STARKVILLE — Meet the new loud and in-your-face leader of the Mississippi State University football team’s offense: Tyler Russell.
“My job is to step up and when I see something wrong, it’s not the coaches job to say anything to that guy,” Russell said. “It’s my job to say, ‘Look, you ran the wrong route and we need to get that corrected.’ I try to get the coaches to stay out of it as much as possible when we’re at practice.”
Russell’s roles in the meeting room and on the practice field have changed. In his first media appearance since the closed scrimmage at Davis Wade Stadium, Russell met with the media Wednesday evening and explained the new attitude and mental outlook he hopes will enable him to be successful this season in what could be a high octane passing offense.
“Coach doesn’t want any of the guys to slack off or get in the habit of (thinking), ‘We’re going to take it easy today’ because we play a game next week,” said Russell, a former Parade All-America quarterback at Meridian High School
MSU coach Dan Mullen evaluated Russell at a high level Saturday evening, saying he had to get the junior to transition from a laid-back practice mode to game-mode intensity and mental sharpness. The Bulldogs’ fourth-year coach said Russell, like a lot of the players who received significant action Saturday night, became more efficient as the scrimmage progressed.
“When you go into that stadium, you got to be focused and be ready to play,” Russell said. “I think I made some plays, but I’ve got to be more consistent, and I think I’m working on that. I think we’ll be fine.”
While Mullen said Tuesday that the team is preparing for its season opener at 6 p.m. Sept. 1 against Jackson State (FSN South), MSU players said Wednesday they have been told to maintain a preseason camp attitude until next week when they will start to install the scheme on both sides of the ball.
“We’re not yet game-planning. We’re trying to just build back our legs now to make everything more whole as a team,” MSU sophomore center Dillon Day said.
After Angelo Mirando’s resignation Sunday left MSU one assistant coach short, Russell acknowledged he will have to make corrections in the meeting room or the practice field to other positions if and when he sees necessary.
“I think he started slow and not really ‘game’ mentality,” Mullen said Saturday night. “He started kind of ‘practicy’ in his demeanor. What happens in practice mode a lot he’s thinking about his read, his steps, his balance, follow through, all of those things. I wanted him to let it go and be the leader out there like it was a game situation more than he’s trying to analyze everything that is going on.”
Russell also is new social leader of MSU’s offense. Like a lot of quarterback-center relationships going back to the days when Kent Hull snapped to John Bond in the early 1980s, Russell and Day have developed a close relationship in the past two seasons. While Day wouldn’t describe Russell as an old-school, take-your-lineman-to-dinner type of quarterback, he thinks being together in social situations away from football has helped develop trust on the field.
“We’re always hanging out together and doing a lot of stuff outside of football together,” Day said. “We’re around each other a lot. On the field, he knows so much we just all trust his checks at the line.”
Russell, like Mullen said on Tuesday, feels his receivers, which includes seniors Chris Smith, Chad Bumphis, Arceto Clark, and Brandon Heavens, make communication much smoother in the huddle and as the play is develops after the snap.
“I know they’re going to be in the right spot because they’ve been around and know what to do,” Russell said. “You’re going to mess up and overthink some things, but I think being a leader involves overcoming that.”
Mullen sometimes would like Russell to plant his back foot and sling the football in a more natural way than worry about making mistakes in his spread-option offense.
“You got to just let it go,” Russell said. “Even with (MSU offensive coordinator Les) Koenning in the box, it felt like a practice and not really a game mode, so that’s one thing is on Saturday’s you prepare all day leading up to the game. We’ve got to do a good job of flipping the switch on game day.”
Junior tailback LaDarius Perkins, who has taken practice snaps with Russell and Day since the first day on campus, said there is plenty of chemistry with so many former second-string players.
“Tyler and I came in together, redshirted together, and we basically picked up on the whole program pretty quick,” Perkins said. “We know what we’re doing.”
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