I was listening in to SEC Media Days this morning while waiting for pest control to make a scheduled visit and also before a lunch meeting with Dothan Post 12 17u manager Jon McLain, since they prepare for the state tournament. Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen was up, and I started to pay more attention as a media member introduced himself as Ken Rogers from the Dothan Eagle.
Ken, my co-worker, asked Mullen about playing Troy and why they're going to Troy. Here is the note that Ken sent for our SEC Media Days coverage.
Mississippi State’s non-conference schedule includes Jackson State of the SWAC and three Sun Belt schools – Troy, South Alabama and Middle Tennessee. The game against the Trojans, however, will be in Troy, the first time an SEC opponent will play there.
“I try to play non-conference games within our region as much as possible,” Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen said. “One, for our young men. Their families can watch them play without having to buy plane tickets. Our fan base can come watch our team play.
“I think last year we played up at Memphis, a lot of our fans came, players’ families got to come and watch their sons play. That’s a huge deal. This year, it happens to be at Troy, which, for us as a team, we’ll bus to that game.”
Mullen said that was an economic decision as much as anything else.
“Skyrocketing budgets, how do you handle it,” he asked. “We schedule a non-conference game that’s not going to cost us millions of dollars to get on a plane.”
***Former Troy receiver TeBiarus Gill was one of 17 shot in the mass shooting at the CopperTop bar in Tuscaloosa early Tuesday morning. I came across his name when I read Josh Bean's story on al.com. You can read it HERE. Since then, Gill, who was in fair condition today, appears to have been released, as the latest al.com story HERE mentions only 2 people still hospitalized, and neither of them is Gill.
Gill was one of Troy's top receivers during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, sort of in Jerrel Jernigan's shadow, but Gill was very good in his own right and he went out in style, doing his best Randy Moss imitation on the Ohio defense in the New Orleans Bowl, scoring three touchdowns in the Trojans' 48-21 win.
Gill always has a smile on his face when I see him and can take a good-natured ribbing, like when he showed up to fall camp his senior year just shy of 230 pounds. It didn't affect his production one bit. He's now an assistant coach at Vigor High School and was in Tuscaloosa for a football camp.
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