First year Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby took the stage Wednesday morning at 2024 SEC Media Days. During his opening remarks, Lebby laid out the cultural foundation of his program in Starkville and instilling that mindset into his team.
"What are the things that are going to be most important to us to make sure we go have a successful year one, but also find a way to create this great foundation so we have the ability to go sustain? For us, it was the guys knowing exactly what we expected of them as they walked in the building...They've taken to it, and they've ran with it and our culture and who we are every single day."
So what does that culture look like at Mississippi State?
"We talk about four things nonstop inside the program. We talk about having fun, being tough, being competitive, and then being accountable, and we break those things down in different ways."
Lebby stresses that despite the difficulties that come with playing college football, be it workouts, practices, going to class, and the games themselves, he wants his players to have fun.
"We've got 18 to 22-year-old kids that need to have an incredible college experience. These guys need to have a great experience while at State. It's going to be incredibly hard doing what we do. We understand that...But I want our people inside our building to have fun in the doing."
But while having that fun, Jeff Lebby still expects his team to exude great toughness.
"Toughness travels. This is a league that is built on toughness...I love that fact of being able to lead our program in a way that creates opportunities for guys to be tough."
Lebby expresses how critical it is to create a culture of competition within his program so that his team is ready for those highly-competitive moments they're sure to face on Saturdays in the fall.
"Competitive. The most competitive league in all of college football. So how many different ways can we create a competitive situation?...having competitive situations inside of everything that we're doing is a huge part of our program and our culture."
Finally, Lebby expects every player and staff member to be totally accountable, doing what is expected of you to make the program the best it can be.
"Then a culture of accountability, being accountable to the guy next to you."
With a team bought in to embracing that culture, Jeff Lebby believes he can build a winning program at Mississippi State. And after the 2023 season, there's no doubt that a new culture needed to be instilled in Starkville.