Mississippi State football's Brice Pollock makes big transfer portal decision

Welcome to the SEC head coaching life, Jeff Lebby. Mississippi State football (2-10, 0-8 SEC) wrapped up a season it would like to forget with its 26-14 to No. 14 Ole Miss in Friday's Egg Bowl, and now it'll lose several players to the transfer portal.

Sophomore cornerback Brice Pollock is the latest to add his name to that list, via On3's Pete Nakos.

“The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback has 72 career tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble,” Nakos tweeted. “He has 11 career pass breakups.”

Pollock was rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports in the class of 2023 out of Shiloh High School in Georgia. He led Bulldog freshmen with 24 tackles and registered a 77.3 rush defensive grade, good for fifth amongst SEC freshmen.

Pollock ends his Mississippi State tenure with 22 appearances and 14 starts, with his one interception coming against No. 5 Georgia on October 12th of this season.

The Bulldogs now have 10 outgoing players in the portal, including the Georgia native. Kennesaw State cornerback Jayven Williams is the only incoming transfer this far.

Where does Mississippi State go from here?

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Jeff Lebby is confident in Mississippi State football's future

Despite a turbulent season featuring nine double-digit losses, Lebby thinks that the Bulldogs are better positioned to recruit transfers than when he took over in 2023, via The Mississippi Clarion Ledger's Sam Sklar.

“I think it’s night and day,” the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator said. “Excited to get back to Starkville and get back to work. There won’t be anybody who works harder than we will that’s excited about having the opportunity to go get it flipped. We’ve got plenty of needs and we’re ready to go address them.”

Lebby, has a point, as the program has been unstable since former head coach Mike Leach's tragic death in 2022. After winning the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl over Illinois, Mississippi State suffered a 5-7 (1-7 SEC) campaign under Zach Arnett and interim coach Greg Knox before Lebby took over.

Lebby will get the chance to prove himself over multiple seasons, but the Bulldogs must upgrade every position to get out of the SEC cellar.