go into an entire spill about what would justify Mullen’s potential pink slip. We are just a day away from a big game, and I doubt you’d even continue reading if I did. But I will say if a coach in his 5th year were to go 4-8 and keep his job we would be the laughing stock of the SEC. We would put ourselves in the same spot as Vandy in the cellar of the league.

I definitely think MSU should seek to control the media to prevent any negative publicity, however, in this situation they are seeking to eliminate all criticism of them within the fanbase and using the media as the tool. With no criticism or rumblings within the fanbase, how will the administration know our feelings about the program? Putting Mullen on the hot seat is supposed to light a fire under him – it’s supposed to let him know we expect more from this team. Unfortunately it has been dismissed as a vocal minority and there is no sense of urgency to right the ship. In fact, it’s gone the other direction with folks saying “MSU is exactly where we thought they’d be”, and pumping sunshine about all the great stats this team has. The fanbase is already becoming apathetic, and that’s the last thing Stricklin wants with a new stadium expansion to be ready next year….so the drones have been sent our to fill everyone’s heads with how nice things are.

It’s not all about the W/L record or stats. When your chance of winning the SEC West are about 2% going into the year it’s all about the direction of the program. There aren’t too many State fans that can honestly say the product they’re seeing on the field is one that is well-coached and playing to the best of their ability. The athletic department is seeking to paint a different picture than the one you’re seeing, and distract you from who’s saying it by using the media as their mouthpiece.

Hopefully Mullen can correct some things and this article can be filed under “useless commentary”. But I won’t go on believing the message being conveyed to the fanbase that everything is okay and everyone needs to calm down. I appreciate the media’s loyalty and conformity, but they can also just sit quietly rather than pump propaganda all day.