STARKVILLE — A small senior class from the 2013 season and a less than stellar in-state pool of talent for the Class of 2014 had the Mississippi State football team looking to the 2015 signing class to make a big splash.
MSU coach Dan Mullen joked Wednesday from the podium at his the National Signing Day media conference that his staff has a 2016 and 2017 prospects board in place in their meeting rooms. In fact, fans on Twitter always post to Mullen’s account that their son is ready to give a verbal commitment to the Bulldogs.
“I know I get messages from fans that want to say they have babies for the 2025 class who are ready to commit,” Mullen said.
The Bulldogs announced a recruiting class Wednesday that was the fourth smallest in terms of numbers of signees. Many of the recruits gave verbal commitments last summer.
“The foundation we put on recruiting guys from the state of Mississippi allows you to have a good feel looking into the future of where guys will fit into our program,” Mullen sad. “Our footprint is clear, and it makes it easier to see where those guys fit in. You always stay ahead of the game that way.”
Of the four prospects MSU signed that 247Sports listed as four-star athletes, Petal wide receiver Jesse Jackson was the latest to give MSU a verbal commitment. He pledged his services in October. None of the prospects (Jackson, West Point tailback Aeris Williams, Newton County athlete Jamoral Graham, and Greenville-Weston linebacker Gerri Green) gave any indication they were wavering from their college decision.
“When it gets to that crazy time at the end, you hope guys are making choices for the right decisions,” Mullen said. “I’d hate for a guy to choose to come to Mississippi State if it wasn’t for the right reason.”
Of the 23 players MSU signed, only two came down to the last minute. Former Tennessee commit Corey Thomas flipped to MSU, while MSU commit Tee Shepard signed with Ole Miss.
Finding stable recruiting targets this year allowed MSU to concentrate on a recruiting class fans believe could be MSU’s highest ranked since Dan Mullen arrived in Starkville in 2009.
“It’s hard to tell what will happen from now until February of 2014, but Mullen has a good shot of beating his 18th-ranked recruiting class he got in his first season after being hired at MSU,” Bulldawgs247Sports.com reporter Paul Jones said.
Jones, who has been covering college football recruiting for more than a decade, said he saw a connection to getting high quality 2014 verbal commits early and letting them act as individual recruiters for the 2015 class prospects.
“MSU has always had a good hold on say a Greenville-Weston area, where Gerri Green came from, but then you see Timothy Washington, a four-star defensive end from nearby Yazoo City, commit last November, and it’s a pattern,” Jones said.
The 2015 talent pool in the state includes seven prospects in the Top 247 prospects, according to 247Sports.com. More are expected to be on the final list when it comes out next year.
“I think it’s really deep in terms of skill guys and athletes period,” Jones said. “I think when it’s all said and done you’ll have two or three five-star guys and probably at least 10-12 four-star guys in this state.”
MSU has five verbal commitments in the 2015 recruiting class, including four-star prospects Washington, Bruce athlete Jay Johnson, Oak Grove athlete Cameron Myers, and junior college wide receiver Donald Gray from Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
With that bundle of talent coming next year, fans can expect more drama in the final push to National Signing Day.
“You can guarantee there will be much more battles up to the final day for prospects, not just among MSU and Ole Miss, but it’ll involve LSU, Georgia, Alabama, and others,” Jones said.
Mullen spoke often Wednesday about identifying and signing what his staff calls “priority recruits.” If the 2015 recruiting class can maintain the pace it has set with its verbal commitments, MSU will get to test that theory early and often in the next 12 months.
“It’s a guy who ultimately fits our program to a T,” Mullen said. “Gerri Green was an ultimate priority guy. I put the pressure on him in recruiting. We expect him to be on posters, not just football posters but university posters. That’s what we look for at Mississippi State University in young men.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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