Fresh off a bowl appearance, the 2026 Mississippi State football season got underway on Thursday afternoon with Coach Lebby taking to the podium on the last day of SEC Media Days in Tampa. Last season, the Bulldogs went 5-7 in the regular season but earned a postseason bid to the Dukes Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest, where they lost, but the returning guys for this fall got valuable practice time to use as momentum for the upcoming 2026 season. 

Coming into the 2026 college football season, Coach Lebby enters his third season as Head Coach of Mississippi State with a good bit of excitement and mometum for the potential this roster has to get the Bulldogs back on the right side of the record column with another postseason trip, this go around with a winning record. Last season, Mississippi State had highs and lows, with the highlight coming at home in the second game of the season when they stunned Arizona State 24-20. Mississippi State started last season 4-0 with wins over Southern Miss, Arizona State, Alcorn State, and Northern Illinois before a heartbreaking overtime loss to Tennessee seemed to derail the Bulldogs’ hopes of playing in a decent postseason bowl. Despite starting 4-0 last season, the Bulldogs finished 5-8, with the lone 5th win coming on November 1st against a depleted Arkansas team. However, the Bulldogs have not let last season derail the excitement for the 2026 season as they look to take the next step and continue building off the mometum obtained during the offseason. 

One of the first things Coach Lebby mentioned from the podium was talking at length about the roster retention from last season, and layers of guys choosing to remain in Starkville to be a part of returning Mississippi State football back to being a consistent postseason team. When Coach mentioned roster retention, it might have been about starters from last season, but guys from that might not have started but got valuable reps as role players. Take the two offensive starters in the backfield this season, for example: KaMario Taylor at quarterback and Fluff Bothwell at running back. Both guys got a start or two last season, but didn’t spend the whole season as the starter last year. Bothwell and Taylor are both expected to play pivotal roles this season for the Bulldogs, with KaMario Taylor drawing comparisons from his Head Coach to Robert Griffin 3rd. 

As for the returning starters from last season starting on the offensive side of the ball, you have Anthony Evans at wide receiver and Canon Boone at center. Over on the defensive side of the ball, Trevion Williams on the defensive line, Zakari Tillman at linebacker, Kelley Jones at corner, and Issac Smith at Safety. Then on special teams, Ethan Pulliam at punter and the fan favorite Kyle Ferrie at kicker. Mississippi State has a total of eight guys returning from last season, with a lot of excitement surrounding Kelley Jones and Issac Smith on the defensive side of the ball; those two guys will be the leaders that Coach Lebby and his defensive coordinator Zach Arnett need for the Bulldogs to be successful on that side of the ball this season. 

Other topics discussed by Coach Lebby on Thursday included the excitement for the offensive line heading into fall camp. A position that Mississippi State struggled with since the season when Zach Arnett was Head Coach. Mississippi State comes into fall camp with six offensive linemen who are all worthy of being in the Southeastern Conference at the offensive line position. Canon Boone will be the leader at center, LJ Prudhomme at right guard with Mario Nash backing him up, Miles McVay and Saqon Miles at left tackle, DJ Chester and Blake Steen at left guard, Jaheem Shumpert-Perkins and Isaiah Dent at right tackle; all of those guys have lofty expectations to live up to for the Bulldogs to be successful this season. 

Lastly, Coach Lebby preached the gospel of two brand coordinators: Zach Arnett on defense and Philip Montgomery on offense. Combined with the additions of Matt Brock, Kevin Johns, and Matt Wells, this adds more excitement as coaches with Head Coaching experience come to Starkville to do what they can to get Mississippi State back to being Mississippi State. 

Now that the foundation has been built during the first two seasons of the Coach Lebby era, taking the next step is now the primary focus for this program as they navigate into an exciting 2026 season of Mississippi State football. As we saw last season, Mississippi State didn’t have an issue being competitive as they had Tennessee beat, they hung with Ole Miss for a half, had Florida beat until the end, and had a chance on the road in Austin beat Texas but couldn’t finish the job and now they have the pieces to do so with guys on the roster and one of the brightest coaching staff’s in the country and now the expecation are to reach the postseason with a winning record. From there, the added bonuses of winning the Egg Bowl, going on the road to beat Minnesota, and then taking the two at home over Auburn and Vanderbilt could really add the icing on the cake for the 2026 season. 

Mississippi State will open the season at home on Saturday night, September 5th, as they welcome the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks to Davis Wade Stadium. 

Photo Credits- Mississippi State football/ SEC on X