This season Mississippi State football will once again break in a new defensive coordinator, but this one will run a little bit of a different scheme than the last six have under Head Coach Dan Mullen.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 9-4 record and a 4-4 record in SEC play last season, including a win over North Carolina State in the Belk Bowl. Proving to be successful on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball last year, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz left the program to take another job at the University of Miami.
With the departure of Diaz, MSU looked for their third defensive coordinator in three years and the sixth in eight years. They found their new coach at the University of Southern California.
Peter Sirmon comes in from USC and will run a multiple front defensive scheme. In Mullen’s previous seven seasons at MSU, the defense has predominately ran a 4-3 defensive front. A 4-3 is where the team runs four down defensive lineman and three linebackers.
However, with Sirmon, MSU will still run some 4-3 but also will a lot of 3-4. The 3-4 is where the defense has three lineman and four linebackers. Sirmon implied that MSU will play both styles this year.
“I want to play the defense that gives us the best opportunity to stop people from moving the ball and stop people from scoring,” Sirmon said on MSU media day. “We want to be a multiple front defense and we are recruiting guys who have great size and the athleticism to play in multiple fronts.”
The biggest change is the addition of the extra linebacker. Sirmon has a name for all four linebacker spots. There are two inside linebacker spots, the Mike and Will. According to Sirmon, they will be pretty much interchangeable, and there will not be a large difference. The outside linebacker spot is the Star, which, as Sirmon puts it, is the field outside linebacker.
The final position is the Viper. The Viper is the middle of the road position that changes whether MSU is in a 3-4 for a 4-3 defense. The viper will be a defensive end in the 4-3 and a linebacker in the 3-4, where the other three linebackers are very similar whether they are in either scheme. Gerri Green is one of the players that will get a chance to play the Viper.
“The Viper position is going good, it has its ups and downs,” Green said. “It is just something that I have to keep adjusting to going into the season.”
However, with MSU’s adjusting front sevens, there are unforeseen injuries in the defensive backfield. Mullen confirmed on Wednesday that senior corner back Tolando Cleveland will miss the entire season with an ACL tear in his left knee.
MSU took another hit in the defensive backfield as redshirt senior Cedric Jiles broke his right arm. After losing Taveze Calhoun and Will Redmond, who both graduated, MSU is left very thin at cornerback. Mullen mentioned moving some players as a possible solution.
“Maurice Smitherman has played corner, he is rotating in there,” Mullen said. “Jamal Peters has the physical tools to go out there and play some corner, the young guys have got to just step up and go play.”
Cleveland is a true senior and has not redshirted. There is the possibility that he could redshirt this season and come back next year for a fifth year. Mullen said Cleveland would wait on that decision until after he has had time to take in the situation. Jiles, on the other hand, redshirted his senior year and would have to apply to the NCAA for a medical redshirt to get a sixth year. He is, however, expected to return around mid-season.
MSU will open their season against South Alabama on Sept. 3. It is an 11 a.m. start and will be broadcast on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs start conference play Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. against the University of South Carolina.
