Mississippi
What Jeff Lebby said changed about Mississippi State football since 2-10 season
ATLANTA — Jeff Lebby, one year later, said he was not expecting the season Mississippi State football endured in 2024.
There were optimistic expectations for Lebby as the first-year MSU coach. Instead, the Bulldogs were blown out at home by Toledo in Week 3, then quarterback Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 before the season derailed. They finished 2-10 with no wins in the SEC.
Mississippi State added over 50 new players since then, while keeping the coaching staff mostly intact. The obvious goal is to improve the talent. Accounts from Lebby and Mississippi State players though at SEC media days on July 16 said that an improved locker room environment has been noticeable.
“We’re not trying to create a new culture; we’re going to be exactly true to who we are supposed to be and what we’re creating,” Lebby said. “I think the difference in the team today compared to a year ago today, besides the physical parts of it, is we are closer as a football program and as a football team. The only way you do that is you spend time and you have to take the right people.
“I’ve continued to talk about that. Protect the locker room … by taking the right people. That’s what it’s all about.”
Where Mississippi State football changed for 2025 season
Mississippi State added at least one transfer at every single position except kicker and punter. There were focuses on some positions of need, like defensive line where MSU fielded the worst scoring defense in the SEC.
MSU also flipped its wide receiver room, which lost four of its top five players from last season. Ten of the new players are wide receivers, six via the transfer portal.
“Whether it’s transfers or high school players, at the end of the day, they’ve got to be good enough, but then you want to take the right people,” Lebby said. “People matter. And so for us, changing the entire receiver room, that has helped us tremendously, and it’s helped the locker room. I think we are in a much better place as a team today than we were a year ago, which is going to be something that’s important for us.”
Shapen, one of the three Mississippi State players at SEC media days, said he’s noticed a difference behind the scenes.
“I would say for us, coming into the building, you can tell the energy level is way higher,” he said. “Even from just going in the lunch room to dinner, whatever it may be. Everybody’s energetic. It’s little things. The locker room is energetic.
“I feel like last year, at times, it was a little bit dead in some areas. I feel like you can just tell a different level of energy.”
Mississippi State picked to finish last in SEC preseason poll
Outside expectations remain low for the Bulldogs though. They played four opponents last season that made the 12-team College Football Playoff and will play those four teams again in 2025. That doesn’t include five other SEC opponents who won at least seven games each in 2024 that MSU plays again.
The USA TODAY SEC preseason poll picked Mississippi State to finish last in the conference for a second straight season.
“We don’t really look at that stuff too much,” safety Isaac Smith said. “We were 2-10 last year, so I would expect that, especially with the way we played last year. We don’t really worry about that right now.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Here’s the nominees for Clarion Ledger girls Athlete of the Week for May 4-9
Here’s the five nominees for the Clarion Ledger girls Mississippi high school Athlete of the Week for May 4-9.
There were several top performers across the state in girls high school sports, but only one can be voted as the Clarion Ledger athlete of the week for May 4-9.
Fans may vote in the poll BELOW one time per hour per device. The poll closes at noon on Friday.
To nominate a future athlete of the week, email mchavez@gannett.com or message him on X, formerly Twitter, @MikeSChavez.
To submit high school scores, statistics, records, leaders and other items at any time, email mchavez@gannett.com.
Nominations
Kara Applewhite, Sumrall: Applewhite had four hits with a home run and five RBIs in Sumrall’s 10-0 win against East Central.
Caydance Brumfield, West Marion: Brumfield produced four hits and five RBIs in West Marion’s two wins against Pisgah.
Addison Collum, West Union: Collum pitched eight innings and recorded seven strikeouts and only two earned runs in West Union’s wins against Smithville.
Addison Cornish, West Lauderdale: Cornish recorded five hits and a home run in West Lauderdale’s wins against Choctaw Central.
Addison Davis, George County: Davis pitched nine innings with 20 strikeouts and recorded two home runs and four RBIs in George County’s wins against Pearl River Central.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
‘We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.’
Bobcat stalks and strikes at Wisconsin turkey hunter
Turkey hunter Carson Bender of Wisconsin Rapids recorded a video of a bobcat that stalked and lunged at him as he hunted April 18, 2026 near Nekoosa, Wis.
Carson Bender
If a proposal made in the April meeting of the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is finalized, nonresident turkey hunters will see big changes in the 2027 spring turkey season.
“We’re doing this in a way to impact how hunting pressure occurs and how the harvest happens in the early season,” said Caleb Hinton, Wild Turkey Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.”
Turkey hunters enjoy a three-bird bag limit and a little more than six weeks of hunting in spring, which is similar to some other states. What is at issue is when it opens. March 15 is the typical opening date for the regular season, making it one of the earliest in the nation.
That early opening date combined with a growing trend among turkey hunters is where the problem lies.
Mississippi is a destination for early season, nonresident hunters
Possibly more than any other group of hunters, turkey hunters like to travel. For some, it may be a matter of seeing a different landscape and hunting birds under condions they don’t encounter in their home state. For others it may be a quest to harvest each of the subspecies in North America.
For yet another group, it’s the challenge of harvesting a gobbler in each of the 49 states that have turkeys.
“It seems to be getting more and more popular every year,” Hinton said.
Regardless of why a turkey hunter chooses to travel, it puts a target on Mississippi’s back because for the first few weeks of the season, it’s almost the only game in town, so hunters flock to the state.
In an effort to curb the amount of hunting pressure in those first weeks of turkey season, MDWFP proposed limiting nonresident hunters to two legal gobblers per season and only one of those can be harvested before April 1.
“Hopefully, it will help curb the massive influx of pressure we get the first week or two of the season,” Hinton said.
When will turkey season changes for nonresidents be voted on?
The proposed changes aren’t the first that have been geared toward alleviating pressure on turkeys in the early part of the season by nonresidents. In 2022, the commission passed a rule requiring nonresident hunters to enter a drawing for a hunt on public land during the first two weeks of turkey season. Currently, the number of hunters drawn is limited to 800.
Like that change, the current proposal will pass or fail by a vote of the wildlife commission. In the April commission meeting, the proposal passed an initial vote. It is now in a 30-day public comment period and a final vote will be taken in the May meeting.
Public comments may be submitted at https://www.mdwfp.com/proposed-rules-regulations.
A lifelong outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, Brian Broom has been writing about hunting, fishing and Mississippi’s outdoors for the Clarion Ledger for more than 14 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
Mississippi
Mississippi high school addresses social media post, says it won’t tolerate racism or harassment
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A Mississippi high school has made a statement after a social media post involving a student surfaced.
Northeast Lauderdale High School officials say they’re reviewing a social media post involving a student.
In a statement, the school said administrators are aware of the post and are “reviewing the situation.”
The school said it is committed to maintaining a safe, orderly and respectful environment for students and staff.
“Neither our district nor our school accept or condone racism, discrimination, harassment, or behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of our school community,” the statement said.
Officials said they are working with the appropriate parties and will address the matter in accordance with district policies and procedures.
The school added that it cannot share additional details because of student privacy laws.
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