Many questions surround the MSU football team as spring practice gets underway. How will the Bulldogs perform in their second year under head coach Dan Mullen? How will the defense respond to Manny Diaz and Chris Wilson? Who will replace Anthony Dixon?
However, in Tuesday’s first day of spring practice, one question stood out the most: Who will be the starting quarterback when the Bulldogs take the field in the fall?
On the pre-spring depth chart, junior Chris Relf is listed as the starting quarterback, but he will face heavy competition from redshirt freshman Tyler Russell, who spent last fall running the scout team in practice and wearing a headset on the sideline during games.
Last year, Relf split time at quarterback with Tyson Lee, but Mullen said it is a different competition this year because both Relf and Russell have had a year to learn the offensive system.
“It’s very different because the guys right now know what’s going on,” Mullen said. “When they’re out here on the field, they’ve been through it before. It’s not a race to see who can learn the fastest, it’s a race to see who can execute the best. It’s gonna be a much different competition than last year.”
As far as experience goes, Relf has the advantage. The Montgomery, Ala., native has seen action in 12 games during his two years on the team. His biggest game came in last year’s season finale when he rushed for 131 yards in MSU’s Egg Bowl victory over Ole Miss. Relf said he welcomes the competition because it makes everyone work harder.
“It’s great, because it’s gonna make me better, you know. And I’m gonna make them better,” Relf said.
While Relf is a dual threat who can run and throw, Russell is a “pro-style” pocket passer who put together some impressive numbers the last time he saw game action, which was his senior year of high school. Russell threw for 3,284 yards, 40 touchdowns and just five interceptions while leading Meridian to a state championship.
Under Mullen, true freshmen who have not played are not allowed to talk to the media, so Tuesday’s visit with reporters was Russell’s first time to speak to the media since coming to campus last fall. Russell admitted that at first he had trouble grasping the playbook, but now things have started to slow down for him.
“When I first came [to MSU], I really didn’t know what to expect, and they threw a lot on me to see what I could grasp,” Russell said. “I didn’t do a really good job of grasping a lot, but now it’s slowing down for me.”
Russell also talked about dealing with the high expectations he had to deal with when he was coming out of high school, and said that now he is focused on improving his game.
“Coming out of high school I had a lot of people tell me ‘You gotta do this, we haven’t had a great quarterback blah, blah, blah,’ stuff like that, but now it’s just not worrying what everybody else does, but doing what I know I can do,” he said.
The possibility still remains that the Bulldogs will run a two-quarterback system, similar to the one they ran last year with Relf and Lee. After MSU’s first spring practice, Mullen commented on the off-season development of both Relf and Russell.
“You just see a different demeanor in [Russell] out here on the field than in the fall,” he said. “He understands what’s going on. He’s still got a long way to go, but he’s worked at it.”
Mullen said he has seen a rise in Relf’s confidence.
“I think Chris, finishing the last season strong, came back in a position where he felt he’s the returning starting quarterback . You just see him out here on the field with a little bit different demeanor and approach than what he had last year,” he said. “A lot more serious, a lot more committed to what’s going on on the field.”
With over five months until the season opener against Memphis, this quarterback battle is nowhere close to over, but Russell said both he and Relf are more concerned about winning games than who gets the start under center.
“I don’t care,” Russell said. “I just want to win, and [Relf] feels the same way and everybody else does too.”