To State fans nationwide,

It’s the dawn of a new era. And y’all should be excited. Really excited.

Some fans might have been upset when Dan Mullen left at the end of the 2017 season. Understandably. After all, he’s arguably the best coach in program history.

When he took over, the program was mired in the murky cellar of the brutal SEC West. The 2001-08 span, which included the final three years of Jackie Sherrill and the entirety of the Sly Croom era, was just brutal, with the Dawgs going 29-65, and just one winning season to show for it. Fan support was still there, but fundraising was poor, facilities were poor, recruiting was poor and the reputation of the program nationally was poor.

Take a look at where the program is now. It’s a perennial Top-25 program that demands respect on a national level. The winning brought in money. The money brought in sparkling facilities. The facilities brought in talented players. The talented players brought in more wins. Rinse, wash, repeat.

This was all due to Mullen, to whom fans became immensely attached. He was a Yankee who eventually became one of their own.

So, I can understand how some fans felt betrayed when Mullen didn’t hesitate to jump at the offer to join former MSU AD Scott Stricklin in Gainesville. They were concerned that the program might fall back to irrelevancy. That the best days were no longer present, but past.

John Cohen was masterful with what happened next. While blueblood Tennessee was providing the perfect example of how not to handle a coaching search, State was the exact opposite. Smooth and swift with an outstanding result.

Just two days after Mullen took the Florida job, State hired Joe Moorhead, an offensive wizard who saved James Franklin’s job at Penn State by creating one of the most potent offenses in all of college football, averaging 41.1 points per game last year.

Mullen brought the program up out of the muck, for which there should always be a level of appreciation. But fans shouldn’t be dismayed that he left, because he did all he could do there.

He maxed out his potential at State. He did as well as he ever was going to do. Had he stayed he would’ve consistently won around 8 or 9 games, with the occasional 10 and maybe 11-win season. He was never going to win a title at State. He just wasn’t.

Moorhead could, though. I’m not necessarily saying he will, but I think he presents a greater chance to win championships than Mullen did. And that could come as early as this year, believe it or not.

Why? Moorhead is inheriting what might be one of the most talented starting lineups in college football.

He has an All-SEC caliber QB in Nick Fitzgerald, whose developmental progress yearns for tutelage from a passing game master. He has an All-SEC caliber RB in Aeris Williams and an electrifying backup in Kylin Hill. He has an offensive line that returns 4 starters. He has one of the most dominant defensive lines in the country that features two All-American candidates in Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons. He has a talented, though not necessarily deep, linebacker corps. He has a loaded secondary that features what might be the best safety tandem in the SEC.

Credit: Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

This is a loaded team, just waiting for someone to drive them to the promised land.

Look, the road there is brutal. It’s not for the faint of heart. The room for error, when chasing a title, is minimal. But that’s life in the SEC West. It’s lions fighting lions, where the best NFL prospects in America are clashing play after play and week after week. That’s the beauty of the SEC.

Mississippi State will face a brutal schedule in its quest for a title this year. Not only is there the regular gauntlet that is the conference schedule –featuring road games at LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss – but it has a very tough road contest early in the year against an always stout Kansas State team.

The bad thing is that the schedule features numerous tests against some of the premier programs in America. The good thing is that if they overcome those obstacles, they’ll be in the driver’s seat to the Playoff. There’s ample opportunity to pad the resume to the Playoff committee.

Moorhead rightfully has high expectations this year. His ability to run an offense and develop talent is proven. He has a brilliant strategic acumen that should make the offense formidable to stop. Defensively, the personnel on hand this year will make it hard for new coordinator Bob Shoop to screw up. There’s also reason to think that success should be sustained after this year given the way the staff is recruiting right now.

When Moorhead was hired, the major concern I had was his ability to recruit a region he’s entirely unfamiliar with. I thought it would be absolutely critical for him to hire a staff that has ties and relationships to the region. He has done just that.

He hired my old teammate and Mississippi native, Marcus Johnson, to lead the offensive line. He hired Mark Hudspeth, another Mississippi native who coached Louisiana-Lafayette to its first bowl game in more than 40 years, to coach TEs. He hired Mississippi native and longtime NFL standout Terrell Buckley, to coach the CBs. He hired Joey Jones, longtime HC of South Alabama, to run the special teams. DC Bob Shoop has developed ties in the region from his years of running defenses at Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Four of the coaches on his staff have coached in the NFL, which sells really well to prospects hell-bent on getting to “The League.”

So far, the results on the recruiting trail are promising. Their class is ranked No. 14 nationally by 247 Sports, with seven 4-star prospects verbally committed, including 4 of the top 11 prospects in-state.

I want Mississippi State to succeed, I really do. I know that might sound surprising for someone who played at Ole Miss, but I do. I’m not a Mississippi native, but I grew a deep and unabashed love for the Magnolia State during my years there, finding the people, culture, food and music refreshingly original, unique and proud.

I want both Mississippi schools to succeed, because far too many people outside of Mississippi unfairly look down their noses on the state, like they do much of the South. It’s good for Mississippi and its fine people when both programs are strong and proud, representing the state as they should. Whether Ole Miss is on the right track, we’ll save for another article, but as for Mississippi State, I believe they are.

As I said at the start of this, fans should be excited. The future is remarkably bright. This is a very talented team, one that is a lot of fun to watch, led by what appears to be an excellent coaching staff. There will be some hiccups this year, as there is with every first-year staff, but even if the team fails reach Atlanta, that shouldn’t diminish the optimism of the future.

A new day and a new era has come to Starkville and it begins on Sept. 1.