The Mississippi State football program is experiencing a mass exodus of players in the wake of its 1-3 start, but head coach Mike Leach does not seem bothered.
Seven Mississippi State players have entered the NCAA’s transfer portal in the past week. Two of the players who are leaving — sophomores Garrett Shrader and Jalen Mayden — are quarterbacks. One of them is junior wide receiver Tyrell Shavers, who has nine catches for 107 yards and a touchdown through four games.
Leach was asked on Wednesday about all the players leaving the program, and he described it as a “positive.”
Leach "It’s positive from the standpoint we have certain roles and expectations we expect to be followed. If they’re not, you’re not going to be part of the program. Because we have to think about the whole team and not individuals."
— David H Murray (@DawgsBiteMag) October 28, 2020
Leach said earlier this month that he was planning to “purge” some players from the program, so the transfers are almost certainly related to that.
The Leach era at Mississippi State started off with a bang when the Bulldogs pulled off an upset over LSU in their first game. They have lost three straight since to fall to 1-3 and are playing No. 2 Alabama on Saturday in a game that could get ugly.
