Road Dawgs 2017: Mississippi State showing off the hardware in Biloxi

Less than a month removed from Mississippi State’s championship game appearance in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, there’s probably never been a better time to be part of the Bulldog family.
Tonight, several hundred MSU supporters got together at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi to celebrate the good times with their special guests.
Coming off its second title game appearance since 2013, Mississippi State continues to put the rest of college athletics on notice in seemingly every sport. Athletic Director John Cohen said, “When I’m watching Vic Schaefer’s team almost win a national championship, I feel exactly the same way. When I watch Dan Mullen’s football team, I feel the same way. Ben Howland’s basketball team, they’re all my babies now. And I really enjoy being right on the front lines with them.”
After serving as the head baseball coach at MSU for eight years, the first year AD is now going to battle for every team in Starkville, especially for those Lady Bulldogs of the Hardwood led by head coach Vic Schaefer who’s still pinching himself over beating UConn in the Final Four. “That senior class won their 111th game, stopping the 111-game streak. I mean that’s pretty neat, pretty special. So we lost four special seniors, but we’ve got a good group coming back. And you know what we’re going to load up, and try to do it again.”
A big part of that returning nucleus features a pair of former Gulf Coast standouts, Harrison Central’s Jazzmun Holmes and West Harrison’s Ameshya Williams. “I’m excited about those kids and I met with our team today and I told those two in particular I’m going to the Coast tonight and I am going to brag and be as proud as a poppa can be about those two. Cause they’re really, really special young ladies. They’ve done a heck of a job for us,” said Schaefer.
As for the football program, Dan Mullen is already a couple of months in to his new four year contract extension and a lot of positive momentum for this year’s team on the back of winning the Egg Bowl and St. Petersburg Bowl in 2016. “I guess it feels good. I don’t know with the momentum, I guess it’ll help us. At least we’ve been smiling for the last several months, and we’ll continue to smile all the way through to kickoff next year. And definitely smile through Thanksgiving Day at least, having that trophy in our possession,” said Mullen.
This marks the eight consecutive year that Mississippi State has stopped on the Gulf Coast as a part of its annual Road Dawgs tour.