2026 SEC Media Days is winding down as the final teams and coaches take the podium to preview the upcoming season. In the final afternoon session, Mississippi State football head coach Jeff Lebby fielded questions.
Lebby was asked about running back Fluff Bothwell, the viral TikTok dance video from his team and more. Here’s what he said.
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JEFF LEBBY: Commissioner, thank you. It is, it’s a privilege to be here, SEC Media Days. As I think about year three for us, I think about taking the next step, and that’s what it’s all about this fall.
As we talk about taking the next step inside our program, I think back to the beginning of January and where everything started to give us the opportunity to go change the outcome and do what we’re trying to do this fall.
As you think about January, probably the thing that I’m most proud of since walking in the door in Starkville is the fact that we were able to retain the way we were able to retain this past portal window.
The three guys that are with me today, a huge piece of that, but a lot of layers inside our locker room that chose to be a part of what we’re doing because, there is, there’s great belief, great confidence, great energy, focus, and edge on going to chase it and putting our best foot forward to get ready to go win games.
As we talk about retention, it was player acquisition, being able to address the needs we had both lines of scrimmage and our secondary. We were able to get that done. And excited about those groups as we’re now, man, just two weeks away from being able to be back on the grass and get ready to go practice.
Another big thing for us in the offseason was, it was the staffing. And there’s been a ton of talk about bringing back Zach Arnett as our defensive coordinator. What he’s done for me and for us on that side of the ball since January has been huge. His experience, the play-calling ability, and him being able to create stress for the other side of the ball is something that we needed in a great way.
Alongside Matt Brock, co-defensive coordinator and linebacker coach. Another guy that, again, has called defense in our league, that has great experience, that has been another great asset for us inside our walls.
And then on the offensive side, adding over 25 years of experience from a coordinator standpoint with you look at Philip Montgomery and you look at Kevin Johns, both guys that have called plays four a really long time, have had a ton of success and bring an incredible amount of experience to our room offensively, which has been great.
So we’re going to keep talking about it. We’re two weeks away. Great confidence in what we’ve got going inside our walls. I think as you talk to our three guys that are here today, man, they’re going to be a great voice for us and the belief and the energy that’s happening inside our walls.
Again, incredibly grateful to be here. With that, I’ll open it up.
Q. You’ve made it a priority on offense to win with speed. Can you tell us about Marquis Johnson attributes to that methodology?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, Marquis is a guy that does. He’s got great top end. He’s a guy that can. He can stretch the field.
What I’m excited about in that room is the depth in that room. There’s an incredible amount of competition, and that’s going to be fun to see sort out through fall camp. Got some real tools inside that room where, there will, there will be great competition.
Q. Coach, your offensive line doesn’t have a whole lot of experience, but you being a former offensive lineman, talk to me about having a dual-threat quarterback and what you’re teaching schemes or strategy for the offensive line.
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, for us, you know, as we’re building that offensive line right now and continuing to develop it as we sit here today, we’re in a much better spot than we were a year ago today.
We’ve got very capable people inside that room. I was saying it earlier, but we’ve got six guys that I’m incredibly excited about having the ability to go play winning football for us. Being able to continue to develop the depth in that room, man, that’s going to be huge, even the next two weeks and then into fall camp, so that we do have the depth that we need.
We’re going to be able to do it all up front, though. We’ve got to have great balance. That’s going to be a huge part of our success.
Q. So you are going into your third season with the Bulldogs. They say third time is a charm. First things first, what gives you confidence going into this year versus the past two seasons? Just as an aside, Mississippi as a whole, as we know, has made a lot of national news lately. I would like you to shed some light on what’s so special about Starkville, or Starkvegas as you like to call it I hear, and why you and your players enjoy being there.
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, the first part of the question, the thing that creates the most confidence for me is our roster. Our roster is in a much better place than it’s been the last two seasons. So that immediately gives you a chance to upgrade and change the outcome.
I think the next thing that I’m, again, most excited about that I’ve already talked about a little bit is just the retention. So guys being back that had to live some of the things that we lived last year and go through some of the things that we went through.
I hate using the word, but being close and having the ability to go change the outcome and take that next step as a program but be able to change the outcome on those Saturday afternoons. So great confidence starts with the roster and the retention of the guys that we needed to come back.
The thing that makes Starkville so special is the people. There’s great connection. There’s great community. There’s great support, and there’s a lot of love in a small college town where people are pulling the rope the same direction, and I love that. I love it for my kids and for my wife to be able to be there in such a cool community. And it’s how I was raised. It’s how I grew up. Same thing for my wife. That’s why it’s special to us.
Q. You talk about taking that next step as a program, but during the midseason this year you have a really tough stretch starting with Alabama and then three straight road games in very hostile environments. What would you consider successful during that stretch to help you get to that next step?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, I haven’t thought about necessarily that stretch. We’ve got a 12-game regular season schedule that is incredibly difficult. So for us it’s about truly being able to reset one at a time. Everybody says it, but it’s such a real thing as you live it. Then you look up on Sunday morning, and you hope you had the outcome that you had on Saturday. Man, you’re ready to get right back to work and go chase it for that next Saturday.
As we look at it, every single week is going to create challenge. It’s about how we handle it. It’s about how we prepare to give us a chance to go execute and go win.
Q. Some of your players went somewhat viral with a TikTok dance recently. I was wondering, is there a scenario or maybe even a win total that would somehow get you in one of those videos with them?
JEFF LEBBY: Absolutely not. Ask Kelly (smiling).
Q. You guys ran it pretty good last year, but a lot of teams didn’t. A lot of traditionally strong teams. Something going on with college football defenses now that are sort of clogging up the running game for a lot of people?
JEFF LEBBY: I think — again, in this league, I do, I think the lines of scrimmage and what is going on in the defensive lines along with scheme has made it really hard for people to line up and just go run the football in traditional ways.
I think you’ve got to put air in the defense. I think you’ve got to scheme to set your guys up for success, and I think the defensive lines, again, in this league and how people are cutting the front and changing structurally makes it really, really hard to be able to go execute from play one to play 75 and run the football the way you need to.
But that’s going to be critical for us. We’re going to have to run the ball really, really well. Want to be explosive in the run game, but we’re going to have to be great situationally and get done what we want to get done.
Q. You’ve talked about bringing Zach Arnett back into the fold. Run through the process of how that happened and just bringing him back into Mississippi State.
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, the biggest thing for me was wanting to add a piece inside that defensive staff room to be able to go run it that had ran it, that had called it, that had called it inside this conference — that’s what I wanted first — and had the experience of being a defensive coordinator and having to adjust and understood the grind of what we do every single week. Obviously Zach has that.
I coached against him, and didn’t enjoy going against him. He made it really, really hard. And that for me was just another great stamp and a check-the-box situation where I knew what I was getting.
I’ve talked a ton about being the aggressor, being able to affect the quarterback, creating negative plays. He’s done that. And he has been awesome in the building. He’s been great from a leadership standpoint on that side of the ball for us. I feel like it does free me up in a great way, which has been awesome.
Q. I had a follow-up to the TikTok question, but I’m not going to do that to you. Kamario Taylor last year put up video game numbers in his two starts at the end of the season. What’s his ceiling this year, and what’s one thing he has to work on most going into the season?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, I don’t necessarily put a ceiling on K1. He’s a special young man. He’s a special talent, but he’s a special young man. We’re going to be incredibly aggressive from an install standpoint. The way this guy retains, the way he goes about his business on the day-to-day to be able to prepare to put himself in position to go have success in between the white lines, it’s elite.
That’s one of the things I’m probably most excited about. For him, I would like to think that if you asked him his number one goal this year, the first thing is to start a minimum of 13 games. That means stay healthy. That means not take unnecessary hits and finding ways to get down to get out of bounds and understanding it’s about the next play.
I am, I’m incredibly excited. I’m proud of who he is and how he’s led. For being a young guy, man, he doesn’t act young. He does, he got a big-time future, and really excited about what he’s going to be able to do for us.
Q. Fluff Bothwell was a guy that split carries last year with Booth. Booth is now gone. Do you foresee Fluff being the main guy in terms of workload this year and who might — can he handle, I guess, the full-time load if that’s the case?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, I do. I think Fluff will be the guy for us that takes the bulk of the carries.
I also love the depth in that room with Kolin Wilson, Xavier Gayten and a couple of young guys that we’ve added to the roster that got here in January.
Really excited about that room. Specifically Fluff, as he has. He’s had a great spring and a great summer and ready to go have a big year.
Q. Talk about your strategy recruiting in the portal this offseason and sort of how you were able to bring in guys who already had some SEC experience to your program and what that means?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, when you start those conversations, it’s about opportunity, what their opportunity looks like as they get in the double doors and understanding where we need to upgrade. I mentioned it, but both lines of scrimmage and the secondary, I think guys understood that when they walked in the door, if they’re transferring in with some playing time, they were going to be guys that had the ability to go compete and win a job, and that’s where it started.
I do, I like who we were able to acquire in the portal window. We’ll see once we put the ball down here in a couple of weeks.
Q. What is going and getting a player like AJ Swann, a veteran in that quarterback room, with Kamario being the presumed starter, what does AJ bring to that room?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, just experience. A guy that’s lived it, done it. He’s been a lot of different places. He’s been through a lot of different schemes, a lot of different coordinators. So he’s a guy that does. He creates real depth for us at that position, which is absolutely critical for us right now.
I like where AJ is. Again, the biggest thing for me was a guy that had lived it and done it and played a bunch of ball, and he’s done that.
Q. You go to Minnesota in Week 2. They’re top-10 in the country in returning production. How big of a game is that for y’all in general, but also maybe for the optics of the SEC in that early nonconference?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, it will be a huge game. Just like every one of them on Saturday afternoon this fall. But that one obviously, as we go on the road Week 2, it will, it will be a huge game. We’re going to fight our butt off to go represent the SEC the right way and our state and obviously Mississippi State. That will, that will be a big one.
Q. You guys play LSU this year for the first time in several years. What does it mean to you to go to LSU and face Tiger Stadium, and what kind of environment do you expect this year?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, it will, it will be a great environment like it always is there. Another incredible challenge as we go play — I believe it’s an 11:00 a.m. kick there that Saturday morning. Again, for our guys to be able to go into these different venues and be able to, man, go compete at the highest level in some of the best venues in the world, man, it’s special.
Our guys are incredibly grateful and thankful for the opportunity, but that one, just like every other one, we’re going to be fighting our tail off to go win. It will, it will be a great Saturday morning.
Q. I see you have a four-game tough stretch. What’s your mindset going into those games, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, again, for us it is — and I mentioned it earlier, but it’s truly one week at a time. I mean, if you try to think about the entirety of it, you can, you can get lost.
It’s going to be about Week 1, September 5th, being able to put an incredible product onto the field that day. It’s a home opener. And then we’ll reset and be ready to roll that next week as we go up to Minnesota.
One week at a time. Week by week. Sounds like coach talk, but it’s a real thing.
Q. Since Ty Warren is a local boy for Bryan, what do you feel he brings to your program?
JEFF LEBBY: Again, I talk a ton about experience. I love Ty’s experience as an incredible college player and then an elite NFL player and then as he’s transitioned into being, you know, a great defensive line coach.
Had great familiarity with Ty. Really excited about his addition to the staff. Our guys love him. I think it is, I think it’s great for those guys in the interior to be able to look at a guy and say, okay, this is what it’s supposed to look like, and he knows what it’s supposed to look like.
Been a great addition to the staff.
Q. I wanted to ask about a kid from my area, from my state, Fluff Bothwell. I know he had a good year for you last year but was banged up. What are your expectations for him, and what do you think he can accomplish this year for Mississippi State?
JEFF LEBBY: Yeah, I think he’s got an opportunity to accomplish a lot. Again, he was, he was banged up. Played really, really well against Tennessee. He got banged up that next week and ended up not having him for a couple of weeks.
He’s done a great job with his body and putting himself in position, man, to feel better than he’s ever felt, and excited about his ceiling and what he’s got a chance to go do.
