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Mullen emotional at Monday’s press conference over freshman’s death
By Pat Donohue
Published:
In the wake of Mississippi State freshman defensive lineman Keith Joseph Jr.’s tragic death on Nov. 6, Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen delivered an emotional and heartfelt press conference on Monday.
Joseph and his father, Keith Joseph Sr., who played linebacker at Mississippi State, were both killed on Friday afternoon in a one-car accident.
Fighting back tears at times, Mullen spoke about Joseph’s death and how he and his team have been dealing with it together.
“Obviously we just ask everybody to keep the Joseph Family in their prayers.” –@CoachDanMullen #HailState
— MSU Football (@HailStateFB) November 9, 2015
Mullen: Losing a family member who was a part of your program, there’s nothing more devastating that you’ll have to go through as a coach. — Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Mullen also gave some insight as to the type of person and student Joseph was.
Mullen says Joseph was a 4.0 student at MSU.
— Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Mullen says Joseph was the scout team player of the week every week. They had to share the award with someone else. — Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
“He was a guy that gave everything he had. It’s just a tragedy.” -DM on Keith Joseph Jr. #HailState
— MSU Football (@HailStateFB) November 9, 2015
Mullen added that the team’s freshmen all met together at his house after receiving the news of Joseph’s death.
Mullen says they met as a team last night to talk things through. Afterward, all the freshmen went to Mullen’s house to be together. — Bob Carskadon (@bobcarskadon) November 9, 2015
Mullen gameplanned last night and his wife, Megan, had the freshmen over their house.
— Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Mullen: I thought it was important for them to be together. — Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
There’s no easy transition in a press conference when something so sad occurs, but Mullen did also talk about the Bulldogs’ 31-13 win over Missouri in Week 10 and previewed their upcoming battle with Alabama.
Mullen called the Crimson Tide the best team in America.
Mullen on Alabama: “They’re the best team in America.”
— Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Mullen: They have more five stars sitting on the bench that can’t get in the game than we have on our roster. — Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Mullen said the Bulldogs haven’t played this big of a game since last season and are going to have to take their play to the next level this week.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge for us & our program. We’re going to have to play at an extremely high level.” -DM on Alabama #HailState
— MSU Football (@HailStateFB) November 9, 2015
But Mississippi State is already playing extremely well right now and riding a four-game winning streak. The Bulldogs have been particularly solid in the red zone, and Mullen said that is due to a stellar quarterback in Dak Prescott and a lot of time spent on that area in practice.
Mullen credits MSU’s red zone success to the experience and ability of Dak Prescott. — Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
Although he only had 2 tackles against Missouri, one of them was a sack for Mississippi State defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was disruptive up front for the Bulldogs all night against the Tigers. Mullen said he thought it was Jones’ best performance of his career, which is really saying something, especially after an impressive freshman season in 2013.
“He played certainly the best game I’ve seen him play in his career here.” -DM on Chris Jones’ performance vs. Mizzou #HailState
— MSU Football (@HailStateFB) November 9, 2015
Pat Donohue is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @SportsDownPat.
