Mississippi State football: Jeff Lebby's hiring of Coleman Hutzler receives praise from SEC analyst

It seems like Jeff Lebby continues to impress at least one SEC commentator with the personnel moves the new head coach of the Mississippi State football program has been making. Lebby, primarily and historically known for the way he orchestrates offenses, is now being tasked with building a full program as he rebuilds the MSU Bulldogs.

And Lebby's choice of a defensive coordinator is getting some praise from ESPN's (and also the SEC Network's and the host of various podcasts and radio shows and so on and so forth) Cole Cubelic.

Cubelic, who played offensive line at Auburn, has seemed impressed with the way Mississippi State football decided to go with Lebby and the overall direction the Miss. State Bulldogs are going with Lebby at the helm. And that includes the decision to hire Coleman Hutzler to be MSU's defensive coordinator.

"I love this guy, ton of energy. I think State fans are going to love him," Cubelic said of the Bulldogs' new DC. "I think he's ready to be a [defensive] coordinator."

Hutzler comes to the Mississippi State Bulldogs and arrives in Starkville after spending the last few seasons working in Tuscaloosa under Nick Saban with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Mississippi State football: Cole Cubelic praises Jeff Lebby's decision to hire Coleman Hutzler

Most recently, Hutzler worked with the Crimson Tide's outside linebackers coach and is also Alabama's special teams coordinator. Hutzler hasn't been a defensive coordinator yet, and that's a cause for concern with many MSU football fans, but it looks like Cubelic thinks Hutzler is ready for the opportunity (even if there are a ton of unknowns.

"Now, am I going to tell you he's going to be great? I don't know, hadn't seen him do it at this level yet, but he understands the territory," Cubelic explained.

From a recruiting standpoint and the fact that he's been around the SEC a bit, that's fair to say.

"He understands the territory, he understands the recruiting," Cubelic mentioned. "Obviously, going up against Alabama, he'll have familiarity there with that program. I think any time you can get somebody who worked for Nick Saban, there are going to be benefits that come with that."

So yeah, Cubelic seems pretty pleased with this hire for the Bulldogs. He gave Hutzler a lot of credit for helping the Crimson Tide develop in recent years and he seems to believe the familiarity with the region will work out for Lebby and the Bulldogs.

We'll see how it all plays out.

And while it wasn't as splashy as a hire that some MSU fans wanted, there's nothing wrong with hiring someone who is on the upswing of his career as opposed to someone past his prime. Lebby put together a staff that seems to be on the same page and understands the vision that Lebby has for this program.

That's generally a good thing. But again, we'll see how it plays out.